Roll 'Em Pete - Big Joe Turner, Johnson, Pete [Pian
Goin' Away Blues [Takes 1 & 2] - Big Joe Turner, Johnson, Pete [Pian
Cherry Red - Big Joe Turner, Johnson, Pete [Pian
It's All Right Baby [Live] - Big Joe Turner, Johnson, Pete [Pian
Careless Love - Big Joe Turner, Handy, W.C.
Piney Brown Blues - Big Joe Turner, Johnson, Pete [Pian
Rocks in My Bed - Big Joe Turner, Ellington, Duke
Blues on Central Avenue - Big Joe Turner, Turner, Big Joe [50
Sun Risin' Blues - Big Joe Turner, Turner, Big Joe [1]
Johnson & Turner Blues - Big Joe Turner, Johnson, Pete [Pian
I'm a Lovin' Man [Live][#] - Big Joe Turner,
My Gal's a Jockey - Big Joe Turner, Turner, Big Joe [1]
Sally Zu-Zazz - Big Joe Turner, Turner, Big Joe [50
New Oo-Wee Baby Blues (Wee Baby Blues) - Big Joe Turner, Johnson, Pete [Pian
Battle of the Blues, Pt. 1 - Big Joe Turner, Harris, Wynonie
Hollywood Red (Cherry Red Blues) - Big Joe Turner, Johnson, Pete [Pian
Radar Blues - Big Joe Turner, Owens, Horace
Tell Me Pretty Baby (Howdy 'Ya Want Your Rollin' Done) - Big Joe Turner, Turner, Joe [1]
Wine-O-Baby Boogie - Big Joe Turner, Turner, Big Joe [1]
Track Listings (19) - Disc #2
Jumpin' at the Jubilee - Big Joe Turner, Kahal, Irving
Still in the Dark - Big Joe Turner, Turner, Big Joe [1]
Chains of Love - Big Joe Turner, Bell, Andy [Erasure
The Chill Is On - Big Joe Turner, Turner, Big Joe [50
Bump Miss Susie - Big Joe Turner, Toombs, Rudy
Sweet Sixteen - Big Joe Turner, Ertegun, Ahmet
Don't You Cry - Big Joe Turner, Pomus, Doc
Still in Love - Big Joe Turner, Pomus, Doc
Honey Hush - Big Joe Turner, Cole, Nat King
Crawdad Hole - Big Joe Turner, Turner, Big Joe [1]
TV Mama - Big Joe Turner, Turner, Lou Willie
Oke-She-Moke-She-Pop - Big Joe Turner, Turner, Big Joe [1]
Shake, Rattle & Roll - Big Joe Turner, Calhoun, Charles E.
You Know I Love You - Big Joe Turner, Turner, Lou Willie
Married Woman - Big Joe Turner, Turner, Lou Willie
Well All Right - Big Joe Turner, Calhoun, Chuck
Ti-Ri-Lee - Big Joe Turner, Ertegun, Ahmet
Flip Flop and Fly - Big Joe Turner, Calhoun, Charles E.
In the Evening (When the Sun Goes Down) - Big Joe Turner, Carr, Leroy
Track Listings (23) - Disc #3
Hide and Seek - Big Joe Turner, Byrd, Ethel
Midnight Cannonball - Big Joe Turner, Turner, Big Joe [1]
Morning, Noon and Night - Big Joe Turner, Calhoun, Charles E.
