Zeb Turner born 23 June 1915

Zeb Turner (June 23, 1915 – January 10, 1978) was an American country music songwriter and guitarist, and pioneer of rockabilly. Though he never enjoyed mainstream success, Turner did have a long career.

Born William Edward Grishaw in Lynchburg, Virginia, Turner was a prodigiously accomplished self-taught musician. His scarred appearance dated from the late 1920s when his sister threw gasoline onto a fire at the family home, and the resulting explosion burned more than 75 per cent of his body. Eddie and his brother James took to playing acoustic guitars and by 1938 at the age of 15, Zeb, inspired by hearing the electric guitar took up the instrument and eventually became heavily influenced by the jazz style of George Barnes. 

Zeb & Zeke Turner

Eddie renamed himself Zeb, after the old mountain ballad Zeb Turney's Gal and first recorded for OKeh with the Hi-Neighbor Boys in 1938; the songs, which included Zeke Tierney's Stomp, revealed that he was already a formidably adroit musician. He soon left the group to join forces with his brother James who took the stage name of Zeke Turner. In 1943 or early '44, Zeb worked at the Renfro Valley Barndance before coming to Nashville with Wally Fowler's Georgia Clodhoppers. The Turner brothers played guitar on many sessions shortly after WWII turning up on records by Red Foley and Hank Williams.  While in Nashville, Zeb worked with Ernest Tubb and wrote I Got Texas In My Soul and You Hit The Nail Right On The Head with him. Around the same time, Turner and Fred Rose wrote It's A Sin, a #1 country hit for Eddy Arnold. 

                              

By this time Zeke had settled into a cosy routine as a studio musician and member of the Pleasant Valley Boys, but in addition to lending his country boogie guitar work to others, Zeb Turner often recorded in his own right on small, regional labels such as Nashville's Bullet Records and, later in 1948, Cincinnati's King Records. 

His version of Billy Briggs' "Chew Tobacco Rag" was a No. 8 jukebox country and western hit in 1951, while his own "Tennessee Boogie" had reached No. 11 on the same chart in 1949. Turner's King 78s and 45s are part of the foundation on which rockabilly and rock 'n' roll are built and even though his name is not remembered as well as those of the chief architects of those genres, his role in their creation is unmistakable. 

In June 1950, he quit Nashville and moved to the D.C. area to play nightclubs and work as a dee-jay and performer on WBAL (Baltimore, Md.) and WEAM (Washington, D.C.) in 1952. By 1953, he and his family were living in a rough neighbourhood, and he abandoned them that year. In February 1955, there was a poignant little announcement in 'Billboard' in which Zeb's two teenage sons said they were anxious to learn of their dad's whereabouts. 

Zeb ended up in Montreal, Canada in the 1960’s, styling himself “Mister Hootenanny.” He created a folk trio and broadcast for a number of years over radio station CFCF. He died from brain cancer in Montreal on January 10, 1978, un-interviewed and unheralded for his achievement in integrating jazz and blues influences into country music. His brother Zeke on the other hand opted out of the music business and became a truck driver. He died April 14, 2003. 

(Edited from Bear Family. AllMusic, Jasmine, Wikipedia & liner notes by Bryan Chalker)