Turner, Joseph Vernon Big Joe
(1911–1985)
Turner, Joseph Vernon Big Joe Joseph Vernon Turner, 18 May 1911; Kansas City, MO – 24 November 1985; Inglewood, CA Big Joe Turner was a blues shouter in jazz blues, urban blues, jump-blues, and R&B who had his heyday in the 1940s and 1950s. In his teens, Joe Turner had various jobs: bouncer, barman, and cook in Kansas City nightclubs. From 1926, he teams with boogie-woogie pianist Pete Johnson and they compose their first hits, such as “ Roll ’Em, Pete ,” released in 1938 on Vocalion, and…