Eric B. Turner was the lead singer for five years for a little group known as The Drifters. He has also shared a stage with the likes of Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan, and Mariah Carey, to name just a few. He has appeared in the off-Broadway – soon to be on Broadway – production of Rock And Roll Man playing first Fats Domino and later Bo Diddley. He is highly regarded as an artist with boundless vocal ability and extremely entertaining on stage.
Eric has released his debut album entitled It Ain’t Easy. What took him so long to go solo?
“The last artist I did background vocals for was Mariah Carey,” Eric told me. “All of the artists (I worked with) sowed something into me. But Mariah was the one who sowed the seed of ‘you really need to come out from the background. You need to come out front.’ She’s one that put that seed in me.”
From there Eric went to perform with the Drifters doing music “I absolutely love!” He enthuses, “I learned how to carry a show. I learned how to interact with the audience and give them an experience.”
That learning experience stood Eric in good stead when he decided to leave the Drifters and go out on his own. He put together a backing group and toured Europe. If the Drifters gave him experience as a front man, his tour of Europe allowed him to mature in that role. As he puts it, “Each show I don’t want the audience to leave saying, ‘Wow, that was a good show.’ I want them to leave saying, ‘THAT was an exhilarating experience!’”
His time with the Drifters also allowed him to grow vocally. As Eric explains it, “I really learned more about my vocal abilities and range while I was a Drifter. We were singing all these famous songs by the Drifters under Clyde McPhatter and Ben E. King.” But they also did covers of songs by other artists and groups. One night he was given an opportunity to sing Wilson Pickett’s “Mustang Sally.”
“I sang ‘Mustang Sally’ for the first time,” he says. “That song allowed me to pull out what you hear on the album now.”
What you hear on the album now is blues from the soul. From the introductory “Blues Tutor” to the emotional final track, “Holding On,” Eric delivers one powerful song after another. There is some bluesy satire as well in “Wrong Kind Of Fish,” which Eric says, “… the audience finds so hilariously funny.”
Then there is the more serious “Boomerang” which reminds us to be careful of the choices we make. Be careful of what you throw out, because it is guaranteed to come back at you! The title track also delivers a serious message: don’t become captivated and envious of those you see as stars, be it through television, movies, or social media. All that glitters is not gold. Follow your dreams, pursue your own goals, and you can find your purpose in life. “Just be warned it is not at all easy to make this happen,” Eric tells us. “It indeed requires blood, sweat and tears.”
Especially personal and meaningful for Eric is “Holding On,” written shortly after his father passed away. “It was from that place of misery, if you will, that the miracle of ‘Holding On’ was born,” he says. The song also addresses inequality, injustice, racism, poverty, and a plea for social reform and positive change. Despite coming from a “place of misery,” it is a song of hope, reminding us that no matter how dark things look, “it is not the end of the road.”
The songs throughout It Ain’t Easy all have one thing in common; the theme is the choices we make – right ones, wrong ones, unacceptable ones. According to Eric, “If I had to give one word to describe the album It Ain’t Easy, it would be the word choices. I often tell people, ‘You come into the world looking like your mother or your father. But you will leave this world looking like your choices.’ It is an immutable truth for all of us.”
And if there is an overall message in listening to the album it might be, in Eric’s words, “To ask ourselves what choices do I need to make today that will make an impact on this world and leave it better than I found it. That literally is my daily goal.”
If the message sounds heavy, it doesn’t have to be. The funky and lighthearted “Put It On” tells us to find what we need to get us through the day and put it on. For Eric, that something is a hat, of which he has many. He readily admits to having an obsession for hats. It started many years ago when it was suggested he study Donny Hathaway whose look included what is known as a wide applejack hat. Eric adopted that look but eventually chose wide brim hats for his own look.
Starting this fall, Eric once again will be appearing as Bo Diddley in Rock And Roll Man, this time on Broadway. The play is about Alan Freed, a Cleveland DJ who is credited with coining the phrase “rock and roll” while working for WJW.
In the meantime, Eric is still promoting and touring in support of his album. He started in January in Las Vegas and then performed shows in New York City, Delaware, and Philadelphia. He is still booking shows. “My keywords for 2024 are ‘Opportunity’ and ‘Exposure.’ That’s what I’m looking for, that’s what I’m hoping for, and every show I’m looking to lead to more shows.”
Until Eric B. Turner comes to a venue near you, you can find It Ain’t Easy courtesy of forever97 records here or here.
