31-397: Joseph Vernon " Big Joe " Turner Jr. (May 18, 1911 – November 24, 1985) was an American blues shouter from Kansas City, Missouri . According to songwriter Doc Pomus , " Rock and roll would have never happened without him". Turner's greatest fame was due to his rock and roll recordings in the 1950s, particularly " Shake, Rattle and Roll ", but his career as a performer endured from
62-647: A "Battle of the Blues" with Wynonie Harris and T-Bone Walker . In 1965, he toured in England with the trumpeter Buck Clayton and the trombonist Vic Dickenson , accompanied by Humphrey Lyttelton and his band. Part of a studio concert was televised by the BBC and later issued on DVD. A sound recording of a club appearance made during this tour is not thought of sufficient sound quality to justify commercial issue. He also toured Europe with Count Basie and his orchestra. He won
93-556: A Count Basie solo, rich and grainy as a section of saxophones, which dominated the room with the sheer sumptuousness of its sound." In announcing Turner's death, the British music magazine NME , in its December 1985 issue, described him as "the grandfather of rock and roll". According to the Blues Hall of Fame, Turner "was a king of the jump blues genre, a boogie woogie belter, progenitor of rhythm & blues and rock 'n' roll, and
124-587: A Little Girl" and "Wee Baby Blues". "Cherry Red" was recorded in 1939 for the Vocalion label , with Hot Lips Page on trumpet and a full band in attendance. During the next year Turner contracted with Decca and recorded "Piney Brown Blues" with Johnson on piano. In 1941, he went to Los Angeles and performed in Duke Ellington 's revue Jump for Joy in Hollywood. He appeared as a singing policeman in
155-563: A church there, the family moved to Oakland, California and started Christ Holy Sanctified Church on 7th Street. As a youngster he learned to play piano, banjo and ukulele and sang in the church, but did not pick up guitar until 1938. At the end of the 1930s he sang with the Southern Harmony Four Gospel Quartet on NBC radio, and began playing the guitar in 1938. King released the tune "S.K. Blues" (originally titled "Saunders Blues") in 1942, which became
186-649: A comedy sketch, "He's on the Beat". Los Angeles was his home for a time, and during 1944 he worked in Meade Lux Lewis 's Soundies musical movies. He sang on the soundtrack recordings but was not present for filming, and his vocals were mouthed by the comedian Dudley Dickerson for the camera. In 1945 Turner and Pete Johnson established the Blue Moon Club, a bar in Los Angeles. In 1945, he also signed
217-606: A cook and later as a singing bartender. He became known as "The Singing Barman", and worked in such venues as the Kingfish Club and the Sunset, and would frequently perform at these venues alongside his friend Pete Johnson on piano. The Sunset was managed by Piney Brown. It featured "separate but equal" facilities for white patrons. Turner wrote "Piney Brown Blues" in his honor and sang it throughout his career. At that time Kansas City nightclubs were subject to frequent raids by
248-593: A major nationwide hit . The tune featured electric blues guitar, one of the earliest recordings to do so. The lyrics begin: The track was later recorded by both Jimmy Witherspoon and Big Joe Turner . King traveled to Chicago and performed at the Cafe Society. He met and married Jo Frances Willis in 1948. The couple had two daughters: Kitsaun Jo King and Deborah Sara King and raised them in San Francisco, California . King continued to perform at
279-527: A number of successes for them, including the blues standards , " Chains of Love " and "Sweet Sixteen". Many of his vocals are punctuated with shouts to the band members, as in "Boogie Woogie Country Girl" ("That's a good rockin' band!", "Go ahead, man! Ow! That's just what I need!" ) and " Honey Hush " (he repeatedly sings, "Hi-yo, Silver!", a famous command used by the Lone Ranger on his popular radio show, to his horse named Silver). Turner's records reached
310-572: A recording contract with National Records , for which he recorded under the supervision of Herb Abramson . His first hit single was a cover of Saunders King 's "S.K. Blues" (1945). He recorded the songs "My Gal's a Jockey" and the risqué "Around the Clock" the same year, and Aladdin Records released "Battle of the Blues", a duet with Wynonie Harris . Turner stayed with National until 1947, but none of his recordings were big sellers. In 1950, he recorded
341-674: A respected performer in jazz circles. Dave Alvin wrote a song about an evening he spent with Turner, entitled "Boss of the Blues", for his 2009 album, Dave Alvin and the Guilty Women . Alvin discussed the song in issue 59 of the Blasters Newsletter . Alvin later collaborated with his brother and former Blaster Phil Alvin on a second reunion album, Lost Time , released in 2015, containing four covers of songs by Turner, including "Cherry Red", "Wee Baby Blues" and "Hide and Seek". The brothers met Turner in Los Angeles, where he
