Pete Johnson and Joe Turner – Roll ‘Em Pete

I want to thank a commenter named purplegoatee2684b071ed for recommending this song after reading my Joe Turner post. Just listen to the piano playing of Pete Johnson on this track and Joe Turner’s voice. It would raise the roof off any joint. Knowing it was made in 1938 makes it more special. Pete Johnson and Joe Turner were credited for writing this song. 

Pete Johnson had been playing in Kansas City joints with his percussive style, while Joe Turner worked as a bartender and occasional singer. When the two paired up, it was dynamite. Producer John Hammond heard about them and invited the duo to Carnegie Hall for his “Spirituals to Swing” concert in 1938. Joe and Pete’s performance of this song stunned the crowd and announced that the blues and boogie-woogie weren’t just barroom music; they were the foundation of a new kind of American sound.

Listening today, you can hear the roots of countless rock and R&B records hiding within this track. The drive, it’s Little Richard before Little Richard, it’s Jerry Lee Lewis before Jerry Lee Lewis. This 1938 song is a sign that says… rock and roll is on its way. This may not have been a chart single in the way we think of hits today, but its influence rolled (pun intended) across decades.

I’m going to include a live Blasters version because they knew Joe Turner. Dave and Phil Alvin knew and spent time with Big Joe Turner, whom they regarded as a friend and mentor. As teenagers in the 1960s, the brothers followed Turner around the Los Angeles area, going to his gigs and eventually befriending him. 

Roll ‘Em Pete

Well, I got a gal, she lives up on the hillWell, I got a gal, she lives up on the hillWell, this woman’s tryin’ to quit me, Lord, but I love her still

She’s got eyes like diamonds, they shine like Klondike goldShe’s got eyes like diamonds, they shine like Klondike goldEvery time she loves me, she sends my mellow soul

Well, you’re so beautiful, you’ve got to die somedayWell, you’re so beautiful, you’ve got to die somedayAll I want’s a little loving, just before you pass away

Pretty baby, I’m goin’ away and leave you by yourselfPretty baby, I’m goin’ away and leave you by yourselfYou’ve mistreated me, now you can mistreat somebody else

…

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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.

42 thoughts on “Pete Johnson and Joe Turner – Roll ‘Em Pete”

  2. I like how you tied today’s posts together without even mentioning it. The Blasters original lineup included baritone saxophonist Steve Berlin. Los Lobos opened for The Blasters at the Whisky A Go-Go and Berlin sat in with Los Lobos. Soon he left The Blasters and joined Los Lobos permanently – the only band member who didn’t grow up in East LA. Not original, but he’s been with them for 40 years.

    The Blasters put a definite rockabilly spin on this song. And it sounds like they found a good replacement for Berlin.

    For those unfamiliar with Big Joe Turner, “Shake, Rattle, & Roll”, which we associate with Bill Haley & The Comets, was first recorded by Turner. And “Flip, Flop & Fly”, which you might know from The Blues Brothers, was also a Big Joe Turner song.

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    1. I should have said something about it because yes I did think of that. I was knocked out by this song…the song is very powerful by itself but the time frame really made me notice.

      Ever since I posted the Big Joe Turner song I’ve wanted to post another and the commenter mentioned this one…I never heard it before…it was love at first listen just like the Los Super Seven song.

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  3. What a dynamite song – man, this really swings! I also love that live version by The Blasters. Looks like it was captured during Rockpalast at Lorelei, a great outdoor venue on top of the famous rock in Germany on the banks of the Rhine river. Coincidentally, I got some Dave Alvin in my new music post today…

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    1. Yea man…it DOES swing! I was shocked that it was released in 1938!
      Oh cool…thanks about that information…it looked like an electric type place…really cool.
      I’ll be looking forward to the Alvin material…after hearing him a few years ago…I am a fan…his songs and his guitar playing….he just seems like a cool guy.

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  4. Very nice, Max. The boogie-woogie rhythm was being rolled by the driving piano in this song, accomplished by a steady, percussive eighth-note bass line in the left hand and improvised melodic variations in the right. 

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  5. Pingback: Pete Johnson and Joe Turner – Roll ‘Em Pete – MobsterTiger

    1. I was floored that this was 1938…just incredible and the fact that Phil and Dave knew Turner is so cool…so it was personal to them.

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  8. Oh man. Classic. That clip of the Blasters is so cool. So much history in that music and performance. Gene Taylor does a pretty good job on the keys . sitting in for Johnson. 1938 says it all Max. Rocknroll has been around for a long time. The Alvins are still carrying the torch of great American music. Both your posts are related in so many ways. Good stuff Max,

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    1. Thanks man…I was knocked out that the brothers knew Turner and hung out with him…and he mentored them…that is a hell of a teacher CB.
      I still can’t believe it was 1938…thanks CB…I was happy about todays posts and how they intersected.

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      1. Yeah connect the dots in those two posts and you’d be busy all day. Berlin with Lobos and the Blasters, Gene Taylor with Sahmn and the Blasters, Lee Allen with Fats and the Blasters …. just keep going. Joe Ely pops up again. We are the recipients of all these music unions. Turn it up!

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      2. Joe Ely is why I was interested in Los Super Seven in the first place when halffastcyclingclub recommended them to me…but then I saw…wow…this is much bigger than just that…
        They are all intertwined which is so cool to have a tree like this.

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    1. Yes…that piano is just driving…obbverse I was so surprised on the date…I mean this is 50s rock before 50s rock…and as Christian said…”it swings”

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    1. I absolutely love this John. I’m happy you commented because I was thinking of you when I made it. It does work for blues fine…because to me…it’s not about the lyrics as much as the total feel of these songs.

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    2. Well, they were all Big Joe Turner lyrics. I don’t want to discredit others that may have used the words, but when Big Joe Turner belted ’em out, hey, it was all one song and I loved it all!!!

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  14. Talking about connections… Los Lobos helped create one of the songs on Paul Simon’s Graceland album, although the way Los Lobos tell the story Simon is not the most generous with songwriting credits.

    Gene Taylor (mentioned from when he was in the Blasters) also played with the Fabulous Thunderbirds and Canned Heat. He was one of the Formerly Brothers, along with Doug Sahm (mentioned above) and Amos Garrett. Amos is the guitarist on Maria Muldaur’s “Midnight On The Oasis,” has a long relationship with Geoff Muldaur and a damn fine guitar player.

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  15. By the way, I kinda apologize for the purplegoatee2684b071ed user name. When I logged in to WordPress, which has turned out to be more of a pain that it should be, WordPress came up with this name. I have never had a goatee (full beard, yes, goatee no), have never colored my hair (or any other part of me) purple and don’t know where that comes from. But I can post, and that’s really all I care about. Hopefully you all will find some of the things I have to say interesting.

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