Big Joe Turner LIVE Baden-Baden, Germany 1970

BIG JOE TURNER

May 18, 1911, November 24, 1985

one of the true giants of music! 

 He was among the first to mix R&B with boogie-woogie, resulting in jump blues - a style that presaged the birth of rock and roll. The jump blues that Big Joe helped birth shook up R&B and got the world ready for rock 'n' roll
Providing an essential link between the blues and rock 'n' roll, Big Joe Turner is best remembered for his classic 1954 hit "Shake, Rattle and Roll," one of the pioneering songs of rock 'n' roll. Although Turner enjoyed his greatest recorded success with Atlantic Records between 1951 and 1956, rock 'n' roll was actually his second (or third) successful musical career. He started out as an important member of the burgeoning Kansas City jazz scene and helped popularize boogie woogie in the late '30s with pianist Pete Johnson. He also pursued an influential career as one of the most potent blues shouters of the '40s. He was one of the few jazz and blues singers of his generation to become popular with the teenage rock 'n' roll audience. After spending the '60s in relative obscurity, Big Joe Turner returned to jazz and blues, singing on the Pablo label with the likes of Count Basie and Jimmy Witherspoon.

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Feb 26/18
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