Included are sixteen '40s performances from the incomparable Boss of the Blues, five from his Decca years and eleven others waxed in the late '40s for such labels as MGM and Coast.
Turner's ol' Kansas City confrere
Pete Johnson rolls the ivories in six performances with reet-petite combos, while the more urbane
Freddy Slack takes his place in three or four Decca tracks (previously issued on Official 80001,
The Complete 1940-44, and no longer available). Honkin' sax man
Joe Houston blows behind
Joe on two poorly-recorded but spirited tracks: "Fuzzy Wuzzy Honey" is hot, as are two performances with pianist Lorenzo Flennoy's Trio, featuring the sizzlin' strings of guitarist
Lucky Enois. Decca sides excepted, these are
Turner rarities which display the first 'n foremost blues shouter's big heart and timeless taste for the slowly sensuous as well as the rockin' rollers.
Big Joe never sang a note he didn't mean: he wasn't "Boss o' the Blues" for nothin'.