Joe August (September 13, 1931 – August 9, 1992) was an American blues and R&B singer and songwriter who performed and recorded as "Mr. Google Eyes" or sometimes "Mr. G".
He gained his formative musical experience as a member of the First Emmanuel Baptist Church choir, but found himself most deeply attracted to the blues. As a teen, Augustus worked as a delivery boy for local restaurateur Dooky Chase, who bestowed upon him the "Google Eyes" appellation because he could rarely peel his sight away from the eatery's female clientele.
Although Brown, Paul Gayten, and Annie Laurie were the first New Orleans R&B artists to enter the recording studio, Augustus was not far behind, making his debut for the black-owned Coleman Records with 1946's "Poppa Stoppa's Be-Bop Blues"; he was still just 15 years old at the time, and accordingly the label proclaimed him "Mr. Google Eyes -- the world's youngest blues singer.""No Wine, No Women" soon followed, and resulted in an endorsement deal with Monogram Wine. "Rock My Soul" was another hit, and prompted Columbia Records to buy out Augustus' Coleman contract.
His Columbia debut, "For You My Love," appeared in 1948, but too late Augustus discovered the reverse racism that led many African American-owned record retailers to boycott the largely white Columbia catalogue. Sides including "Life Can Be a Hard Road to Travel," and "Cryin' for You," followed as one decade turned into the next, and even though Mr. Google Eyes never enjoyed the same commercial success as many of his contemporaries, his records sold well enough to support a tour with singer Al Hibbler, and he also appeared at the legendary New York City jazz club Birdland on bills headlined by Charlie Parker and Miles Davis.
After marrying a woman from Newark, NJ, Augustus settled there circa 1951. There he befriended bandleader Johnny Otis, then working A&R for the Duke/Peacock family of labels. After his contract with Columbia expired, Augustus signed with Duke, cutting sides like 1953's "Play the Game" as well as writing Otis' smash "Please Forgive Me," but a series of bad deals and poor financial decisions left him broke, and in 1955 he relocated to California, working the Los Angeles club circuit alongside Otis in addition to making the occasional record like the Flip label release "Strange Things Happening in the Dark," credited to Joe August.
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| Aaron Neville & Mr. G |
By 1960 he was back in New Orleans, MC-ing an all-star revue at the Bourbon Street club Sho-Bar. After his marriage dissolved, he began dating a white woman, a relationship that brought him so much grief from police that he attempted to break it off, at which point the woman shot him in the abdomen with a rifle. Augustus survived the attack, and although miscegenation charges were soon dropped, he vowed to remain as far from Bourbon Street as possible, bringing his performing career to a halt. In 1965 Augustus cut his final record, the Allen Toussaint-produced "Everything Happens at Night," again billing himself as Joe August. For years after, he worked as a bartender and MC, occasionally performing alongside Earl King and Deacon John in the New Orleans Blues Revue.
In the mid-1980s, Swedish R&B aficionado Jonas Bernholm contacted August after meeting him on a trip to New Orleans. With his permission, Bernholm arranged to re-release seventeen of August's recordings from 1949 until 1954 on the Swedish label Route 66, a division of Mr R&B Records. Bernholm made certain to pay royalties to August and other R&B artists whose music he reissued. In letter to Bernholm dated November 11, 1986, August wrote of his performing prowess. "I have been blessed and in good health. I'm able to perform two good hours without a break and hold the people in the palm of my hand."
He died in New Orleans in 1992, aged 60. At his jazz funeral, Mac Rebennack (Dr. John) said: "It is with great pride that we carry the message of the blues that you instilled in us as children.
(Edited from AllMusic & Wikipedia)