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Article
Reprint from the October, 2002 BluesNotes
(originally appeared in the January & February 1997 issues) Blues in History Index Related Links |
Walk
into any record store looking for a Big Joe Turner
album and you just might find it anywhere. Joe
has been called the "Boss of the Blues" and the "World's Greatest
Blues Shouter," but he is also considered a major part of early Rock 'n'
Roll. He is a respected name in the world of Jazz, too. In 1945, Joe
won Esquire Magazine's Silver Award for
Male Vocalist in an All-American Band. Britain's Melody
Maker Magazine selected him Best New Male Singer in 1956, and
in 1965, he won the Critic's Poll in Britain's Jazz
Journal for Top Male Singer. He was also awarded an Outstanding Achievement
Award from Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley for Best Blues Record. Joe
did not change his style to go along with what was happening at the time; he
just had an incredibly unique voice that worked in Rock, Jazz, R&B and Blues.
Fans in all these genres loved to hear Big Joe Turner
sing!
The Big Joe Turner story begins in Kansas City, Missouri on May 18, 1911. Joe was four years old when an unfortunate train accident killed his father. He spent most of his youth living with his mother, grandmother and sister. He took to music early, singing in the Church choir and on the street corners with his friends. Joe was bigger than the rest of the kids his age and while still in his mid-teens, he was able to sneak into some of the clubs. Later, he even put on a pencil mustache and wore his father's hat to sneak into a club to see the bands play.
Kansas City's Jazz sound was more closely related to Blues than the Jazz sounds of other cities. It had those eight and 12-bar Blues elements. It was uptempo and usually had a swing beat. It was easy to dance to and this added to its popularity. In many ways, this was what early Rock 'n' Roll sounded like — but Rock 'n' Roll wouldn't happen for another 25 years!
Joe was still a teenager when he became a bartender at the Sunset Cafe. Young Pete Johnson played piano there. Joe served drinks and sang along while Pete played. The crowd loved Joe's singing and Pete invited Joe to join him up front, and a musical bond was formed. Joe encouraged Pete to play uptempo, and the results were very well received. Joe sang uptempo Blues over the boogie-woogie sounds of Pete's piano.
In 1936, John Hammond came to town to see the Count Basie Band and stopped by the Sunset Cafe. He was so impressed with Joe's singing that he invited him to come to New York for a set of dates with the Basie Band. Never having sung with a big band behind him, Joe declined the offer, but he let Hammond know he would love to go to New York with Pete to play together sometime. That summer, Hammond brought them to New York where they played a few months at The Famous Door.
Hammond invited them back to New York two years later for a guest appearance on Benny Goodman's radio show, "Carmel Caravan." He also invited them to be a part of his famous first "Spirituals to Swing" concert in December of that year. They were well received and a week later they were in Vocalion studios cutting their first sides, "Roll 'Em Pete" and "Goin' Away Blues."
In January, Hammond got Joe and Pete into the Café Society. The club had two other boogie-woogie piano players and sometimes all three would play while Joe shouted out his recent singles. Club patrons couldn't wait to get copies of these records.
They went back into the studio in June 1939 to record again, this time with a backup band led by Oran "Hot Lips" Page. They cut three sides, including the now classic "Cherry Red" and another without "Hot Lips" Page's band. This side had Albert Ammons, Meade Lux Lewis, and, along with Joe and Pete, was appropriately called "Café Society Blues."
Pete and Joe also played out-of-town dates. At times, they played or recorded separately or with others. Both were in great demand. Pete sang with the Harry James Band in Chicago in 1939 and recorded with the Varsity Seven for the Varsity label. The Varsity Seven sported two sax players, Benny Carter and Coleman Hawkins, who were two of the best.
In 1940, Joe and Pete were signed to Decca. "Hot Lips" Page's band was used during the first sessions, resulting in four sides — two were released as a single. The A side, "Piney Brown Blues," sold over 400,000 copies and Joe's voice reached a wide audience and grew in popularity. Over the next few years, Decca recorded Joe with a number of other backup players, including the Freddie Slack Trio, Willie Smith, and Art Tatum.
Joe went to Hollywood in 1941 as part of Duke Ellington's "Jump For Joy" Revue. They played up and down the West Coast. He lived there for the next four years. He toured with Meade Lux Lewis as part of the Willie Bryant Show in 1942. They played mostly in theaters. They appeared on NBC Radio, which was broadcast across the country. Afterward, Joe and Meade Lux Lewis worked at the Swanee Inn in Hollywood.
