Big, Bad & Blue

Turner, Big Joe

album cover

The Baddest Bartender Ever

Big Joe Turner sang in a way that made musicians who'd played thousands and thousands of twelve-bar blues choruses sit up, take notice, and then turn up the heat. The Kansas City shouter had a famously powerful voice— according to legend, he could rock a nightclub without any amplification. He delivered his hard-swinging mix of boogie, R&B, and jump blues with a nonchalance that belied its roof-rattling. Some singers worked; Turner partied.

Amazingly, the extra-large Turner had that ability from the very start of his career, which is documented on the early selections of this torrid three-disc anthology. Recalling his first performing opportunity, Turner remembered being sixteen or seventeen and penciling on a mustache to enter Kansas City's Backbiter's Club. A few years later, he could be heard singing at the Sunset Club with pianist Pete Johnson. Except he wasn't up on stage: Mary Lou Williams, the great jazz pianist from Kansas City, remembers that Turner would sing from behind the bar while serving customers. "I don't think I'll ever forget the thrill of listening to Big Joe shouting . . . while mixing drinks."

Big, Bad, and Blue documents the key points in the evolution of a prolific artist. The early sides, several featuring pianist Johnson, positively sizzle. Turner took Johnson's rhythm-centered approach to boogie, then added swinging horns, more jittery rhythms, and a tomcatting irreverence. The combination made him a star, a "boss of the blues" with a voice as big and boisterous as any America has produced.

Genre: R&B
Released: 1994, Rhino/Atlantic
Key Tracks: "Piney Brown Blues," "Flip, Flop & Fly," "Boogie Woogie Country Girl"
Catalog Choice: I've Been to Kansas City (featuring collaborations with Art Tatum).
Next Stop: Louis Jordan: The Best of Louis Jordan (see p. 412)
After That: Wynonie Harris: Bloodshot Eyes.
Book Pages: 790–791