Joe Turner – Tell Me Pretty Baby / Arhoolie CD-333

Description

CD 333

Joe Turner – vocals
with Pete Johnson – piano & his orchestra.

All of Arhoolie LP/C 2004 plus 12 previously un-reissued sides. Recorded in Los Angeles 1947-1949.

1. Wine-O-Baby Boogie
2. B & O Blues
3. Rocket Boogie 88 Pt.1
4. Old Piney Brown’s Gone
5. Baby Won’t You Marry Me
6. Skid Row Boogie
7. Christmas Date Boogie
8. Radar Blues
9. Tell Me Pretty Baby
10. Rocket Boogie 88 Pt.2
11. Trouble Blues
12. Half Tight Boogie
13. Mardi Gras Boogie
14. My Heart Belongs To You
15. So Many Women Blues
16. Messin’ Around
17. I Don’t Dig It
18. Rainy Weather Blues
19. Boogie Woogie Baby
20. Married Woman Blues
21. Feelin’ So Sad
22. Moody Baby
23. Around The Clock Blues Pt.1
24. Around The Clock Blues Pt.2

REVIEWS

“Joe Turner is the granddaddy of jump blues vocalists a robust shouter who in one turn of phrase can encompass the sweaty thrill of great sex the dangerous abandon of a weekend bender and the anticipatory rush of a roadhouse saxophone break. From his early recordings in the 1940s up through his quintessential and influential Atlantic work from the ’50s Joe Turner epitomized rock-and-roll’s spirit so thoroughly that its creation seems impossible without his big booming presence. His Atlantic classics are amply documented as are his early Decca sessions; ‘Tell Me Pretty Baby’ assembles the West Coast recordings Turner made in the late ’40s for Jack Lauderdale with a band led by Turner’s long-standing counterpart pianist Pete Johnson and featuring the blazing solos of sax man Maxwell Davis. The material may not ring with the familiarity of Turner’s Atlantic hits but these sessions are steeped in the traditions of barroom blues and Kansas City jazzthe same traditions that make Turner one of the most important figures in both blues and rock and-roll.”

(John Floyd — The Memphis Flyer)

“Along with Jimmy Rushing Joe Turner was one of the best blues shouters to come out of the exciting Kansas City musical scene of the 1930s. In those days Turner’s main gig was as a bartender but his penetratingly soulful voice often could be heard in impromptu duets with the house pianist Pete Johnson himself one of the best blues and boogie woogie ticklers to come down the pike. As the years passed and the talents of both were discovered by the world outside of Kansas City they were frequently paired on recording dates particularly during the 1940s. The selections here recorded mainly in Los Angeles from 1947 to 1949 catch them in their prime as experienced but still young and enthusiastic performers Although it’s possible for blues compositions to have varying chord progressions extended lengths and fairly sophisticated melodies all 24 of the selections heard here are based on the good old bread-and-butter tried-and-true twelve bar three chord blues. All of the vocals feature the traditional blues structure of the first sentence sung twice followed once by the second line. What prevents this limited format from becoming tedious here is partially a variance of tempos and keys but mainly what turns out to be the winning factor is the sheer vitality and vibrancy of these performances.

In later years sessions like these without nearly as much finesse would be called Rhythm and Blues would gain a considerable amount of popularity and ultimately give birth to the ugly offspring of music known as Rock and Roll. The collection at hand could be termed Blues and Swing because all of the rhythm sections here play strongly but swingingly avoiding the bludgeon-like lack of subtlety that would pervade the idiom later on. Pete Johnson’s “orchestra” as it is billed here consists of six musicians including no brass but featuring two or three saxophonists backing the vocals with grace and flow never honking or bleating.

Joe Turner would remain a consistently strong blues performer throughout most of his long career but during the sessions contained on this album he received some of the most sympathetic accompaniment he would get on record at least until he was rediscovered by jazzers and young bluesmen nearly 20 years later. A large part of that musical sympathy comes in the pianistic presence of Pete Johnson.

On other recording dates Johnson was very successfully paired with another great boogie woogie pianist Albert Ammons. There his electric like treble note filigree complemented Ammons’ thunder-in-the-middle keyboard style perfectly. Here the same exciting high note fills accentuate the vocals and spark along the riffing horns all the while riding the mighty rhythmic wave engendered by the boogie woogie figures pulsating from his left hand. In addition to his accompaniments here there are four selections where Turner sits out and Johnson is left to roar joyously on the piano.

While the producers of this album are sort of vague about the original source of these performances they were recorded quite well for the time under studio conditions and have been further enhanced by digital technology. Although this writer is not ordinarily drawn to albums with as narrow a melodic scope as this one he found this particular release to be quite appealing”.

(Ted des Plantes — Mississippi Rag)