The Chicken and the Hawk (Up, up and Away) - Big Joe Turner, Leiber, Jerry
Corrine, Corrina - Big Joe Turner, Chatman, Bo
Boogie Woogie Country Girl - Big Joe Turner, Ashby, Reginald
Rock a While - Big Joe Turner, Nightengale, Billy
Lipstick, Powder and Paint - Big Joe Turner, Stone, Jesse
Love Rollercoaster - Big Joe Turner, Pomus, Doc
Teenage Letter - Big Joe Turner, Richard, Renald
(We're Gonna) Jump for Joy - Big Joe Turner, Turner, Joe [1]
Low Down Dog - Big Joe Turner, Turner, Big Joe [50
Morning Glories - Big Joe Turner, Traditional
You're Driving Me Crazy - Big Joe Turner, Donaldson, Walter
I Want a Little Girl - Big Joe Turner, Mencher, Murray
Nobody in Mind - Big Joe Turner, Turner, Big Joe [50
Rebecca - Big Joe Turner, Turner, Big Joe [50
Don't You Make Me High - Big Joe Turner, Barker, Danny [Jazz
Time After Time - Big Joe Turner, Cahn, Sammy
My Little Honeydripper - Big Joe Turner, Nelson
Honeydripper - Big Joe Turner, Liggins, Joe
Can't Read, Can't Write Blues - Big Joe Turner, Turner, Big Joe [50
Crawdad Hole - Big Joe Turner, Turner, Big Joe [1]
Joe Turner had one of the great 50-year careers. Beginning as a blues shouter in the '30s with his partner, pianist Pete Johnson, in Kansas City bars, he recorded often in a variety of contexts: as a duo with Johnson, with... more » honking jump-blues bands, in front of small combos in the rock & roll era, with jazz and blues groups until close to his death in 1985. Capable of handling a huge range of material from 12-bar hollers to pop ballads, Turner easily fills this three-CD set with his vast depth and humor. --Rickey Wright« less
Joe Turner had one of the great 50-year careers. Beginning as a blues shouter in the '30s with his partner, pianist Pete Johnson, in Kansas City bars, he recorded often in a variety of contexts: as a duo with Johnson, with honking jump-blues bands, in front of small combos in the rock & roll era, with jazz and blues groups until close to his death in 1985. Capable of handling a huge range of material from 12-bar hollers to pop ballads, Turner easily fills this three-CD set with his vast depth and humor. --Rickey Wright
CD Reviews
The Boss of the Blues
Docendo Discimus | Vita scholae | 01/20/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This impressive, three-disc anthology, which includes a superb fifty-page booklet with pictures, an essay, and extensive recording information, is by far the best and most comprehensive Joe Turner-compilation going.
Joseph Vernon Turner was the premier blues shouter of the 30s and 40s, and he was equally adept at singing blues, R&B, jazz, swing, and even proto-rock n' roll.
He enjoyed a lengthy coorporation with highly esteemed piano player Kermit "Pete" Johnson, who appears on Turner's late-30s recordings, and the reappears on some of his late-40s waxings, and again in the mid-50s.
In fact, Big Joe Turner's music very often features the piano as the main instrument, and his upbeat jump blues is quite different from the gritty electric Chicago variety of men like Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, and Elmore James (although James actually plays slide guitar on one of Turner's singles, the excellent "TV Mama").
This is urban, often jazz-flavoured blues, and "Big, Bad & Blue" gathers (almost) every Joe Turner-song of note, including the lusty "Tell Me Pretty Baby (Howdy 'Ya Want Your Rollin' Done)", "My Gal's A Jockey", "Hide And Seek", and "Chicken And The Hawk", as well as slower, moodier pieces like "Chains Of Love", "Still In The Dark", "In The Evening (When The Sun Goes Down)", "Sweet Sixteen", and a superb, soulful take on "Honeydripper".
Big Joe Turner was the first to record "Shake, Rattle & Roll", which was written by Atlantic records staff producer Jesse Stone (under the name Charles Calhoun) for a Turner session. It's a shame that this song is mostly remembered for Bill Haley's corny, whitewashed version...listen to the powerful, swinging original, and you'll forget about Haley's bland pop rendition, as well as Elvis Presley's early rockabilly recording.
These three discs are filled with tough boogie romps like "Honey Hush", swinging, classic blues tunes like "Midnight Cannonball", and slow, jazz-styled shuffles like the dirty "Don't You Make Me High", showing how Joe Turner, without really ever changing his style, moved from strict Kansas City swing to pioneering rock & roll and back to basic jazzy blues.
Highly recommended."
WOW
Docendo Discimus | 11/08/1998
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This is great stuff. If you like r&b, rock, and jump blues, then why don't you own this already? This is the set to get of the most important blues shouter in the history of music."
The man can sing
Delta Dave | Santa Clara, CA United States | 08/17/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"With impeccable phasing and a swinging band behind him, Big Joe belts out chorus upon chorus of down home and down town blues. Occasionally a lyric is reused under a different song title. No matter. This CD collection is a fascinating journey through pre-rock'n'roll swing, morphing in and out of rhythm and blues. West Coast Swing dancers will find this to be a great party set. The man and his music are well documented in the included booklet. However, I would have preferred three separate jewel cases to the Rube Goldberg packaging provided."
Track Listings (19) - Disc #1