By the time he recorded it "The Boss of The Blues" had been singing 'Shake, Rattle & Roll' for at least a decade. Composer credit went to Charles Calhoun, a pseudonym for band-leader arranger Jesse Stone, but the lyrics came from the bottomless well of verses that the 250 pound Joe Turner (a one time singing barman from Kansas City) carried with him all of his life. It was typical of the time that the song (six months on the R&B charts) was covered by a white singer, in this case kiss-curled Bill Haley & His Comets. The success of their cleaned up version (the action moved from the boudoir to the kitchen) prompted US Decca to re-promote the group's Rock Around The Clock. The irony was that both acts were booked onto the same package and Turner was ordered to let Haley perform Shake Rattle & Roll.
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