Jack Turner (June 10, 1921 - December 29, 1993) sometimes billed as the "Singing River Boy" was an American Country singer and musician.
Born Will Jack Turner, he came from Haleyville, Alabama. Jack's father was S.W. Turner, a conductor on the I.C. Railroad. Jack made his first public appearance when he was six years old and sang at a county wide gathering that encompassed all Winston County schools. They say that he wore a blue ribbon on his overalls button until it wore out. His mother gave him a ukelele when he was seven and in a couple years, he got his first guitar, an $8.00 special. Where he lived, there were many good fiddle players and before long, Jack could 'second' to the old-time breakdowns.
Jack had another artistic bent to him. He also enjoyed painting and drawing. His parents often wondered what to make of his varied interests and which way he would turn. He just about almost chose the artist in him as a career. After he graduated from high school, he headed up to Nashville to enrol in an advertising art school. However, the very first Saturday he was there, he went to WSM's Grand Ole Opry and the itch to sang came back again. And somehow, he managed to work both loves into his life.
Early 1942 saw some changes in Jack's life. He met a gal named Lorene Davidson who was from northern Alabama. Later, he enrolled in the US Navy. While there, he formed a hillbilly band and entertained his fellow troops. He also kept up his artistic work by drawing charts and illustrations along with his regular duties as Yeoman.
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When he got out of the service, he moved his family to Montgomery, Alabama. By then, he had two daughters, Jacqueline and Dixilyn. He got work as an artist-illustrator at the Air University at Maxwell AFB. And also hooked up with a local radio station, too, but they don't mention which one. If he had any spare time, he spent it composing songs and taking private lessons in portrait painting. Not to mention taking an ICS course in commercial art, selling vacuum cleaners part-time and accepting commissions to do portraits.
Television came to Montgomery like it did to many cities back then. And Jack auditioned and became a regular member of the first Saturday night hillbilly program, "Bar Twenty" that aired over WCOV-TV. He stayed with that for several months. He was turning to music and singing more and more it seems. When WBAM radio came on the air, Jack was a guest on Shorty Sullivan's first "Deep South Jamboree" program and had stayed with them it appears through the mid-1950s.
Jack eventually got his own show on WBAM and signed on with the RCA Victor record label in 1954. Some of the releases he had back then included: "Shoot I Reckon I Love You" backed with "Walkin' A Chalk Line"; "If I Could Only Win Your Love" backed with "I'm Getting Married Tonight".Turner recorded with some of the best studio musicians that Nashville had at that time and despite fine recordings, that certain hit record wouldn't roll along with RCA. After a total of six discs released on the label (the last one in November 1955), the company dropped Turner from its roster.
However, Turner had built himself quite a following, especially in Alabama. He started two new shows on his own, besides his regular performances on the Deep South Jamboree. On June 6, 1955, the first episode of his half-hour long "Jack Turner Show" aired on WFSA-TV in Montgomery. One June 14, Turner also started another TV show, the "Alabama Jubilee" on the same station. The shows featured his regular band, the Singing River Boys, which included Jimmy Porter on steel guitar. Also appearing with him on TV was his daughter Dixie at times.
Although Turner's homebase remained Montgomery, he still held his ties to Nashville and signed a new recording contract with Hickory Records in May 1956, but after two records that were unsuccessful he changed labels again to MGM in 1957. Again, after only a few releases, no more records appeared afterwards by Turner and Billboard ceased mentioning him or his shows. It seems, he turned his back on the music business, limiting his career to the 1950s.
Turner nevertheless enjoyed fishing as well as painting and several of his artworks turned up in the Montgomery area. The themes for his drawings were mostly taken from the Alabama countryside, inlcuding old barns, creeks, and the cotton fields. Nevertheless, Turner also continued singing and entertained his family with his musical abilities,
The passing date of Jack Turner has been unproven for a long time. At first the suspected date was August 22, 1997, but recently it has been determined that he died on December 29, 1993 and is buried at Greenwood Cemetery in Montgomery.
(Edited from Hillbilly Music & Mellow’s Log Cabin Blog)