1944 found Joe, Pete and Albert Ammons touring America, and when the wartime recording ban was lifted, they recorded for Decca and for National in New York. The following year, National recorded "Johnson And Turner Blues," and this one song alone may have been responsible for Joe's being given the Silver Award from Esquire Magazine as Male Vocalist in an All-American Jazz Band. The Gold Award went to Louis Armstrong.
During his two years at National, Joe recorded 11 singles, but only "My Gal's A Jockey" received any significant sales. His popularity seemed to be dropping off. He recorded for many small labels from 1947 to 1949, including Stag in San Francisco, Deetone and Swingtime in Los Angeles and Freedom in Houston. He sang on an incredible side with Wynonie Harris in 1947 called "Battle Of The Blues (Part 1)". It was recorded in a live setting and was not released until two years later, but it is a definite classic of the time.
In 1949, Joe toured the South where he lived for a short time in New Orleans. The Freedom single "Still In The Dark" hit the national charts, but fell quickly because of poor distribution and promotion. The following year's recordings on Imperial did not sell much at all. Joe went North playing small clubs. He played some dates with Lowell Fulson and Pee Wee Crayton, both up-and-coming Blues guitarists.
The big opportunity for Joe to revitalize his career came when Jimmy Rushing left the Count Basie Band and Joe became the substitute. Ahmet and Nesuhi Ertegun, of the recently formed Atlantic Records, were interested in Joe, but did not know where to find him. However, when the Basie Band played the Apollo in New York, Ahmet heard that Joe was called in to substitute, so he went to the show. Ahmet hooked up with Joe and as a result, he was signed to a one-year contract with Atlantic. On April 19, 1951, he recorded four sides. These sides were not marketed to the usual jazz audiences as in the past. Atlantic Records took Joe to the young, new audience of Rhythm and Blues.
"Chain Of Love" was the first single Atlantic released out of Joe's first recordings. He was backed by Van 'Piano Man' Walls and His Orchestra. The single did incredibly! It stayed on the R&B charts for 25 weeks and was #2 for four of those weeks. This created a demand for Joe and he started to travel. He hit the road on a short tour with Helen Humes and The Hal Singer Orchestra. After that, for almost two months, he was part of Atlantic's "Cavalcade of Blues" tour traveling throughout Louisiana and Texas.
Although "Chain Of Love" was still on the charts, Atlantic released another side from Joe's first session as a follow-up. The lively "The Chill Is On" peaked at #3 on the R&B charts. In the meantime, material he had recorded earlier for other labels surfaced on the radio. Atlantic reacted by getting Joe back into the studio in January 1952, again with Van 'Piano Man' Walls. "Sweet Sixteen" was the first single released from these sessions and it stayed on the charts for some time. Joe continued to play live that year, but he did not record again until September. The single from the September session was one of the earliest songs written by Doc Pomus, entitled "Don't You Cry."
In the Spring of 1953, while playing in New Orleans, Joe went into the studio and recorded a few songs. "Honey Hush" was recorded during these sessions and may well be one of the finest songs Joe ever sang. Joe wrote this song as well as most of his pre-Atlantic hits. The song went to #1 on the charts and stayed there for eight weeks. It was knocked off by a song recorded at the same studio by Guitar Slim and was entitled, "Things That I Used To Do." Joe's next session was in Chicago in October, with a band that included Elmore James on guitar.
Rhythm and Blues music, at this time, was primarily heard by Blacks. There was a definite color barrier just as there had been with Blues music. Jazz managed to cross these barriers. Maybe this was because many bands and orchestras were multiracial. There were large White audiences at clubs, such as the Apollo, listening to Jazz. However, the exciting sounds of R&B were not going to be kept from the adventurous teenagers of the 1950s. People like Alan Freed, the disc jockey, soon gave them big doses of it, but other contemporary radio stations still kept the color barrier.
Joe recorded in New York in December 1953. The producer of that session gave him a gem of a song that became one of the most popular songs ever — "Shake, Rattle, And Roll." Once again Joe had a #1 hit on the R&B charts. It stayed on the charts for over six months. Just like many hit songs on the R&B charts in the 1950s and into the 1960s, this song was covered by a White performer and promoted to the young White audiences. It was Bill Haley and The Comets who gave the world "Shake, Rattle, And Roll." Interestingly enough, Joe and Bill ended up on a tour together and Joe graciously let Haley do the song and he stayed with his other hits. The two became friends and went fishing together on several occasions.
