This page contains Big Joe Turner songs, albums and video links. Music profile for Big Joe Turner with events, tracks, videos, pictures, lyrics and band information.
Big Joe Turner (born Joseph Vernon Turner Jr., May 18 1911 – November 24 1985<ref>[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0877413/ IMDb database]</ref>) was an United States|American blues shouter from Kansas City, Missouri|Kansas City, Missouri.
Career
Although he came to his greatest fame in the 1950s with his pioneering rock and roll sound recording and reproduction|recordings, particularly "Shake, Rattle and Roll", Turner's career as a performer stretched from the 1920s into the 1980s.
Known variously as The Boss of the Blues, and Big Joe Turner (due to his 6'2", 300+ lbs stature), Turner was born in Kansas City and first discovered his love of music through involvement in the Christian Church|church. Turner's father was killed in a train accident when Joe was only four years old.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/artist/zq8c/ "Big Joe Turner"] at BBC website</ref> He began singing on street corners for money, leaving school at age fourteen to begin working in Kansas City's nightclub|club scene, first as a chef|cook, and later as a singing bartender. He eventually became known as The Singing Barman, and worked in such venues as The Kingfish Club and The Sunset, where he and his piano playing partner Pete Johnson became resident performers. The Sunset was managed by Piney Brown. It featured "separate but equal" facili... read all