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#1732793688661372-555: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Saunders King Saunders Samuel King (March 13, 1909 – August 31, 2000) was an American R&B and blues guitarist and singer. Saunders King was born in Staples, Caddo Parish , Louisiana . His parents, Bishop Judge L. King and Sarah Anasilistine King built a church in Louisiana before moving the family to Texas and then to Oroville, California . After building
403-460: Is portrayed collecting their vinyl recordings. A biography and discography, Big Joe Turner Feel So Fine , written by Derek Coller was published by Hardinge Simpole in 2023 ( ISBN 978-1-84382-232-5 ). Tracks marked with an asterisk were million-selling records. Blues shouter A blues shouter is a blues singer, often male, capable of singing unamplified with a band. Notable blues shouters include: This music-related article
434-817: The Melody Maker award for best "new" vocalist of 1956. After a number of successes in popular music, Turner resumed singing with small jazz combos, recording numerous albums in that style during the 1960s and 1970s. In 1966, Bill Haley helped revive Turner's career by lending him the Comets for a series of popular recordings for the Orfeón label in Mexico. During the 1960s and 1970s he resumed performing jazz and blues music, performing at many music festivals and recording for Norman Granz 's Pablo Records . He also worked with Axel Zwingenberger . Turner also participated in
465-741: The 1920s into the 1980s. Turner was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987, with the Hall lauding him as "the brawny voiced 'Boss of the Blues ' ". AllMusic called Turner "the premier blues shouter of the postwar era". Turner was born May 18, 1911, in Kansas City, Missouri , United States. His father was killed in a train accident when Turner was four years old. He sang in his church, and on street corners for money. He left school at age fourteen to work in Kansas City's nightclubs, first as
496-650: The 1980s. Turner died of heart failure in November 1985, at the age of 74, in Inglewood, California , having suffered from effects of arthritis, a stroke and diabetes. His funeral included musical tributes from Etta James and Barbara Morrison . He was buried at Roosevelt Memorial Park in Gardena , California. He was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. The New York Times music critic Robert Palmer wrote of "his voice, pushing like
527-598: The British Jazz Journal award as top male singer of 1965. In 1977, Turner recorded a cover version of Guitar Slim 's song " The Things That I Used to Do ", and " I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter ", for Spivey Records , with Lloyd Glenn on piano. Turner received top billing with Count Basie in the Kansas City jazz reunion movie The Last of the Blue Devils (1979), featuring Jay McShann , Jimmy Forrest , and other players from
558-515: The Savoy, Club Alabam, Jack's on Sutter, on NBC Radio, and at the Geary Theater . He recorded for Aladdin Records , Modern Records , and Rhythm Records, and had two US Billboard R&B chart hits in 1949 with "Empty Bedroom Blues" (number 9) and "Stay Gone Blues" (number 14). He retired from active performance in 1961, devoting himself to his family and playing his guitar Sundays in
589-481: The city. In 1983, two years before his death, Turner was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame . That same year, the album Blues Train was released by Muse Records ; the album featured Turner with the band Roomful of Blues . Turner's career endured from the barrooms of Kansas City in the 1920s (when at the age of twelve he performed with a pencilled moustache and his father's hat) to European jazz festivals of
620-524: The foundation for R&B in the 1940s, "cutting one swinging rhythm & blues masterpiece after another". Turner made many albums with Johnson, Art Tatum , Willie "The Lion" Smith , Sammy Price , and other jazz groups. He recorded for several record companies. He also performed with the Count Basie Orchestra . During his career, Turner was part of the transition from big bands to jump blues to rhythm and blues to rock and roll . He
651-445: The fourth annual Cavalcade of Jazz concert held at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles, on September 12, 1948. Also on the program that day were Frankie Laine , The Sweethearts of Rhythm , The Honeydrippers , Little Miss Cornshucks , Jimmy Witherspoon , The Blenders, and The Sensations. Turner was a significant figure in the development of rhythm and blues . According to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame , Turner and Louis Jordan laid
