Big Joe Turner
Big Joe Turner ( born May 18, 1911 in Kansas City, Missouri, † November 24, 1985 in Inglewood, California; actually Joseph Vernon Turner), was an American boogie woogie, blues and rock 'n' roll singer.
Life and work
Already at the age of fourteen he took with his singing impact on the local jazz scene in his native town. The mid- '30s, he met the American boogie-woogie pianist Pete Johnson, with whom he performed together from then on. In 1936 he came to New York, where he became acquainted with Count Basie for the first time.
On December 23, 1938 along with Johnson created his first songs in a swing concert at Carnegie Hall, namely Low Down Dog and It's All Right, Baby. He was promoted in that year by John Hammond. On December 30, 1938, he took along with Pete Johnson whose composition Roll ' em Pete on ( Vocalion # 4607 ), it was followed on June 30, 1939 Cherry Red Thereafter he performed with various jazz greats as Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington and Art Tatum on. In 1945, he signed a recording contract with National Records, where it was produced by Herb Abramson. 1951 then became aware of him Ahmet Ertegun by Abramson and took him to Atlantic Records. As a result, the single Chains Of Love, which reached a high ranking in the rhythm-and - blues charts and was later covered by Pat Boone was born. In the '50s he had several major and minor hit singles, including Shake, Rattle and Roll, Flip, Flop & Fly and Corrine, Corrina, and played with Elmore James (TV Mama ) and King Curtis. Overall, the success held true within limits, but they were enough to make a living.
In the 60s and 70s, Turner toured most of the time. He took with jazz greats such as Dizzy Gillespie and Roy Eldridge on plates and also played with Axel Zwingenberger, with whom he also recorded two highly successful albums. However, cardiac insufficiency and diabetes made him a hard time. His last recordings were with Jimmy Witherspoon.
1983 Big Joe was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame.
On November 24, 1985 Big Joe Turner died in California of kidney failure. Two years later he was inducted posthumously into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Two of his most popular songs were:
- Honey Hush (1953 ) - piano on the original recording: Fats Domino
- Shake, Rattle and Roll ( 1954), the recording was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2001.