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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZTURNER, Big Joe(b 18 May '11, Kansas City MO; d 23 Nov. '85, Inglewood CA) Blues singer. Tending bar and singing at 14 in KC; teamed with pianist Pete Johnson: they worked together through '40s incl. John Hammond's Spirituals to Swing concert '38, records on Vocalion (incl. Turner's own song 'Cherry Red'), reunion later on EmArcy/Mercury; recorded with Joe Sullivan on Vocalion, Benny Carter on OKeh, Art Tatum sextet on Decca (incl. 'Corrine, Corrina' and his own 'Wee Baby Blues'), under his own name on Decca (with Willie 'The Lion' Smith, Sammy Price, others), National, Aladdin, MGM, Imperial, then Atlantic: first R&B chart hit listed as 'Still In The Dark' on Freedom '50, then 'Chains Of Love' and 'Sweet Sixteen' '51--2 with Van 'Piano Man' Walls (who co-wrote 'Chains' with Ahmet Ertegun, revived '69 by Bobby 'Blue' Bland), 'Honey Hush' '53, several more '54--6 incl. 'T.V. Mama' (with Elmore James band), 'Shake, Rattle And Roll', two-sided hit 'Corrine, Corrina'/'Lipstick, Powder And Paint': these made him a rock'n'roll giant, 'Shake, Rattle And Roll' (song by Jesse Stone as 'Charles Calhoun') covered by Bill Haley, Elvis Presley (by Arthur Conley '67); 'Chains' by Pat Boone; 'Corrina' was his biggest pop hit, almost making top 40 (adapted from trad. song by Bo Chatmon and J. Mayo Williams c'29; covered by Bob Dylan on his first LP, also a top ten hit in USA by Ray Peterson '60); 'Honey Hush' made top 60 when reissued '59. But he didn't try to become a rock'n'roll star; he was too big, too black, too old and too strong, a blues shouter in the classic mould, and anyway closer to jazz, demonstrated by Atlantic LP Boss Of The Blues '56, with sidemen incl. Johnson, Pete Brown (sax), Duke Ellington's Lawrence Brown (trombone). Turner appeared at Newport, Monterey and Ann Arbor festivals, in films Shake Rattle And Roll '56, Last Of The Blue Devils '74 (documentary about KC with Basie, Jay McShann, others). Atlantic LPs or compilations incl. Joe Turner, Rockin' The Blues, Big Joe Is Here; more albums were Singing The Blues on Impulse, Roll 'Em on Bluesway ('Roll 'Em, Pete' was co-written by Johnson and Turner, covered by Count Basie and Joe Williams '55), Big Joe Turner Turns On The Blues on Kent; on Papa John Creach's Filthy on Grunt; to Pablo label for LPs incl. The Bosses with Basie, Every Day I Have The Blues with Sonny Stitt, Kansas City Shout, Kansas City, Here I Come (with Basie and Eddie Vinson), In The Evening, Flip, Flop And Fly (live in Europe '72), Things That I Used To Do etc. Also Tell Me Pretty Baby with Johnson's band on Arhoolie, Blues Train '83 on Muse with Roomful of Blues and Mac Rebennack; pianist Knocky Parker backed him with a quintet on his 72nd birthday on the Southland label '83. Reissues, compilations incl. Every Day In The Week on Decca Jazz; Blues'll Make You Happy, Too! and Have No Fear, Big Joe Is Here! in Roots of Rock'n'Roll series, both on Savoy; Big Joe Rides Again and Boss Of The Blues on Rhino, Jumpin' With Joe (complete Aladdin and Imperial tracks) on EMI, Bosses Of The Blues '69 on Bluebird (CD shared with T-Bone Walker). |