The Very Best of.. [Best of]

1. "Oke-She-Monke-She-Pop" on this CD is the original single/45 version, the first time it's ever been used for a CD. "Greatest Hits" uses an earlier, slower version (and makes the mistake of listing the session date and credits of the single/45 version).

2. "Boogie Woogie Country Girl" has an extra 20 seconds at the end (it basically fades out 20 seconds later than the version on the "Greatest Hits" CD). I'm not sure if this is how it's supposed to be, but it's a good thing to have.

3. A complete set of liner notes by Billy Vera. Well-written and informative, the "Greatest Hits" CD had none. Furthermore, songwriting credits have been corrected - real names replace pseudonyms and songs originally credited to Big Joe Turner's wife are now credited to him (he is the actual writer, but for various reasons gave credit to his wife).

4. "Honey Hush" is slower and has a lower pitch (not-quite-half-a-semitone lower) than the "Greatest Hits" CD. This may or may not be correct.

5. Though 9 great tracks from the "Greatest Hits" CD do not appear here in any form or version, you do get 4 very good tracks that don't appear on the "Greatest Hits" CD. Still, that only leaves 16 on this disc with over a half-an-hour to spare. They could have easily squeezed 25 to 28 classic tracks on one CD.

6. There's less tape hiss than the "Greatest Hits" CD possibly from better source tapes, but like many Atlantic R&B CD's mastered by Dan Hersch and Bill Inglot, the sound is even brighter and harder from a treble and upper midrange boost. These recordings were pretty bright to begin with, and now they sound really harsh. The sound is also more bottom heavy and a lot louder than the "Greatest Hits" CD.

So not a bad introduction. If you're not a fan of Joe Turner or early r&b in general but want at least a little Joe Turner to round out your collection, this isn't a bad buy. Still, if you can find the old "Greatest Hits" CD, I'd pick that. It's not perfect, but in the long run, it will be more satisfying.

"The Very Best Of Big Joe Turner" takes the place of Atlantic Records' "Big Joe Turner's Greatest Hits", offering one of the great pioneering shouters of swinging, jazz-flavoured blues and hard-rockin' R&B at his wild and raving best.
At once loose and thoroughly committed, Big Joe Turner is at his very best on "Honey Hush", "TV Mama", "Corrine, Corrina", and the original version of "Shake, Rattle & Roll", written for Turner by Atlantic producer Jesse Stone.
Unfortunately, some of Turner's best slow songs are missing, including his magnificent take on "Honeydripper", but if you don't already have "Shake, Rattle & Roll" and "Honey Hush" in your collection, the handsomely packaged and excellently remastered "Very Best Of Big Joe Turner" is one disc you need to add to your library posthaste!
4 1/2 stars - highly recommended.