YouTube Gold: Shake, Rattle And Roll By Big Joe Turner

One of the greatest songs of the mid 1950s by one of the greatest singers

Big Joe Turner is a somewhat obscure figure today but a towering giant musically. A native of Kansas City, he began to sing early and was known as the Singing Bartender. It may have been that making himself heard over the din of a bar helped him to develop such a powerful voice.

When he teamed up with brilliant pianist Pete Johnson, the two began to develop an iconic sound: a driving piano paired with a ridiculously powerful voice. They did a lot of slow blues numbers of course but their greatest influence came from songs like Shake, Rattle and Roll which was covered by Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley, Bill Haley and Bob Dylan, among many others.

But their greatest collaboration may have been on the song Boogie Woogie Country Girl, where Johnson’s piano work just shimmers.

Although he was recognized as a major influence on rock n roll, there wasn’t much room for him there once the initial burst of greatness was over. So he went back to his roots and played blues and jazz for most of the rest of his career.

By the way, the movie this video came from, Rhythm & Blues Revue, has tons of great stuff including Lionel Hampton, Sarah Vaughn and Cab Calloway, among others.