Joe Stampley

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Joe Stampley (born June 6, 1943) is a country music singer originally from Springhill in Webster Parish in northwest Louisiana. He is known for several hits in the 1960s and beyond.

He was born to R.C. Stampley, Jr. (1920-2000), and Mary E. Stampley (1924-2004). His interest in music dates to boyhood, when he listened to his father's Hank Williams records and learned to play piano before he was ten years of age.

In the 1960s, Stampley was the lead singer for the pop/rock group, The Uniques, not to be confused with the Jamaican and doo-wop groups with the same name. The Uniques were based out of Shreveport, the largest city near Springhill, and began performing in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas. They were soon in great demand. In 1965, The Uniques recorded, "Not Too long Ago", the first national hit for Paula Records. One year later, they-followed with "All These Things" which is still played on many oldies radio stations, especially in the south-central United States. They released four original LP's, and one greatest hits LP between 1965 and their 1970 breakup. These Paula albums now bring enormous values from collectors. Only one known legitimate compact disc has seen the light of day -- produced by their parent record company Jewel/Paula. It was a greatest hits compilation, originally issued as Paula LPS 2208 "Golden Hits" in 1970, and reissued on CD in 1991. No further attempt has been known to reissue these classic recordings on CD, except fot the sparse "rock collection" style CD's over the years. http://www.bsnpubs.com/gulfcoast/paula.html

Interestingly, one of the Uniques numbers, "You Ain't Tuff" has been hailed as a precurser of Electronica, and indeed has been featured on at least one Electric Rock compilation. Most of the material was rooted in rhythm and blues, pop/rock, and swamp pop genres.

In 1971, Stampley signed with ABC-Dot, and recorded seven albums that produced such hits as, "Soul Song", "Too Far Gone", "If You Touch Me, You 've Got To Love Me", "I'm Still Loving You", and the remake of "All These Things", as a two-step, which skyrocketed to #1 on the charts.

In 1975, he moved to Epic Records, where he turned out thirteen albums which included hits such as: "Roll On Big Mama", "Red, Wine and Blue Memories", "If You've Got Ten Minutes", "Do You Ever Fool Around", and "I'm Gonna Love You Back To Lovin' Me Again". Stampley also had a string of hits with label-mate, Moe Bandy, consisting of chart-toppers such as, "Just Good Ol' Boys," "Holdin' The Bag," "Hey Joe, Hey Moe," and the take-off on Boy George, "Where's The Dress," which won the American Video Association's award for Video of the Year in 1984.

Stampley has over 60 charted records to his credit, which ranked him 30th in R&R's (Radio and Records) Twenty Years of Excellence magazine. Joel Whitburn's Billboard Top Country Singles rank Stampley 52nd among all country artists from 1944-1993 for charted singles.

In 1976, Stampley had eight singles which charted in Billboard Magazine and was awarded "Billboard's Single Artist of the Year" for that accomplishment. Stampley and his friend, Moe Bandy, were recognized as the Country Music Association's (CMA) 1980 Vocal Duo of the Year, as Moe and Joe. Bandy and Stampley also received the Academy of Country Music's (ACM) Vocal Duo award for two consecutive years. Stampley has also been inducted into the Louisiana Country Music Hall Of Fame, as well as the Texas Country Music Association Hall of Fame.

Stampley occasionally performs to sell-out crowds in Springhill, a small town just south of the Arkansas border.