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Happy-Go-Lucky Joe Barker
Born:  January 9, 1914
Died:  March 17, 1985
WWVA Original Jamboree
WMMN Fairmont, WV

About The Artist

Happy-Go-Lucky was his nickname and he got it from his friends on the WWVA Jamboree. He was said to always look for the laugh in situations and '...had the happy knack of kicking aside the frown provokers."

Joe Barker began his radio career when he was all of fifteen years old as a singing Evangelist in Akron, Ohio. While he was born in Clarksburg, West Virginia, his family moved to Akron.

He was married to the singer "Little Shirley" and they made a great team on WWVA. They both arrived on the scene of the famed WWVA Jamboree in Wheeling back in 1938.

On the WWVA 3rd Annual Goodwill Tour, he and Curley Miller were the co-managers of the "Chuckwagon Doughboys" that consisted of Little Shirley, Sonny Day, Jimmy Hutchinson and Willie Whistle.

They described him as being about six feet tall, weighing 212 pounds with blue eyes and black hair.