Now that the excellent three-disc box set "Big, Bad & Blue - The Joe Turner Anthology" isn't available anymore, this very thorough and reasonably nicely packaged compilation may well be the serious Turner-fan's choice."Classic Hits 1938-52" is a five-disc, 123-track collection of Big Joe Turner's earliest recording sessions before finding stardom with his mid-'50s R&B; sides, and it's quite a luxury to have Turner's sides for National, Aladdin, Freedom, MGM, and Imperial remastered and together in one collection.This is no cheap, second-rate product...the only problem is that it is not anywhere close to being a complete career overview.These recordings were all made before 1953, and Joe Turner lived another 33 years, recording songs like "Honey Hush", "TV Mama" (with slide guitarist Elmore James), "Shake, Rattle & Roll", "Honeydripper", and "Love Rollercoaster".3 3/4 stars. A nice compilation, but not the definitive word on Joseph Vernon Turner.