ZydecoOnline Remembers Big Joe Turner
“The Boss of the Blues” Celebrates 102nd Anniversary Of His Birth
May 18, 2013
by Rod Sias
www.ZydecoOnline.com
Uniting the Zydeco Nation
#ZydecoNation
Joseph Vernon Turner Jr., known to the Zydeco, Southern Soul, and Blues Nation as “Big Joe Turner” and “The Boss of the Blues” was born on Thursday, May 18, 1911 in Kansas City, Missouri. He was given the name "Big Joe Turner" due to his 6'2", 300+ lbs stature.
Big Joe Turner was known as a prolific "blues shouter" (a blues-music singer capable of singing unamplified with a band) and is credited with and recognized as the first person to transform the “Blues” into a new musical genre called “Rock & Roll.” His signature songs “Shake, Rattle and Roll,” “Flip, Flop and Fly” and “Corrine, Corrina,” became the foundations in which Rock & Roll was built. As Muddy Waters eloquently sang in his anthemic song, “The Blues Had a Baby and They Named It Rock and Roll.”
Big Joe Turner began his musical journey through his involvement and participation in the local church. He began singing on street corners for money and eventually quit school at the age of fourteen to work full time in various Kansas City nightclubs as a cook, and later a bartender. Over the years, he became known as the "Singing Barman" and was highly sought after by local nightclub owners.
Big Joe Turner and his musical partner Pete Johnson (boogie-woogie and jazz pianist) became resident performers at the Sunset Club managed by Piney Brown. The Sunset featured "separate but equal" facilities for caucasian patrons. Big Joe Turner wrote "Piney Brown Blues" in his honor and sang the song throughout his entire career.
During the 1950s, Big Joe Turner recorded blues classics such as "Chains of Love" and "Sweet Sixteen". In 1954, his song "Shake, Rattle and Roll" transformed his career, popular music and turned him into a teen icon and introducing millions of caucasian teenagers to rhythm and blues . The lyrics to the song were cutting edge and racy for the times.
During the song, Turner yells at his woman to "get outa that bed, wash yo' face an' hands" and comments that she's "wearin' those dresses, the sun comes shinin' through!, I can't believe my eyes, all that mess belongs to you."
The song was covered by Bill Haley and His Comets, with the risqué lyrics omitted partially, was a greater success, Elvis Presley's cover of "Shake, Rattle and Roll" combined Big Joe Turner's racy lyrics with Bill Haley's arrangement.
Big Joe Turner was transformed as a "Rock Music Singer" at the age of 43 recorded a string of highly successful "Rock and Roll" classics like "Corrine, Corrina", "Well All Right," "Flip Flop and Fly", "Hide and Seek," "Morning, Noon and Night," and "The Chicken and the Hawk" He performed on the television program Showtime at the Apollo during the mid-1950s, and in the movie, Shake Rattle & Rock! in 1956.
Although he became a "Rock and Roll" icon, Big Joe Turner never forgot his Blues Roots releasing the classic Blues album "Boss of the Blues" album in 1956. On May 26, 1958, "(I’m Gonna) Jump for Joy," the twentieth and last of Big Joe Turner's successes, entered the US R&B record chart.
Big Joe Turner performed into the 1980's until his retirement due to effects of arthritis, diabetes, and a stroke. He died in Inglewood, California of heart failure at the age of 74. Big Joe Turner was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987, two years after death.
“The Boss of the Blues” Celebrates 102nd Anniversary Of His Birth
May 18, 2013
by Rod Sias
www.ZydecoOnline.com
Uniting the Zydeco Nation
#ZydecoNation
 |
| Joseph Vernon Turner Jr. "Big Joe Turner" "The Boss Of The Blues" Rock & Roll Pioneer May 18, 1911 – November 24, 1985 |
Big Joe Turner was known as a prolific "blues shouter" (a blues-music singer capable of singing unamplified with a band) and is credited with and recognized as the first person to transform the “Blues” into a new musical genre called “Rock & Roll.” His signature songs “Shake, Rattle and Roll,” “Flip, Flop and Fly” and “Corrine, Corrina,” became the foundations in which Rock & Roll was built. As Muddy Waters eloquently sang in his anthemic song, “The Blues Had a Baby and They Named It Rock and Roll.”
Big Joe Turner
"The Boss Of The Blues"
"Shake Rattle and Roll"
Big Joe Turner
"The Boss Of The Blues"
"Corrina, Corrina"
Big Joe Turner began his musical journey through his involvement and participation in the local church. He began singing on street corners for money and eventually quit school at the age of fourteen to work full time in various Kansas City nightclubs as a cook, and later a bartender. Over the years, he became known as the "Singing Barman" and was highly sought after by local nightclub owners.
Big Joe Turner and his musical partner Pete Johnson (boogie-woogie and jazz pianist) became resident performers at the Sunset Club managed by Piney Brown. The Sunset featured "separate but equal" facilities for caucasian patrons. Big Joe Turner wrote "Piney Brown Blues" in his honor and sang the song throughout his entire career.
During the song, Turner yells at his woman to "get outa that bed, wash yo' face an' hands" and comments that she's "wearin' those dresses, the sun comes shinin' through!, I can't believe my eyes, all that mess belongs to you."
The song was covered by Bill Haley and His Comets, with the risqué lyrics omitted partially, was a greater success, Elvis Presley's cover of "Shake, Rattle and Roll" combined Big Joe Turner's racy lyrics with Bill Haley's arrangement.
Big Joe Turner was transformed as a "Rock Music Singer" at the age of 43 recorded a string of highly successful "Rock and Roll" classics like "Corrine, Corrina", "Well All Right," "Flip Flop and Fly", "Hide and Seek," "Morning, Noon and Night," and "The Chicken and the Hawk" He performed on the television program Showtime at the Apollo during the mid-1950s, and in the movie, Shake Rattle & Rock! in 1956.
Although he became a "Rock and Roll" icon, Big Joe Turner never forgot his Blues Roots releasing the classic Blues album "Boss of the Blues" album in 1956. On May 26, 1958, "(I’m Gonna) Jump for Joy," the twentieth and last of Big Joe Turner's successes, entered the US R&B record chart.
Big Joe Turner performed into the 1980's until his retirement due to effects of arthritis, diabetes, and a stroke. He died in Inglewood, California of heart failure at the age of 74. Big Joe Turner was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987, two years after death.
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| Joseph Vernon Turner Jr. "Big Joe Turner" "The Boss Of The Blues" Rock & Roll Pioneer May 18, 1911 – November 24, 1985 |
THANK YOU MR. BIG JOE TURNER FOR PAVING THE WAY AND KEEPING OUR BLUES ROOTS PROUD AND STRONG!!!
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