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 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 boogie-woogie pianist Pete Johnson proved fruitful. Together they headed to New York in 1936, where they appeared on a bill with Benny Goodman, but as Turner recounts, "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 spotted by the talent scout, John H. 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 was instrumental in introducing jazz and blues to a wider American audience.
Due in part to their appearance at Carnegie Hall, Turner and Johnson scored a major hit with "Roll 'Em Pete". The track contained one of the earliest recorded examples of a back beat. It was a song which Turner recorded many times, with various combinations of musicians, over the ensuing years.
In 1939, along with boogie players Albert Ammons and Meade Lux Lewis, they began a residency at Café Society, a club in New York City, where they appeared on the same bill as Billie Holiday and Frank Newton's band. Besides "Roll 'Em, Pete", Turner's best-known recordings from this period are probably "Cherry Red", "I Want A Little Girl" and "Wee Baby Blues".
In 1941, he headed to Los Angeles where he performed in Duke Ellington's revue Jump for Joy in Hollywood. He appeared as a singing policeman in a sketch called "He's on the Beat." Los Angeles became his home base for a time, and in 1944 he worked in Meade Lux Lewis's Soundies musical films. Although he sang on the soundtrack recordings, he was not present for the filming, and his vocals were mouthed by comedian Dudley Dickerson for the camera. In 1945 Turner and Pete Johnson opened their own bar in Los Angeles, The Blue Moon Club.
Turner made lots of records, not only with Johnson but with the pianists Art Tatum and Sammy Price and with various small jazz ensembles. He recorded on several record labels, particularly National Records, and also appeared with the Count Basie Orchestra. In his career, Turner successively led the transition from big bands to jump blues to rhythm and blues, and finally to rock and roll. Turner was a master of traditional blues verses and at the legendary 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 Ertegün, who signed him to their new recording company, Atlantic Records. Turner recorded a number of hits 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!", probably in reference to The Treniers singing the phrase in their Lone Ranger parody "Ride, Red, Ride"). Turner's records shot to the top of the rhythm-and-blues charts; although they were sometimes so earthy that some radio stations wouldn't play them, the songs received heavy play on jukeboxes and records.
Turner hit it big in 1954 with "Shake, Rattle and Roll", which not only enhanced his career, turning him into a teenage favorite, but also helped to transform popular music. The song is fairly raw, as 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!" He sang the number on film in the 1955 theatrical feature Rhythm and Blues Revue.
Although the cover version of the song by Bill Haley and His Comets, with the risqué lyrics incompletely cleaned up, was a bigger hit, many listeners sought out Turner's version and were introduced thereby to the whole world of rhythm and blues. Elvis Presley showed he needed no such introduction. His version of "Shake, Rattle and Roll" combined Turner's lyrics with Haley's arrangement, but was not successful as a single.
In addition to the rock 'n' roll songs, he found time to cut the classic Boss of the Blues album.
After a number of hits in this vein, Turner left popular music behind and returned to his roots as a singer with small jazz combos, recording numerous albums in that style in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1966, Bill Haley helped revive Turner's career by lending him the Comets for a series of popular recordings in Mexico (apparently no one thought of getting the two to record a duet of "Shake, Rattle and Roll", as no such recording has yet surfaced). In 1977 he recorded a version of Guitar Slim's song, "The Things I Used to Do".
In the 1960s and 1970s he was reclaimed by jazz and blues, appearing at many festivals and recording for the impresario Norman Granz's Pablo label, once with his friendly rival, Jimmy Witherspoon. He also worked with the German boogie-woogie pianist Axel Zwingenberger.
It is a mark of his dominance as a singer that he won the Esquire magazine award for male vocalist in 1945, the Melody Maker award for best 'new' vocalist in 1956, and the British Jazz Journal award as top male singer in 1965. His career thus stretched from the bar rooms of Kansas City in the 1920s (at the age of twelve when he performed with a pencilled moustache and his father's hat), on to the European jazz music festivals of the 1980s.
In 1983, only two years before his death, Turner was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame.
He died in Inglewood, California in November 1985, at the age of 74 of a heart attack, having suffered the earlier effects of arthritis, a stroke and diabetes. Big Joe Turner was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.
Tribute
The late, New York Times music critic Robert Palmer, said: "...his voice, pushing like a Count Basie solo, rich and grainy as a section of saxophones, which dominated the room with the sheer sumptuousness of its sound.
Most famous recordings
"Roll 'Em, Pete" - 1938; (available in many versions over the years. Used for the million-dollar first scene in Spike Lee's film, Malcolm X).
"Chains Of Love" - 1951 † (this was Turner's first million seller. The song was written by 'Nugetre' (words) - Ahmet Ertegün, Van Wallis (music), and the disc reached the million by 1954).
"Honey Hush" - 1953 †
"Shake, Rattle and Roll" - 1954
"Flip Flop And Fly" - 1955 † (has sold a million through the years. The song was written by Charles Calhoun and Turner, although credited to the latter's wife, Lou Willie Turner).
