Joe attended Greenwood Laboratory School in Springfield and was a drummer in the local Boy Scout Band; as a youth he also learned the piano.
On his return, he continued arranging for Hollywood studios from the 1940s into the late 1950s,[2] interrupted by spells with Phil Harris and Johnnie Lee Wills.
Haymes' chief employer during the 1950s was Lawrence Welk's television show, although he sometimes performed solo in the Los Angeles area playing at piano bars.
About 1960, he relocated to Dallas, Texas, then home to several semi-retired bandleaders (Ted Weems chief among them) who occasionally employed his scoring skills.
Among the players in Haymes's orchestras were Johnny Mince, Pee Wee Erwin, Toots Mondello, Chris Griffin, Sterling Bose, Bud Freeman, Walt Yoder, and Lee Castle.