Joe & Eddie

Joe and Eddie
Joe and Eddie in 1965
Background information
Genres	Gospel, folk
Past members	Joe Gilbert Eddie Brown

Joe and Eddie was an American gospel folk group. During their careers, the African-American duo composed of Joe Gilbert and Eddie Brown toured the United States and Canada, appeared on more than 20 major television shows, and recorded eight albums.

The musical duo's focus was creating harmony with Joe Gilbert singing tenor and Eddie Brown singing baritone. Their style incorporated gospel, folk tunes, and blues with a little jazz flavor. Their songs contained a minimum of background instrumentals, since the "main objective was to focus on Joe & Eddie's singing..." The duo was known for their rapid-fire delivery and vocal improvisations, as heard in the songs "Green Grass" and "Children Go".

Both born in 1941 and raised in the South, Joe Gilbert and Eddie Brown had much in common before they even met. Gilbert was raised in New Orleans, Louisiana while Brown grew up in Norfolk, Virginia. Around the same time, the two boys migrated to Berkeley, California, with their respective families, and met in the mid-1950s at Willard Middle School in the a cappella choir. Their first performance together was in the Berkeley High School Talent Show, where they sang a duet and won first place.

With the help of their high-school choir professor, Dr. Earle Blakeslee, the two boys formed a partnership and strove to go professional. Their first gigs were at college fraternity and sorority parties, where they performed a variety of numbers. Blakeslee advised them to audition for the Don Sherwood Show, which originated in San Francisco. They earned their spot, and were asked back to the show several times.