Uncle John Turner

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other persons named John Turner, see John Turner (disambiguation).

Johnnie Mac ("Uncle John") Turner (August 20, 1944 – July 26, 2007) was a drummer who most notably played drums in Johnny Winter's band from 1968 to 1970.

Born and raised in Port Arthur, Texas, the son of Johnnie Albert Turner and Alleen McMahon, "Uncle" John Turner was one of the founders of the blues-rock style of drumming and a Texas legend. He started his career with Jerry LaCroix, played with Tommy Shannon in the Johnny Winter Band (including the first two records and Winters’ Woodstock performance), and played in original Austin band, Krackerjack (along with Tommy Shannon, Bruce Bowland, Jesse Taylor, Robin Syler and John Stahely, and a 16-tear-old Stevie Ray Vaughan). Since the early days, he has played and/or recorded with countless artists, including B. B. King, Jimi Hendrix, Freddie King, Muddy Waters, Junior Wells, Lightnin' Hopkins, Johnny Copeland, Albert Collins, Willie Dixon and Lazy Lester.

Creating a power rhythm section with veteran bassist Appa Perry, Turner co-founded Blues Power, a band which heavily affected Austin’s blues throughout the late 1990s. Blues Power rotated noted musicians such as Matthew Robinson, Alan Haynes, Hector Watt, George Rarey and Mark Goodwin while bringing up the next generation of Austin’s blues talent – Gary Clark, Jr., Matt Farrell, Mike Keller, Eve Monsees and Erin Jaimes, to name a few.

Mr. Turner was crucial to the survival and passing-on of the Blues in Austin, as a drummer, singer, overall performer, and constant mentor.

Turner, drummer with Johnny Winter and bassist Tommy Shannon (later of Double Trouble), played at Woodstock. He formed "Krackerjack" afterwards in Austin, Texas - also with Shannon. Their guitarists included John Christian Staehely (Spirit, Jo Jo Gunne), Stevie Ray and Robin Sylar (died circa December 2005).

Turner was married to Morgan Goldbarth, a teacher. He died on July 26, 2007, of complications with hepatitis C.

[edit] Sources

  • Jefferson County, Texas, birth records, 1944 [1]
  • Turner's high school reunion page [2]

[edit] External links

 This article on a drummer is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.