‘Big’ Joe Turner

“Shake Rattle And Roll”, by ‘Big’ Joe Turner, is my favourite recording. I know this because a couple of decades ago — when I used to listen to the radio to hear its music — over the period of a long weekend, a countdown of ‘The Top 1,000 Hits Of All Time’ would invariably be played; with such playlists being published in the newspaper, leading up to that particular long weekend. One day, years later, I sat down to write out my own list of just 100 top recordings. To my surprise I ended up with the names of more than 120 which I, just as surprisingly, could not cull further. There, at the top of this list was “Shake, Rattle And Roll” by ‘Big’ Joe Turner.

Joseph Vernon Turner was born in Kansas City. While he had sufficient work singing in the clubs of his home town, when he moved to New York, in 1935, he found such work hard to obtain. Gradually, the opportunities did come his way and he was able to perform alongside some of the greatest names in jazz.

After the War his recordings gravitated towards the characteristics of rhythm and blues. These can be identified in such recordings as “My Gal’s A Jockey” (which doesn’t have anything to do with being a jockey) and “Sally Zu-Zazz”, both from 1946.

In 1951, ‘Big’ Joe was signed to the fledgling Atlantic label and under this livery he was to reap a string of hits. Initially, these consisted of blues ballads like “The Chill Is On” and “Chains Of Love” — which was to be revived by Pat Boone, in 1956 — before such up-tempo numbers as the self-penned classic “Honey Hush” (1953), “Shake, Rattle And Roll” (1954), “Flip, Flop And Fly” (1955) and “The Chicken And The Hawk” (1956), raised his popularity to new heights.

‘Big’ Joe Turner died in November of 1985, at the age of seventy-four.

The names of more tracks by Joe Turner can be found in the suggested playlists.

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