Joe Hunter

Joe Hunter -- not to be confused with the Texas-born R&B artist/label owner Ivory Joe Hunter of "I Almost Lost My Mind" and "Since I Met You Baby" fame -- was Motown Records' first pianist, preceding both Johnny Griffith and Motown mainstay Earl Van Dyke. He was born Joseph E. Hunter on November 19, 1927, to the union of Vada Idona Hunter and John G. Hunter in Jackson,TN. Just before his twelfth birthday, Hunter and his family moved to Detroit. Hunter initially learned how to play piano by watching his mother give piano lessons. Later in the army, Hunter played in bands with...