Zeb Turner

Zeb Turner (June 23, 1915 – January, 10, 1978)[1] was an American boogie-woogie songwriter and guitarist,[2] and pioneer of rockabilly.

He was born William Edward Grishaw in Lynchburg, Virginia, United States, and he renamed himself after a favorite piece of music, "The Zeb Turner Stomp".[1] With his brother James (who took the stage name "Zeke Turner"), also a guitarist, he backed artists such as Hank Williams and Red Foley in the years after World War II. He co-wrote "It's a Sin", a number one hit on the country chart for Eddy Arnold in 1947, with music publisher Fred Rose. Turner also recorded for small record labels such as Bullet and King Records;[1] some of these were "country boogie" tunes which were influential on early rockabilly. His King Records version of Billy Briggs' "Chew Tobacco Rag" was a #8 jukebox country and western hit in 1951,[3] while his own "Tennessee Boogie" had reached #11 on the same chart in 1949.[4]

Later in the 1950s, Turner was a disc jockey on Baltimore and Washington radio stations.

Turner compositions

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Biography by Steve Kurutz". Allmusic.com. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/p21165/biography. Retrieved September 5, 2011. 
  2. ^ Du Noyer, Paul (2003). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Music (1st ed.). Fulham, London: Flame Tree Publishing. p. 181. ISBN 1-904041-96-5. 
  3. ^ Billboard, April 28, 1951, p. 34.
  4. ^ Review in No Depression, 2001, by Barry Mazor
  5. ^ Air Castle of the South: WSM and Making of Music City, Craig Havighurst, University of Illinois Press, Urbana and Chicago, 2007, p. 145