Black Ace was the most frequently used stage name of the American

Texas blues Texas blues is blues music from Texas. As a regional style, its original form was characterized by jazz and swing influences. Later examples are often closer to blues rock and Southern rock. History Texas blues began to appear in the early 1900 ...

musician born Babe Kyro Lemon Turner (December 21, 1905 – November 7, 1972), who was also known as B. K. Turner, Black Ace Turner, Babe Turner and Buck Turner. He was born in

Hughes Springs Hughes Springs is a city in Cass and Morris counties in the U.S. state of Texas. At the 2020 census, its population was 1,575. The town has heavily damaged by an EF2 tornado on November 4, 2022. Geography Hughes Springs is located in western Ca ...

, Texas, and was raised on his family's farm. He taught himself to play guitar and performed in east Texas from the late 1920s on. In the early 1930s he began playing with

Smokey Hogg Andrew "Smokey" Hogg (January 27, 1914 – May 1, 1960) was an American post-war Texas blues and country blues musician. Life and career Hogg was born near Westconnie, Texas, and grew up on a farm. He was taught to play the guitar by his fath ...

and

Oscar "Buddy" Woods Oscar "Buddy" Woods (born c. 1900 or c.1903, died December 14, 1955) was an American Texas blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. Woods, who was an early blues pioneer in lap steel, slide guitar playing, recorded thirty-five tracks between 19 ...

, a Hawaiian-style guitarist who played with the instrument flat on his lap. Turner then bought a

National National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

steel guitar A steel guitar ( haw, kīkākila) is any guitar played while moving a steel bar or similar hard object against plucked strings. The bar itself is called a "steel" and is the source of the name "steel guitar". The instrument differs from a conve ...

and began playing what a later music critic called "Hawaii meets the Delta." In 1937, Turner recorded six songs (possibly with Hogg as second guitarist) for

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American ...

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, including the blues song "Black Ace". In the same year, he started a

radio show A radio program, radio programme, or radio show is a segment of content intended for broadcast on radio. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series. A single program in a series is called an episode. Radio networ ...

KFJZ KFJZ is an AM radio station broadcasting in the Dallas/ Fort Worth metroplex with a Financial News/Talk format via the BizTalkRadio. This station is licensed in Fort Worth, Texas and is owned and operated by SIGA Broadcasting Corporation. Bec ...

Fort Worth Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

, using that recording as a

theme song Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at so ...

, and soon assumed the name. In 1941, he appeared in ''

The Blood of Jesus ''The Blood of Jesus'' (also known as ''The Glory Road'') is a 1941 American fantasy drama race film written, directed by and starring Spencer Williams. The plot concerns a Baptist woman who, after being accidentally shot by her atheist husband ...

'', an African-American movie produced by Spencer Williams Jr. In 1943 Turner was drafted into the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

and gave up playing music for some years. In 1960,

Chris Strachwitz Chris Strachwitz (born July 1, 1931) is a German-born American record label executive and record producer. He is the founder and president of Arhoolie Records, which he established in 1960 and which became one of the leading labels recording a ...

, the owner of

Arhoolie Records Arhoolie Records is an American small independent record label run by Chris Strachwitz and is based in El Cerrito, California, United States (it is actually located in Richmond Annex but has an El Cerrito postal address.) The label was founded b ...

, persuaded him to record an album for Arhoolie. His last public performance was in the 1962 film documentary ''

The Blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the African- ...

''. Turner died of cancer in Fort Worth in 1972.Thedeadrockstarsclub.com
– accessed September 2010

Discography

* ''The Black Ace: BK Turner and His Steel Guitar'' (studio album, Arhoolie, 1960) * ''I'm the Boss Card in Your Hand'' (compilation, Arhoolie, 1992)

References

External links

Compilation album sleeve notesBlack Ace at AuthenticBlues.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Black Ace American blues singers American blues guitarists American male guitarists 1905 births 1972 deaths African-American guitarists Country blues musicians Texas blues musicians Decca Records artists Deaths from cancer in Texas 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century African-American male singers Guitarists from Texas People from Hughes Springs, Texas Arhoolie Records artists