The Forgotten Pioneers of Rock 'n Roll

"BIG JOE TURNER"

Big Joe Turner was a veteran of the Kansas City Music Scene for many years.
He started clear back in 1938 when Kansas City was the wildest and most corrupt
city in the United States.Because of the "anything goes" attitude of those years
Kansas City had more Nightclubs with Live Music than probably any city in the
world.The music that came out of Kansas City was as wild as the city itself-
many great artists spent time honing thier skills in Kansas City from Charlie
Parker to John Coltrane for it was also mecca for jazz players as well.The
music that Big Joe Turner specialized in was upbeat R&B that was a bit
on the wild side-in that respect Big Joe fit right into the Kansas City music
scene-for the music that he was performing was essentially Rock 'n Roll-
but Joe was just about 16 years ahead of his time-but not in Kansas City !
In 1954 Big Joe released "Shake,Rattle and Roll".The song crossed over
into Billboard's Pop Charts climbing clear up to #22 and making it one the
very first Rock 'n Roll songs by a black man to reach white audiences.
In this sense Joe Turner was a pioneer of the highest order as it was nearly
impossible in those day's for a Black artist to crossover into the pop charts.
Joe's version of the song was so great,so powerful that even Elvis
couldn't top Joe's version.Now that's what i call a true pioneer and a
visionary.

note:Joe Turner had quite a few hits on the R&B charts and "Shake,Rattle and Roll"
went to #1.



Written by Pete Holly-Copyright-2009-All rights reserved