Cousin Joe
American blues and jazz singer (1907-1989)
Pleasant Joseph, known as Cousin Joe, (December 20, 1907 – October 2, 1989) was a New Orleans blues and jazz singer, famous for his 1940s recordings with Sidney Bechet and Mezz Mezzrow.
Life
He was born in Wallace, Louisiana, United States, and worked at Whitney Plantation throughout his childhood.
Until 1945, Cousin Joe toured Louisiana; that year he was asked to take part in the King Jazz recording sessions organized by Mezzrow and Bechet.
In the 1970s, Cousin Joe toured extensively throughout the UK and Europe, both individually and as part of the American Blues Legends '74 revue organised by Big Bear Music. He also recorded the albums Gospel-Wailing, Jazz-Playing, Rock'n'Rolling, Soul-Shouting, Tap-Dancing Bluesman From New Orleans for Big Bear.
Cousin Joe died in his sleep from natural causes in New Orleans, at the age of 81. He was survived by his wife Irene Joseph, son Michael and his three grandchildren Rahsaan, Mignonne and Jarrell.
Autobiography
Cousin Joe : Blues from New Orleans / Pleasant "Cousin Joe" Joseph and Harriet J. Ottenheimer. Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 1987. xi, 227 p.
“Cousin Joe” enters the record as american blues and jazz singer (1907-1989). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Cousin, American and blues can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Cousin Joe” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Cousin, American and blues provides the most credible route into that argument.
The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 24, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q346971. VIAF identifies the subject as 110508835. The Library of Congress control number is n86862160. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1907, 1989, 1945 and 1987.
Public reputation and documentary evidence do not always develop together; absence from a summary is not evidence of historical absence. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.
- Establishing names and roles
- Building a first chronology
- Locating cited institutions
Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Cousin Joe”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Cousin Joe primary sources, Cousin Joe archive and Cousin research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Cousin Joe”?
- Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
- Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Cousin Joe” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.