Big Joe Turner

Blues legend, jazz favorite and roots of rock pioneer - Big Joe Turner was all that and more wrapped in one.

The famed blues shouter came up in the swinging and bluesy jazz scene of ‘30s Kansas City. His fame began to spread nationally after an appearance in the famed “Spiritual to Swing” concerts in Carnegie Hall.

A later residency at the Apollo Theater led to his signing by the fledgling Atlantic label. It was there he would record such classics as “Shake, Rattle and Roll,” “Flip, Flop and Fly,” “Chains of Love” and “Honey Hush.”

Key Albums

One of the best Big Joe Turner collections is the now sadly out-of-print three-disc Big, Band & Blue: The Big Joe Turner Anthology. The two-disc Big Joe Turner Definitive Blues Collection is also a nice place to start with his classic ‘50s recordings. Shout, Rattle and Roll is a four-disc set from Proper. There are also several single-disc greatest-hits sets, including Rhino’s respectable The Very Best of Big Joe Turner.

Jumpin’ With Joe: The Complete Aladdin and Imperial Recordings features some of the material he did before the classic Atlantic era.

Turner’s later albums have a certain (albeit charming) sameness, but two of the finest were The Bosses with another KC legend, Count Basie, and a stunning lineup jazzers providing musical support, and Things That I Used to Do.

Books

No books have yet been written about Big Joe Turner, but he is included in most blues reference books and is also featured in the following:
Jazz Style in Kansas City and the Southwest by Ross Russell (University of California Press)
Lost Highway: Journeys and Arrivals of American Musicians by Peter Guralnick (Vintage)
The Sound of the City by Charlie Gillett (Pantheon)
Unsung Heroes of Rock ‘n’ Roll by Nick Tosches (Harmony Books)
The Rockin’ 50s by Arnold Shaw (DaCapo)

Videos

There are only a few videos available that include footage of Big Joe Turner, including:
Last of the Blue Devils
One for the Money: The Birth of Rock
The American Folk-Blues Festival: The British Tours 1963-1966
Rhythm and Blues at the Apollo

Big Joe Turner - “Hide and Go Seek”:

Big Joe Turner - “Chains of Love”: