Big Joe Turner: The Boss of the Blues Who Shook the World
Count Basie walked into the Sunset Club on Twelfth Street in Kansas City and heard a voice that stopped him cold. Big Joe Turner stood behind the counter mixing drinks and belting the blues so loud the walls shook. No microphone. No amplification. Just raw, earth-shaking power that cut through the roar of a packed house. In fact, Basie later said the man was the greatest blues singer in town. Anyone who came to Kansas City talking about singing the blues had to go listen to him first.
That singing bartender went on to become one of the most important figures in American music. Turner bridged the gap between blues, boogie-woogie, jump blues, and rock and roll across a career that spanned six decades. His 1954 recording of “Shake, Rattle and Roll” became one of the foundational records of the rock and roll era. Yet he never changed his style to chase trends. Instead, the music world kept circling back to meet him where he already stood.
From Kansas City Streets to the Sunset Club
Big Joe Turner was born Joseph Vernon Turner Jr. on May 18, 1911, in Kansas City, Missouri. Tragedy struck early when his father died in a railroad accident, leaving four-year-old Joe to grow up with his mother and grandmother. Because the family had little money, Turner sang on street corners and in church for whatever cash he could collect.
By his early teens, Turner had left school to help support his family. He found work in Kansas City’s thriving nightclub district, first as a cook and later as a bartender and bouncer. This was the Prohibition era, and the city operated under the corrupt political machine of Tom Pendergast. As a result, downtown overflowed with speakeasies, dance halls, and after-hours clubs that stayed open until dawn. For a young man with a booming voice, it was the perfect training ground.
Turner gravitated toward the Backbiter Club, a speakeasy where pianist Pete Johnson held court. The teenage Turner was technically too young to enter, so he drew on a false mustache with eyeliner to sneak past the doorman. He then asked Johnson if he could sing along, and Johnson agreed. That moment launched one of the most important partnerships in blues history.
Turner and Johnson at the Sunset Club
Together, Turner and Johnson became the resident act at the Sunset Club, a narrow venue on Twelfth Street managed by a beloved local figure named Piney Brown. Turner later honored Brown with “Piney Brown Blues,” a song he performed throughout his entire career. At the Sunset, Turner mixed drinks behind the bar while Johnson played piano in the back room. Remarkably, Turner would sing from the bar while Johnson played from across the club, and the music would stretch for forty or fifty minutes without stopping. Saxophonist Jay McShann recalled being amazed that a single tune could fill an entire set.
The Sunset Club scene also attracted bandleaders like Bennie Moten, Andy Kirk, and Count Basie. Turner often sat in with these ensembles, and consequently he learned to project his voice over a full blues band without any amplification. Standing six feet two inches tall and weighing over three hundred pounds, Turner possessed the physical presence to match his vocal power.
Carnegie Hall and the Boogie-Woogie Explosion
Big Joe Turner’s big break came through John Hammond, the legendary talent scout and record producer. Hammond first visited Kansas City in 1936 and heard Turner and Johnson at the Sunset Club. He immediately recognized their potential and brought them to New York. There they appeared on a bill with Benny Goodman. However, as Turner later recalled, New York was not ready for them yet, so they headed back to Kansas City.
Hammond did not forget them. Instead, in December 1938, he invited Turner and Johnson to perform at his historic “From Spirituals to Swing” concert at Carnegie Hall. The event showcased the full spectrum of African American music for a mostly white audience. Turner and Johnson shared the bill with Big Bill Broonzy, Sonny Terry, the Golden Gate Quartet, and Count Basie. Their performance electrified the crowd and helped ignite a national boogie-woogie craze.
Following the Carnegie Hall triumph, Turner and Johnson recorded “Roll ‘Em Pete” for the Vocalion label. The track set traditional blues verses over Johnson’s driving boogie-woogie piano. Its relentless energy made it a sensation. As a result, many historians consider “Roll ‘Em Pete” one of the earliest precursors to rock and roll. Notably, Turner recorded the song dozens of times throughout his career with various musicians. Spike Lee later used it for the opening scene of his film Malcolm X.
Café Society and the New York Scene
In 1939, Turner and Johnson joined boogie-woogie pianists Albert Ammons and Meade Lux Lewis for a residency at Café Society. This groundbreaking New York nightclub welcomed integrated audiences. There, Turner appeared on the same bill as Billie Holiday and Frankie Newton’s band. His best-known recordings from this period include “Cherry Red,” “I Want a Little Girl,” and “Wee Baby Blues.” Furthermore, Turner and Johnson also appeared on Benny Goodman’s nationally broadcast Camel Caravan radio show. That exposure introduced their sound to listeners across the country.
The West Coast Years and Wartime Hustle
By 1941, Turner had relocated to Los Angeles. There he performed in Duke Ellington’s stage revue Jump for Joy in Hollywood. He appeared as a singing policeman in a comedy sketch, blending his massive vocal talent with theatrical showmanship. Consequently, Los Angeles became his home base for much of the 1940s. He quickly became a regular performer on Central Avenue, the hub of Black music and culture on the West Coast.
Turner’s wartime years were remarkably productive. In addition to club performances, he appeared in musical short films called Soundies during 1944. He also played at the Cavalcades of Jazz concerts at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles alongside Count Basie and Dizzy Gillespie. In 1945, Turner and Pete Johnson opened their own venue, the Blue Moon Club.
That same year, Turner signed with National Records and recorded under Herb Abramson’s supervision. Abramson would later co-found Atlantic Records. Turner’s first hit single was a cover of Saunders King’s “S.K. Blues.” Additionally, he recorded a spirited duet with Wynonie Harris called “Battle of the Blues” for Aladdin Records. Although none of his National recordings became massive sellers, they kept Turner visible during a transitional period in American music.
The Shift from Big Bands to Jump Blues
Meanwhile, the music industry was shifting beneath everyone’s feet. The big band era was fading as wartime economics made large ensembles too expensive to maintain. Smaller combos playing jump blues — the up-tempo, dance-driven hybrid pioneered by artists like Louis Jordan and T-Bone Walker — were taking over jukeboxes and dance halls. Turner’s powerful voice and preference for fast, rhythmic material positioned him perfectly for this new era.
Atlantic Records and the Rock and Roll Revolution
The most transformative chapter in Big Joe Turner’s career began almost by accident. In 1951, he stepped in as a substitute vocalist when Jimmy Rushing left the Count Basie Orchestra. While performing with Basie at Harlem’s Apollo Theater, Turner caught the attention of Ahmet Ertegun, the co-founder of Atlantic Records. Ertegun signed Turner immediately.
In turn, Atlantic Records gave Turner the platform, the songwriters, and the production team he needed to reach a mass audience. His first major Atlantic hit, “Chains of Love,” climbed to number one on the R&B chart in 1951. It eventually sold over a million copies. “Sweet Sixteen” followed in 1952, and then “Honey Hush” hit number one in 1953 — another million-seller.
However, the record that changed everything arrived on February 15, 1954. Turner walked into an Atlantic recording session in New York and laid down “Shake, Rattle and Roll.” Jesse Stone wrote the song under his pseudonym Charles Calhoun. Stone was a fellow Kansas City musician who had been writing hits for Atlantic artists like Ruth Brown. For this session, Atlantic assembled an all-star band. Mickey Baker played guitar, Connie Kay sat behind the drums, and Sam “The Man” Taylor handled tenor saxophone. Ahmet Ertegun and Jerry Wexler produced the track. According to Turner, they also sang the backing vocals because no other singers were available.
“Shake, Rattle and Roll” Changes Everything
“Shake, Rattle and Roll” hit number one on the Billboard R&B chart. It also crossed over to number twenty-two on the Pop chart. Naturally, the song’s driving rhythm, blaring horns, and Turner’s commanding vocals made it an instant sensation. Within weeks, a young Bill Haley recorded a sanitized cover version with His Comets. Haley toned down Turner’s suggestive lyrics, and his version climbed even higher on the Pop chart. Elvis Presley later recorded his own take that blended Turner’s original words with Haley’s arrangement. In this way, Turner’s record became one of the key sparks that ignited the rock and roll explosion.
Turner followed “Shake, Rattle and Roll” with a string of additional Atlantic hits. “Flip, Flop and Fly” arrived in 1955 and eventually sold a million copies. “Corrine, Corrina” in 1956 became his fourth million-seller. Other notable recordings from this period include “TV Mama,” “Lipstick, Powder and Paint,” and “Boogie Woogie Country Girl.” On many of these tracks, Turner punctuated his vocals with shouts to the band — encouraging solos and driving the energy higher.
What made Turner extraordinary was that he never altered his style to fit the rock and roll market. He had been singing this way since the 1930s in Kansas City. The blues shouting technique that once powered through noisy speakeasies now powered through teenage dance parties. As a result, each new generation heard his music and classified it differently. Some called it jazz. Others called it rhythm and blues. Still others called it rock and roll. But Turner was always just singing the blues.
Return to Jazz and Blues Roots
By the late 1950s, Turner stepped away from the rock and roll spotlight. He left Atlantic Records around 1960 and returned to performing with small jazz combos and blues ensembles. This was the format he had always loved most. During the 1960s and 1970s, he toured extensively across the United States and Europe. He appeared at major jazz and blues festivals wherever they would have him.
In 1965, Turner toured England with trumpeter Buck Clayton and trombonist Vic Dickenson, accompanied by Humphrey Lyttelton and his band. As a result, British audiences embraced him warmly, and he won the Jazz Journal award as top male singer that year. The British Blues Invasion had already introduced a new generation of European fans to American blues, and Turner’s appearances reinforced the deep respect that British musicians held for the original masters.
Turner also recorded prolifically during this period. He cut albums for Norman Granz’s Pablo Records and collaborated with a wide range of musicians. He toured again with the Count Basie Orchestra and appeared in the 1979 documentary film The Last of the Blue Devils, a Kansas City jazz reunion that also featured Jay McShann and Jimmy Forrest. Furthermore, he contributed to the soundtrack for the television miniseries Roots in 1977.
Meanwhile, an interesting footnote emerged in 1966 when Bill Haley — the man who had covered “Shake, Rattle and Roll” twelve years earlier — helped revive Turner’s recording career. Haley lent Turner his band, the Comets, for a series of recordings released on the Orfeón label in Mexico.
A Legacy That Echoes Through American Music
Big Joe Turner’s final years brought both recognition and physical hardship. Diabetes, a stroke, and severe arthritis made performing increasingly difficult. He often performed while seated. Turner had adopted this practice earlier in life after breaking both legs in a childhood fire. Despite these challenges, he kept recording and appearing at festivals.
Remarkably, in 1983, Turner collaborated with the Rhode Island-based band Roomful of Blues on the album Blues Train. The record won a Grammy Award and demonstrated that his voice had lost none of its power. That same year, the Blues Foundation inducted him into the Blues Hall of Fame. The Foundation recognized Turner as a pioneer of shout blues, boogie-woogie, rhythm and blues, and rock and roll.
Turner died of heart failure on November 24, 1985, in Inglewood, California, at the age of seventy-four. His funeral featured musical tributes from Etta James and Barbara Morrison. He was buried at Roosevelt Memorial Park in Gardena, California.
Two years after his death, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted Turner posthumously. The Hall hailed him as the brawny-voiced Boss of the Blues. Songwriter Doc Pomus offered perhaps the most fitting tribute when he said that rock and roll would have never happened without him.
An Influence That Spans Generations
Turner’s influence runs through virtually every corner of popular music. B.B. King absorbed his showmanship. Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley built on the rhythmic foundation he helped establish. Elvis Presley’s career arguably began with a Turner song. Similarly, Buddy Guy and Stevie Ray Vaughan carried forward the raw vocal-guitar interplay that Turner had perfected decades earlier. Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters built the Chicago blues sound on many of the same principles Turner championed — power, rhythm, and fearless delivery.
Moreover, Turner’s partnership with Louis Jordan laid the very foundation of rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, these two artists spent the 1940s producing one swinging R&B masterpiece after another. Together, they proved that the blues could be powerful, danceable, commercially successful, and deeply authentic all at once.
From a Kansas City bar stool to Carnegie Hall, from Atlantic Records to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Big Joe Turner never stopped singing the blues. He simply sang them louder, longer, and harder than anyone else — and the world rearranged itself around his voice.
Essential Big Joe Turner Listening
For anyone exploring Turner’s music, these recordings capture the full arc of his remarkable career. “Roll ‘Em Pete” (1938) documents the raw boogie-woogie energy of his early partnership with Pete Johnson. “Chains of Love” (1951) marks his breakthrough on Atlantic Records. “Shake, Rattle and Roll” (1954) stands as one of the most important recordings in American music history. “Flip, Flop and Fly” (1955) showcases his ability to command a full band with nothing but his voice. Finally, Blues Train (1983) proves that Turner’s power endured right up to the end.
The four-CD box set Shout, Rattle and Roll on Proper Records provides the most comprehensive overview of his career. It spans from his earliest recordings through his Atlantic years and beyond.
Frequently Asked Questions About Big Joe Turner
Who was Big Joe Turner?
Big Joe Turner was an American blues shouter born in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1911. His career spanned from the 1920s through the 1980s, and he played a central role in the development of jump blues, rhythm and blues, and rock and roll. He earned the nickname “Boss of the Blues” for his commanding vocal style
What is Big Joe Turner best known for?
Big Joe Turner is best known for recording the original version of “Shake, Rattle and Roll” in 1954 for Atlantic Records. The song hit number one on the R&B chart and became one of the foundational records of rock and roll. Bill Haley and Elvis Presley both recorded famous cover versions.
How did Big Joe Turner influence rock and roll?
Turner helped bridge the gap between blue and rock and roll through his up-tempo vocal style and his recordings for Atlantic Records. His 1938 recording of “Roll ‘Em Pete” is considered one of the earliest precursors to rock and roll. “Shake, Rattle and Roll” directly influenced artists like Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, and Bill Haley.
What was the partnership between Big Joe Turner and Pete Johnson?
Turner and pianist Pete Johnson formed one of the most iconic partnerships in blues history. They met in the early 1930s at Kansas City speakeasies and became the resident act at the Sunset Club. Their 1938 performance at the Carnegie Hall “From Spirituals to Swing” concert launched both of their national careers.
Was Big Joe Turner inducted into the Hall of Fame?
Big Joe Turner was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1983 and posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. The Rock Hall praised him as the brawny-voiced Boss of the Blues.
What was Big Joe Turner’s vocal style?
Turner was a “blues shouter” — a singer powerful enough to project his voice over a full band without any microphone or amplification. His deep baritone combined raw power with rhythmic precision and the ability to improvise lyrics for extended periods. This style developed in the noisy speakeasies and nightclubs of Kansas City during the 1920s and 1930s.
