musicbriefs
2:28in production/ 2:28 · ceiling 15 min
Blues

The Boss of the Blues

Joe Turner · 1956

Big Joe Turner returns to Pete Johnson and the musical partnership behind the hits.

This 1956 Atlantic album reunites Big Joe Turner with pianist Pete Johnson. Their partnership reached back to the Kansas City years and helped bring boogie-woogie to a wider public. By the time of this recording, Turner also had major rhythm-and-blues and rock-and-roll successes. The album gives the older repertoire a substantial new setting.

Blues
Worth your time?

Yes. Hear the whole thing.

What works
    What does not
      Hear it if
      • Listeners interested in the shared ground of blues and swing
      Skip it if
      • Listeners expecting a rock-and-roll singles collection
      The written brief2 min read

      What the record is and where it came from

      This 1956 Atlantic album reunites Big Joe Turner with pianist Pete Johnson. Their partnership reached back to the Kansas City years and helped bring boogie-woogie to a wider public. By the time of this recording, Turner also had major rhythm-and-blues and rock-and-roll successes. The album gives the older repertoire a substantial new setting.

      How it sounds, and how it was made

      Ernie Wilkins supplies the arrangements. Johnson’s piano sits within an ensemble that includes Freddie Green on guitar, Walter Page on bass, Cliff Leeman on drums and a changing cast of horn players. It is an arranged band record, with several resources available around the singer.

      The important relationship is between Turner’s delivery and the organised response of the musicians. Johnson is a returning partner rather than simply another name in the credits.

      What lands

      “Roll ’Em Pete” and “Cherry Red” reconnect the album to material associated with Turner and Johnson. “Wee Baby Blues,” at more than seven minutes, makes room for a different scale of performance than a short hit single.

      The repertoire is the argument: a singer can revisit familiar songs because a new ensemble setting gives those songs more work to do.

      What does not

      The subtitle’s Kansas City emphasis should not be mistaken for a recording of an untouched historical scene. These are 1956 arrangements played by a group whose members had varied backgrounds. Listeners seeking the concise impact of Turner’s rock-and-roll hits may find the longer performances a different proposition.

      The ideas inside it

      Musical history does not have to end when a performer enters a new market. Turner keeps a long partnership and an earlier body of songs available in the present. The album makes continuity audible through collaboration.

      Who should hear it, and who should not

      Hear it for blues singing with piano and arranged ensemble support. It is particularly useful if you know Turner chiefly through his singles and want to understand the musical company he kept.

      Is it worth your time

      Yes. Listen for Johnson as well as Turner. Their renewed partnership gives the record a more compelling centre than its retrospective reputation alone.

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