By the time the Kansas City jazz scene died with the imprisonment of Big Tom Pendergast in 1940, it had made indelible changes not only to jazz but to American music as a whole. One duo that left KC and went to New York in the early fifties were KC native and singer Big Joe Turner and pianist Pete Johnson who started playing together at the Sunset Club and then picked up regular gigs at the Kingfish and the Back-Biters’ Club. These clubs were owned by The Pineys—Walter “Little Piney” Brown and his older brother, Thomas Jefferson “Big Piney” Brown—who are responsible for getting Big Joe’s career going.
When Joe and Pete signed to Atlantic Records, they recorded a slew of numbers that were of the most defining sounds of rock and roll. Basically, it combined blues with boogie-woogie and backed with a KC-style band with large sax section. These songs include classics as “Shake, Rattle and Roll,” “Roll ‘Em Pete” (originally recorded in 1938), “The Chicken and the Hawk,” “Flip, Flop and Fly,” “Honey Hush,” and “Boogie Woogie Country Girl.” All rock and roll classics.
Big Joe Turner - Shake, Rattle & Roll - YouTube
In this clip, Joe is backed by the great Detroit band of Paul Williams whose own million-seller “The Hucklebuck” (1949) is considered one of the first rock and roll songs. It was based on a bop number called “Now’s the Time” by another KC native, Charlie “Bird” Parker. Turner wasn’t called “Big Joe” for nothing. His voice was so loud, when he sang at Carnegie Hall, he did not use a microphone. This clip demonstrates how deeply rock and roll’s roots are embedded in Kansas City jazz.
Pete Johnson - Rocket Boogie - YouTube
Pete Johnson was quite famous in his day but has been largely forgotten now. He and Joe recorded together for many years but also recorded their own material separately (Pete even recorded as a backup singer). Pete’s “Rocket Boogie” served as the basis for “Rocket 88” by Ike Turner & His Kings of Rhythm who recorded the number at Sun Studios in 1952 (Sam Phillips, for some reason, renamed them Jackie Brenston & the Delta Cats). This is often cited as the first true song of rock and roll (Ike Turner dismissed this notion contemptuously throughout his career). Ike Turner’s piano intro on the number was lifted and played note-for-note by Little Richard in “Good Golly Miss Molly.” So, again, we see how the legacy of Kansas City jazz was passed on in the early days of rock and roll.
Big Joe Turner at Sportree’s Bar on Hastings Street in Detroit. He is in the center of the photo with the dark suit next to King Porter whose band played hard-hitting R&B. Paul “Hucklebuck” Williams was an alumnus of this band. The great singer, Alberta Adams, is seen on the left with the dark-collar on her coat.
Joe played with everybody who was anybody in the jazz and blues scenes. Here, he uses the great King Kolax ensemble as backup. The Kolax band was another of the great KC jazz bands and Kolax himself (playing the trumpet) is another of the forgotten great jazzmen.
Joe also jammed with the greatest KC jazzman of them all