Big Joe Turner – Flip Flop and Fly

A lot of 1950s songs still get played today and we remember them but this one doesn’t get the attention although Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnnie Ray, Blues Brothers, Van Morrison, and Bill Haley covered it as well. It’s hard to beat something this simple…it just works. You don’t need a think tank… it’s just a fun song. 

Big Joe Turner (Joseph Vernon “Big Joe” Turner Jr. ) grew up in Kansas City, a major hub for jazz and blues in the early 20th century. His father passed away when he was young, leaving his mother to raise him and his siblings. Turner never formally learned to play an instrument, but he developed his booming, unmistakable voice by singing in church and later performing on street corners.

He was thriving in the Kansas City Blues Scene. He left school at age 14 (1925) to work in those Kansas Blues Clubs in the 20s and 30s. He would cook or perform as a singing waiter. In 1936 he moved to New York City. 

Signed with Atlantic Records in the 1950s and had a string of rhythm & blues hits. His upbeat jump blues style helped transition R&B into early rock & roll. He wrote and recorded songs like  Shake, Rattle and Roll (1954)… One of the first songs that bridged blues and rock & roll. It was later covered by Bill Haley & Elvis Presley. Probably one of the most important songs in Rock and Roll history. 

His success proved that older blues artists could thrive in the rock & roll era. This song was released in 1955 and has been covered 91 times. 

Flip Flop and Fly

Now when I get the blues, I get me a rockin’ chair
When I get the blues, I get me a rockin’ chair
Well, if the blues overtake me gonna rock right away from here

Now when I get lonesome, I jump on the telephone
When I get lonesome, I jump on the telephone
I call my baby, tell her I’m on my way back home

Now flip, flop and fly
I don’t care if I die
Now flip, flop and fly
I don’t care if I die
Don’t ever leave me, don’t ever say goodbye

Give me one more kiss, hold it a long long time
Give me one more kiss, hold it a long long time
Now love me baby, till the feelin’ hits my head like wine

Here comes my baby, flashin’ her new gold tooth
Here comes my baby, flashin’ her new gold tooth
Well she’s so small, she can mambo in a pay phone booth

Now flip, flop and fly
I don’t care if I die
Now flip, flop and fly
I don’t care if I die
Ah, don’t ever leave me, don’t ever say goodbye

I’m like a mississippi bullfrog, sittin’ on a hollow stump
I’m like a mississippi bullfrog, sittin’ on a hollow stump
I got so many women, I don’t know which way to jump

Now flip, flop and fly
I don’t care if I die
Now flip, flop and fly
I don’t care if I die
Now, don’t ever leave me, don’t ever say goodbye
Oh my!

…

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

43 thoughts on “Big Joe Turner – Flip Flop and Fly”

  2. Pingback: Big Joe Turner – Flip Flop and Fly – MobsterTiger

    1. I love them…the Blues Brothers were so important because of reintroducing blues to a new generation and giving those older artists many more years of music because people caught on.

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      2. Oh…CB and I were talking about him and then I saw your post…I’ve been meaning to post him ever since….dude we post too many to remember them. Go in your archive like I have recently.
        I see things that I DON’T remember posting lol. We have thousands of posts…

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      4. Sometimes others know my posts better than I do lol. Also sometimes I will see posts on bands…and I’ll say I don’t know them…and then look up an older post on the same band…and I say the same thing!

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  9. This one I know because the Downchild Blues Band has a pretty big hit in Canada with it around ’74. I figured it was their own! Anyway, a fun song , good to know more about it

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  11. Oh yeah, good stuff. Love me some Big Joe Turner! Like a lot of people I got turned onto him with Shake Rattle and Roll. The first time I heard Flip Flop and Fly, it was by Bill Haley and I liked it…then I heard the original. Wow!

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    1. Yea…same here with me…everything went through Bill Haley first. BTW…I read a book on him around a year ago. Interesting guy…sad ending.
      Turners version jumps out at you.

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      1. I love Bill Haley and the Comets. I remember reading about him…he just kind washed up as I recall. He was old when Rock Around the Clock hit, his music was cool, his live show was cool, but he wasn’t…as far as looks go. Can’t remember exactly what happened but that was kind of the gist of it?…

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      2. Yes it was…and at the end he lived in a Texas town and would go to this diner everyday…he looked terrible and was in worse shape because of drinking. He lied about having a brain tumor so he woudn’t have to tour. He was talking out of his head and died a short time later. Oh Pam…Dave Alvin had a great song about Haley’s last days called “Haley’s Comet” you might like. https://youtu.be/d1cKgOvbYgM

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  12. Just a fun song, it came out at just the right time, when there was a simple unbridled joy to music. All the kids wanted was a good beat and to dance dance dance. Perfect upbeat simple lyrics (Simple in the good fresh way, not a dumbass way.)

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  14. Pingback: Big Joe Turner – Flip Flop and Fly – Los Angeles fire 🔥

  15. Probably won’t surprise you to learn I am a fan of Joe Turner. As you pointed out a couple of his songs ended up being very important to Rock and Roll. One the of key pre-R&R era artists, and this song as you mentioned is well covered and a big favorite for bar bands in my experience. A cover by a Canadian group Downchild Blues Band that I heard them sing, in a bar in 1978 is largely responsible for me getting into Blues music to start with. Their cover is hands down the best one of the bunch.

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      1. They blew me away when I saw them, talented and as you say powerful. I worked at a University handout bar as a teen and into my early 20s actually (part time) and the Manager played a mean Blues harp and had a collection of probably thousands of records. That helped reinforce that The Blues was something to listen to!

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      2. That is so cool that you got to see them. Did they have any more well known songs? What would be a good album to start with them?

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      3. To be honest the only album I ever bought from them had this song on it. Straight Up from 74 I think. A Case of the Blues is a greatest hits that would be a good listen. They did an album with Spencer Davis, post Winwood of course.

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      4. Oh cool…I’ll check some of their stuff out. Warren just told me of a band called Blue Shadows with a song called Deliver Me…I love learning about new music.

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  16. Check out Roll ‘Em Pete. The label credits it to Pete Johnson. Pete played piano. Big Joe shouts. An incredible recording that is one of the stalwarts of the TIMELESS category

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      1. Someplace, and I unfortunately don’t remember where, I read a quick story about a guy who had never heard Roll ‘Em Pete before having it played for him and his teenaged daughter. Both he and his daughter were awe struck, dumb founded. The recording starts at high pitch and never slows down. Just the two of them (Pete Johnson and Big Joe Turner) but it is one of the most phenomenal performances you’ll ever hear.

        Dave and Phil Alvin of the Blasters did Roll ‘Em Pete and their version is great. Big Joe was a friend of the Alvin boys as they were teenagers and until Big Joe passed. Big Joe was obviously a major influence on Phil’s singing.

        There is an expression, The Left Hand of God. There are a handful of great piano players that deserve that title, including Pete Johnson.

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      2. Oh that is really cool that Dave and Phil knew him. I’m going to publish it probably Sunday morning…I do two a day on Fri, Sat, and Sun…but again I love that recording. Some songs you just love at first listen…and that was one of them.
        Cool story of the dad and daughter. I’ll probably add the Blasters version as well…I’ve always liked them. Again thank you.

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