Joe Turner ( Born 18/05/1911, Died 24/11/1985)

Many would argue that he was the link between the old and new, between blues and the early days of rock&roll and many more might argue he wasn't really a blues artist at all.
Whatever your stance, 'Big' Joe Turner (born Joseph Vernon Turner) had a long and varied career and is one of the Primer's favourite artists. He teamed up with Pete Johnson, the boogie woogie pianist, early on in his career and their professional relationship lasted around 40 years.

His early releases showcased his ability to sing jazz but, especially important given his subsequent career development, also proved his ability as a blues shouter. Early in his career, he sang with many of the best bands in Kansas City but eventually found his way to New York City, recording jazz blues and jump blues for the National and Aladdin labels amongst others in the 40s. In the late 40s his style began to veer towards R&B (on some occasions he was backed by Dave Bartholomew's band, later the arranger and band leader for Fats Domino).

He joined Atlantic in 1951 and initially continued in the blues ballad tradition with songs such as 'Chains Of Love' and 'Sweet Sixteen'. However, this all changed with the release of 'Shake, Rattle And Roll' and the rest, as they say, is history. The song became a rock and roll standard, albeit usually lyrically cleaned up, no doubt to protect America's sensitive white youth of the time (sarcasm aside, in practice it wouldn't have got the airplay required without the changes that were made).
Turner followed up this song with a series of sometimes derivative but hugely enjoyable tracks in a similar vein, including 'Teenage Letter', 'Honey Hush' and 'Flip, Flop And Fly'. These are all available on the CD "Big Joe Turner - Greatest Hits" produced by Sequel, the Rhino collection "Best Of" or the "Platinum Collection" - get the one you can find easily!

To prove he could still cut it singing what he played played earlier in his career, he cut "Boss Of The Blues" at the height of his commercial success, accompanied by Johnson again and a superb band. The album has deservedly become a classic and has been re-released on at least three occasions to my knowledge and is still available.
Like too many other artists outlined in this short primer, Turner went through a period of relative obscurity (unusually though, it was the 60s that were tough for Joe) but he did undergo a partial revival in the 70s, releasing occasional albums along the way.

Much of Turner's material was popular stuff (his detractors would say populist) but it was all tremendously entertaining and a Greatest Hits or Best Of is essential listening, along with the aforementioned "Boss Of The Blues".