Tag: Pete Johnson

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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