Introduction
Joe Barry was an American swamp pop singer hailing from Louisiana, known for his only big hit and now-oldies music classic “I’m a Fool to Care” (released on Jin Records) during the early 60s era. Although generally considered as a one-hit wonder, Barry also charted with another single “Teardrops in My Heart,” a minor hit. More on Joe Barry here in this article!
Brief music career
Joe Barry was an American 60s swamp pop and rock n’ roll singer. A Cajun, he was born Joseph Barrios in Cut Off, Louisiana on July 13, 1939. He also became a country and gospel singer for a time during the 1970s.
He began his recording career in 1958, releasing a handful of singles for local release. In 1960 he was signed to Jin Records and the following year he released his second single for the label, “I’m a Fool to Care.” Distributed nationally by Smash Records (subsidiary label of Mercury Reocrds), it peaked at #24 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #15 on the Billboard R&B singles chart. By 1968, the “I’m a Fool to Care” had sold over a million copies, seven years after its original release.
Although Joe Barry is generally seen as a one-hit wonder, he also managed to scrape a minor hit with “Teardrops in My Heart” (#63, pop) in 1961. Barry went on to record for Smash and then Nugget Records and even appeared once on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand, before opting out of music business.
He resurfaced in the music scene from the mid 1970s to early 1980s where he released a country LP and then a gospel album. Failing health forced him to discontinue his music career. However, he managed to release a new album Been Down that Muddy Road on Night Train label in 2003, despite the fact that it was completed with overdubs due to his worsening condition.
Barry passed away in his birthplace of Cut Off, Louisiana on August 31, 2004. He was 65 years old.