The hits continued over the next couple of years with "Well All Right," "Flip, Flop, And Fly," "Hide And Seek," and "Morning, Noon, And Night." All these featured the great guitar work of Elmore James. Then there was the remake of "Corrina, Corrina," "The Chicken And The Hawk," and "Lipstick, Powder, And Paint." Because of these hits, Alan Freed continued including Joe on the tour with his show. He also appeared in the movies "Harlem Rock And Roll" and "Shake, Rattle, And Roll."
Atlantic's Jerry Wexler and Nesuhi Ertegun thought it might be a good idea to hook Joe up with Pete Johnson again. Pete played on "The Boss Of The Blues" recording session and it is regarded as one of the finest sets of songs to come out of the 1950s. Pete was in poor health, but there was no evidence of this in his playing, which was classic Pete all the way. To hear them play "Low Down Dog" or "I Want A Little Girl" was heaven. The two of them played The Newport Jazz Festival in 1958. Afterward, Joe and Pete and Jazz At The Philharmonic toured Europe and played at The World's Fair in Brussels.
During the late 1950s, Joe's popularity on the charts was beginning to taper off. His last real hit was "Jump For Joy" which featured a young King Curtis on sax. He did, however, hit the charts again in 1960 with a remake of "Honey Hush." Also in 1960, he recorded an album entitled, "Big Joe Rides Again." Jazz great Jim Hall played guitar and Coleman Hawkins played sax to give this album more of a Jazz club feel. Not long afterward, Atlantic dropped Joe from the label. The 1960s were getting a new cast of stars.
Joe worked steadily throughout this period because of his reputation in Jazz circles and with those not interested in the new sounds. He played The Five-Four Ballroom in Los Angeles, The Birdland in New York, and various places in and around New Orleans. In 1964, Joe played The Monterey Jazz Festival and in 1965 he went back to Europe touring with The Humphrey Littleton Band. This was followed with a 1966 tour with The American Folk Blues Festival Caravan. Joe and Pete were invited to play together at the 1967 Spirituals To Swing Show at Carnegie Hall. The final years of the 1960s found Joe singing his heart out with The Johnny Otis Show and in 1970 and 1971 he played at The Monterey Jazz Festival. The 1970 Festival was filmed and was also released on record. Joe also appeared with Johnny Otis on a PBS broadcast in 1970. Joe recorded a few singles on Coral in 1963 and 1964 and an album for Blues Time in 1969, but that was about all he recorded during the 1960s. He was, however, voted The Best Male Singer in 1965 by Melody Maker magazine (UK) and Best Blues Record by Jazz Journal (UK).
Joe kept working and recording during the 1970s, but his health dictated when and how much. His wife died in 1972, and Joe remarried not long afterward, to a woman named Pat. He toured Europe again in 1971 and made an album for the French label Black and Blue. The following year he returned to Europe, singing with The Count Basie Orchestra. This led to many dates with Basie over the next few years, as well as a recording with Basie for Pablo. (Pablo recorded Basie several more times over the next few years, including an album with guitarist Pee Wee Crayton). Joe was also in the documentary "The Last Of The Blue Devils," a film about Kansas City Jazz, and in 1975, he played at another Boss Of The Blues Memorial Concert with T-Bone Walker. He continued to play live whenever he could.
His recorded work included an album with Della Reese for Trojan Records in 1973, an album for LMI in 1974, and for the Spivey label in 1977, along with the Pablo output. He also recorded material for the "Roots" soundtrack for Quincy Jones in 1977.
The 1980s came and Joe kept going. His performance on an album in 1983 with Roomful Of Blues as his backup band was a solid effort. It was produced by his old friend, Doc Pomus, and featured the dazzling guitar work of Ronnie Earl. His live performances were sometimes hindered by his health and he was now confined to a wheelchair. He had been on crutches most of the previous decade because of a stroke and diabetes. Joe died on November 24, 1985. Pete sang at Joe's funeral and passed away himself on March 23, 1986.
There will never be another Big Joe Turner, but we are lucky to have so much recorded material available today. Over 50 percent of his output is available on compact disc. Considering the number of recordings he made, this gives you an excellent opportunity to experience this legendary singer. As Hans J. Mauerer said in The Pete Johnson Story, "In my opinion, Joe is the greatest singer (or shouter, if you prefer) of them all." Amen!
© 2002 Cascade Blues Association