BLACK ACE
Black Ace was the recording name of BK Turner, a Texas Bluesman with a melodious voice and a fine slide-guitar style, who took his Blues name from his only popular record. He was a well known radio personality in Fort Worth before WWII, when his records sold well across the South, but he was never a national Blues star. ‘Black Ace’ made a comeback in the 60s, after two decades in obscurity, but never really got swept up in the Folk/Blues revival, and remains a footnote in the story of the Blues.
Black Ace plays the song that gave him his Blues name;
During WWII, he served in the armed forces, so when he was discharged he started gigging again, but also doing farm work, as the Blues was becoming a more urban music in the post war years, and Ace was not heard outside his home town for many years. In 1960, with the Folk/Blues revival in full swing, he was ‘rediscovered’ by Chris Strachwitz and Paul Oliver, and recorded his ‘Black Ace’ album for the Arhoolie label under the name BK Turner. ‘Ace’ also appeared in the 1962 documentary film, ‘The Blues’, but did not record again and passed away from cancer in Fort Worth in 1972.