Very Best of Big Joe Turner

by Joe Turner

Product Description:

Personnel includes: Big Joe Turner (vocals); Van "Piano Man" Walls.

Producers: Ahmet Ertegun, Herb Abramson, Joe Turner, Nesuhi Ertegun, Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller.

Compilation producer: Billy Vera.

Includes liner notes by Billy Vera and Alan Swyer.

This 16-track Rhino collection provides an excellent overview of the 1950s Atlantic recordings of revered blues shouter Big Joe Turner. Starting out on the Kansas City, Missouri blues scene, the massive singer excelled in boogie-woogie and jump-blues styles, but he is most well known for his singles that helped to shape early rock & roll, most notably his rollicking original version of "Shake, Rattle and Roll," later famously covered by Bill Haley & the Comets.

In addition to that groundbreaking classic, THE VERY BEST OF BIG JOE TURNER offers up numerous other hits, including the slinky "Sweet Sixteen," the lively "Honey Hush," and the rousing "Flip Flop and Fly." What really make these proto-rock tunes remarkable, of course, are Turner's powerful vocals, which are immediately arresting and strikingly resonant. This is a fairly comprehensive look at a key period in Big Joe's career, and a nice introduction to the artist as well.