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#1732793688661682-528: The police; Turner said, "The Boss man would have his bondsmen down at the police station before we got there. We'd walk in, sign our names and walk right out. Then we would cabaret until morning." His partnership with Johnson proved fruitful. Together they went to New York City in 1936, where they appeared on a playbill with Benny Goodman , but as Turner recounted, "After our show with Goodman, we auditioned at several places, but New York wasn't ready for us yet, so we headed back to K.C." Eventually they were seen by
713-566: The rock music songs, he released Boss of the Blues album in 1956. "(I'm Gonna) Jump for Joy", his last hit, reached the US R&;B record chart on May 26, 1958. He toured Australia in 1957 with Lee Gordon 's Big Show sharing the bill with Bill Haley and the Comets , LaVern Baker and Freddie Bell and the Bellboys . He won the Esquire magazine award for male vocalist in 1945. He won
744-635: The song "Still in the Dark", released by Freedom Records . Joe Turner also played at the Cavalcades of Jazz concert held at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles which was produced by Leon Hefflin Sr. on September 23, 1945, to a crowd of 15,000. Count Basie , the Honeydrippers, The Peters Sisters , Slim and Bam and Valaida Snow were also featured artists. Turner also performed alongside Dizzy Gillespie at
775-507: The sun comes shinin' through! I can't believe my eyes, all that mess belongs to you." He sang it on film for the 1955 theatrical feature Rhythm and Blues Revue . Although the cover version of the song by Bill Haley & His Comets , with the risqué lyrics partly omitted, was a greater sales success, many listeners sought out Turner's version and were introduced thereby to rhythm and blues. Elvis Presley 's version of "Shake, Rattle and Roll" combined Turner's lyrics with Haley's arrangement, but
806-443: The talent scout John Hammond in 1938, who invited them back to New York to appear in one of his From Spirituals to Swing concerts at Carnegie Hall , which were instrumental in introducing jazz and blues to a wider American audience. In part because of their appearance at Carnegie Hall, Turner and Johnson had a major success with the song " Roll 'Em Pete ". The track was basically a collection of traditional blues lyrics . It
837-494: The top of the rhythm-and-blues charts. Some of his songs were so risqué that some radio stations refused to play them, but they received much play on jukeboxes. Turner had great success during 1954 with " Shake, Rattle and Roll ", which significantly boosted his career, turning him into a teenage favorite, and also helped to transform popular music. During the song, Turner yells at his woman to "get outta that bed, wash yo' face an' hands" and comments that she's "wearin' those dresses,
868-472: Was a master of traditional blues verses , and at Kansas City jam sessions he could swap choruses with instrumental soloists for hours. In 1951, while performing with the Count Basie Orchestra at Harlem's Apollo Theater as a replacement for Jimmy Rushing , he was spotted by Ahmet and Nesuhi Ertegun , who contracted him to their new recording company, Atlantic Records . Turner recorded
899-527: Was a song that Turner recorded many times, with various musicians, over the ensuing years. In 1939, along with the boogie-woogie pianists Albert Ammons and Meade Lux Lewis , Turner and Johnson began a residency at Café Society , a nightclub in New York City, where they appeared on the same playbill as Billie Holiday and Frankie Newton 's band. Besides "Roll 'Em, Pete", Turner's best-known recordings from this period are probably "Cherry Red", "I Want
930-503: Was not a successful single. "The Chicken and the Hawk", " Flip, Flop and Fly ", "Hide and Seek", "Morning, Noon and Night", and "Well All Right" were successful recordings from this period. He performed on the television program Showtime at the Apollo and in the movie Shake Rattle & Rock! (1956). The song " Corrine, Corrina " was another great seller during 1956. In addition to
961-563: Was playing in clubs on Central Avenue and living in the Adams district between tours in the 1960s. Phil Alvin opened for Turner a few times with his first band, Delta Pacific. Turner continued mentoring the Alvin brothers until his death in 1985. He is pictured on the back cover of Lost Time . The biographical film The Buddy Holly Story refers to Turner and his contemporaries Little Richard and Fats Domino as major influences on Holly , who