"Cherry Red" - 1956
"Corrine, Corrina" - 1956 † (the fourth million seller...with adaption by J. Mayo Williams, Mitchell Parish and Bo Chatmon in 1932. This disc was #41, and spent 10 weeks in the Billboard chart).
"Wee Baby Blues" - 1956; (a song Turner had been singing since his Kingfish Club days)
"Love Roller Coaster" 1956
"Midnight Special" - 1957
Tracks marked as † were million selling discs.
Select discography
Big Joe Rides Again (1956)
The Boss of the Blues (1956)
Bosses of the Blues, Vol. 1 (1969)
Texas Style (1971)
Flip, Flop & Fly (1972)
Life Ain't Easy (1974)
The Trumpet Kings Meet Joe Turner (1974)
My Baby's Gone
Big Joe Turner Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
An' she won't be back no mo'
My baby, gone
An' she won't be back no mo'
Yeah, she left me this mo'nin'
Oh babe, that's all I know
When that little woman was leavin'
Great God-a-Mighty, gone
When that little woman was leavin'
She wouldn't even shake my hand
I tol' her that's alright, baby
Someday you will understand, yeah
Now, that's alright, baby
Take your time now an play it right
Babe, that's alright, the way you do
At's alright, babe
Baby, that's alright, the way you do
Say you always keep some
Fat mouth foll'win' you
You can treat me mean, now-now
An' do anything that you want to do
Take your time play it right, man
You can treat me mean, baby
Do anything that you want to do
But that's alright, sweet mama
Someday it's comin' back home to you
Play the boss now and then
Yeah, yeah
In "My Baby's Gone," Big Joe Turner laments the departure of his lover, whom he believes will not return. The song's lyrics are simple and repetitive, underscoring the singer's despair over the situation. Turner conveys the frustration and sadness of losing someone he cares for, but also recognizes that he can't control what has happened.
The song's first two verses establish the context: Turner's baby is gone, and he doesn't know why or where she's gone. He begins to speculate about what might have happened, suggesting that she "wouldn't even shake my hand" as she was leaving, which suggests that their relationship had soured. In the third and fourth verses, Turner shifts his tone, trying to convince himself that things will be all right even though his lover is gone. He encourages her to take her time and to play it right, acknowledging that he can't force her to stay with him. However, he also implies that she will ultimately regret leaving him behind.
The final verse of the song is the most interesting because it suggests that Turner is not entirely helpless in this situation. He acknowledges that his lover has treated him mean and that she can do whatever she wants, but he reminds her that someday it will come back home to her. In other words, he hopes that she will realize her mistake and want to come back to him, knowing that he is always willing to welcome her back.
Line by Line Meaning
Yeah, my baby, gone
The singer's baby has left him
An' she won't be back no mo'
The singer's baby has left and will not come back
She left me this mo'nin'
The singer's baby left him in the morning
Oh babe, that's all I know
The artist has no further information about his baby's departure
When that little woman was leavin'
The artist's baby is referred to as a 'little woman'
She wouldn't even shake my hand
The singer's baby did not say goodbye to him
I tol' her that's alright, baby
The singer tells his baby that it is okay
Someday you will understand, yeah
The artist believes that his baby will understand his decision one day
Now, that's alright, baby
The artist reassures his baby that everything is okay
Take your time now an play it right
The artist wants his baby to take their time and make the right decisions
At's alright, babe
The singer again reassures his baby that everything is okay
Baby, that's alright, the way you do
The artist is okay with his baby's choices
Say you always keep some
The singer accuses his baby of always having someone following her around
Fat mouth foll'win' you
The singer is calling the person following his baby a 'fat mouth'
You can treat me mean, now-now
The singer is saying that his baby can treat him however she wants now
An' do anything that you want to do
The artist is giving his baby permission to do whatever she wants
But that's alright, sweet mama
The artist reassures his baby once again that everything is okay
Someday it's comin' back home to you
The singer believes that one day his baby will regret her decision and it will come back to her
Play the boss now and then
The singer tells his baby to play the part of the boss every once in a while
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, BMG Rights Management
Written by: HAZEL MARIE HOUSER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Eric Segerstrom
This is AWESOME!!!!!!!!!
ATMABRAHM
Jeff Beck with Rod Stewart do a version of this song on their first album Truth.Joe Turner is terrific,the guitar player is fantastic ,way ahead of his time.
SALİH ÇELİKKOL
Another masterpiece from B.J.Turner.
fieldfullofthistles
One of my favourite guitar solos of all time! No idea who it is - anybody know? fieldfullofthisles
kordbrazil
Great!
Andrew Griggs
When I heard this I was sure it was Bloomfield on guitar. It is him.
5blindboys
@fieldfullofthistles Hey there, I googled and searched and can't find the guitarist. I also would like to know, I think the guitar is exellent throughout the tune with it's beautiful commenting style. Blues masterpiece! I understand why you like it since you're a guitarist yourself.
Eric Segerstrom
@fieldfullofthistles I think the guitarist is Pee Wee Crayton.