Influenced by Elmore James, Hutto became known for his slide guitar playing and declamatory style of singing.

Joseph and his three brothers and three sisters formed a gospel group, the Golden Crowns, singing in local churches.

[2] Hutto served as a draftee in the Korean War in the early 1950s, driving trucks in combat zones.

He also played the piano before settling on the guitar and performing on the streets with the percussionist Eddie "Porkchop" Hines.

[5] Later in the 1950s, Hutto became disenchanted with performing and gave it up after a woman broke his guitar over her husband's head one night in a club where he was playing.

[6] He returned to the music industry in the mid-1960s with a new version of the Hawks featuring Herman Hassell on bass and Frank Kirkland on drums.

In the late 1970s, he moved to Boston and recruited a new band, the New Hawks, with whom he recorded studio albums for the Varrick label.