Who was/is Shorty Joe & his Red Rock Canyon Cowboys ? - CDs, Vinyl LPs, DVD and more
Shorty Joe And His Red Canyon Cowboys
The first ever released Bella record, Bella BPT-1, was issued by Shorty Joe in 1952. Shorty Joe could have reached international stardom, if only...
Giuseppe Quartuccio, Jr., nicknamed ‘Shorty’ Joe due to his lack of height, was born on February 9, 1924 in Monreale (Murriali), Sicily. Since his mother wasn’t able to register the birth until the next day, his official birthday is February 10, 1924. His parents were Giuseppe (Joe) Quartuccio, Sr. and Giovanna (Jennie) Quartuccio.
By 1926, his father and three cousins took advantage of an opportunity to go to America to look for work. Shorty Joe, his brother, and his mother followed in 1930 aboard the passenger ship ‘Saturnia,’ journeying from Palermo to New York’s immigrant station on Ellis Island. They first settled in Akron, Ohio, but Shorty’s family had a relative in California and a decision was made to relocate from Ohio to San Jose, California, in May of 1936. Their new home was on Lelong Avenue in what was known as Goosetown, an Italian immigrant neighborhood just south of downtown San Jose along the Guadalupe River.
Although the Quartuccios lived in poverty during the Depression years, his parents managed to present Shorty Joe with a steel guitar for his 13th birthday. Two months later, his brother Larry received his first guitar. They learned how to play by ear and practiced together as a team. Within a couple of years, the duo were winning talent contests, opening supermarkets and landing a steady job with one of Shorty Joe’s main rivals, The Double H Boys, who had a popular radio show of their own.
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