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Artist
Big Joe Turner
12+ albums
bluesrhythm and bluesRock and Rolljump bluesjazz
about
Big Joe Turner (Joseph Vernon Turner Jr., Kansas City, Missouri, May 18, 1911 – Inglewood, California, November 24, 1985) was an American blues shouter. Although he came to his greatest fame in the 1950s with his pioneering rock and roll recordings, particularly "Shake, Rattle and Roll", Turner's career as a performer stretched from the 1920s into the 1980s. (for stride pianist Joseph H. Turner (3.11.07-21.7.90) > Joe Turner) Known variously as The Boss of the Blues, and Big Joe Turner (due to his 6'2", 300+ lbs stature), Turner was born in Kansas City and first discovered his love of music through involvement in the church. Turner's father was killed in a train accident when Joe was only four years old. He began singing on street corners for money, leaving school at age fourteen to begin working in Kansas City's club scene, first as a cook, and later as a singing bartender. He eventually became known as The Singing Barman, and worked in such venues as The Kingfish Club and The Sunset, where he and his piano playing partner Pete Johnson became resident performers. 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 entire career. At that time Kansas City was a wide-open town run by "Boss" Tom Pendergast. Despite this, the clubs were subject to frequent raids by the police, but as Turner recounts, "The Boss man would have his bondsmen down at the poli
top songs
albums
Shake Rattle & Rock
The Very Best of Big Joe Turner
Big Joe Turner's Greatest Hits
Jumpin' With Joe: The Complete Aladdin & Imperial Recordings
The Rolling Stone Magazines 500 Greatest Songs Of All Time
Flip, Flop And Fly 1951-1955
Jumpin' With Joe
Greatest Hits
The Boss of the Blues
Big Joe Turner: The Rhythm & Blues Years
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Big Joe Turner Greatest Hits
The Forties Vol. 2: 1947-1949