"The Boss of the Blues", Big Joe Turner, 6' 2" and 300 lbs ,began working Kansas City clubs at the ripe old age of fourteen. The big blues shouter had a successful run leaping from KC to the NYC scene in a dazzling musical shift from big bands to jump blues and eventually rhythm & blues. In 1951, he was signed to Atlantic by the Ertegün brothers (it was Ahmet that Curtis Armstrong played in Ray (2004)) and he had a long run of hits on the R&B charts, and though his 1954 single, "Shake, Rattle & Roll," would take a backseat to Bill Haley's cleaned up cover, music lovers seeking out Turner's original turning the big man into a rockstar at 43. Big Joe was a non-stop performer from the the 1920's until he passed away in the mid-80's.
(There's other videos of Big Joe doing the clean version of the song...but I like Shakin' & Rattlin' a little bit dirtier...Enjoy!)
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