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Big Joe Turner and Count Basie didn't go well in their heydays. Here's
some excerpts from Rhino's anthology of Big Joe Turner. I supplemented
some parts in ().
- Kazunori
... While singing at the Sunset in early 1936 he was heard by John
Hammond, impressario of jazz and blues, who was in town to get the Count
Basie band for a job in New York. A side trip to the Sunset introduced
him to the Johnson-Turner duo.
Joe claims that Hammond wanted him to accompany Basie to New York, but
Joe demurred. "I was working with Pete Johnson and them, and I never
sang with a 12-piece band with arrangements. I was a little awkward
singing with those arrangements. So I told him I'd rather wait until he
came back here sometime and bring me and Pete to New York." ...
(Then came "From Spirituals To Swing" concerts, boogie woogie craze in
late 1930s, Cafe Society days, Decca and Natinal recordings - his first
prime time. After 11 singles on National, Joe left the label at the end
of 1947. Ahmet Ertegun established Atlantic with Herb Abramson, who
produced Joe in National, just before that.)
Discovering that Joe had been called in to substitue in the Count
Basie band for departed vocalist Jimmy Rushing, Ertegun went to the
Apollo Theatre to see the Basie show. "I went down to the first show,
and he'd just joined the band. Joe Turner sings strictly traditional
eight- or twelve-bar blues. But Basie had refined those arrangements as
the years went by, and the arrangements for the stage had become much
more sophisticated. They probably hadn't had many rehearsals, if any. So
Joe Turner was announced, and he came onstage and started to sing 'Sent
For You Yesterday' or whatever. But instead of the usual two-bar fill at
the end of the 12-bar frames, the band would extend them. Joe came back
right on the beat where he was supposed to, but the arrangements went
another way. So halfway into the song they were completely off, which
sent the crowd into hysterical laughter.
"I felt very bad for Joe Turner. I went backstage during the break,
but he'd already left. I walked down 126th Street to the corner, and I
saw him in Braddock's Bar where he was having a drink. I walked in and
he looked kind of dejected. I said, 'Man, forget about all this shit. I
know I can make hit records with you. We're going to do a whole new
thing.' That sort of cheered him up."
Joe's recollection to James Austin differ from Ertegun's only
slightly: "After the show he came backstage and talked to me. We went
out to dinner, and he asked me how I would like to record for him. I
told him it would be OK if he paid me my money. But I didn't know how
much money to ask for. He said he'd give me $500. I thought that was
something. I said, 'Yeah, that's good!' That was four sides. So about
three or four weeks later we went into the studio, and he recorded me,
and it went over so good, he recorded me again."
(Then came his second prime time. "Chains Of Love", "The Chill Is On",
"Sweet Sixteen", "Don't You Cry", "Honey Hush", "TV Mama", "Shake,
Rattle And Roll" etc. But he dropped from the Atlantic's roster in the
eraly 1960s. But finally he recorded with Count Basie in a small combo
style in Pablo. "The Bosses: Count Basie - Joe Turner" Pablo #2310 709,
1974)
Big Joe's recording activity in the 1970s consisted mostly of
rerecorded versions of his great hits, as in the case with "My Little
Honeydripper." This track was originally recorded in 1959 as a standard
R&B midtempo tune. During Joe's stint with Pablo, he recorded an album
with Count Basie. Joe amd the Count perform "Honeydripper," a blues
standard, which shows Joe's versatility during his Pablo years. ...
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