Usually, there is a something involved in this column, but this time, it’s a someone you might not have known. The local legend Ed Turner.
Augustan Ed Turner and his band Number 9 recently played two sold out shows at the Imperial Theater that the band cheekily dubbed “the end of an error;” however, the band’s finale after a 17-year run is not a retirement for the man who is legendary in the Augusta music scene.
Although known for his radio and onstage performances, Turner has, behind the scenes, been a mentor to many professionals in the CSRA, including current Columbia County Commission Chairman Doug Duncan.
Back in the days of the disc jockey on the radio, it was said that most of the rock ‘n roll announcers were like newspaper sports writers: they were failures at their chosen professions and instead became commentators on the works of others.
That was not the case with Ed Turner.
More: Night Beat: Special Edition Ed Turner and Number 9
Even though he had learned how to play the piano, Turner had never been in a band when he started broadcasting the Mad Music Asylum radio program on WAUG radio in November 1974.
The program featured music from Turner’s vinyl record collection and was packaged with his almost encyclopedic knowledge of pop music history.
By Turner’s own admission, he never wanted to be a rock star; he grew up working in his family business. Turner says he was nothing more than a music nerd who had amassed a giant collection of albums when his friend Tony Powers asked him to help fill in some time on the radio on Sunday nights.
The radio program immediately became a hit locally and scored off the charts on the Arbitron rating system, probably to the disdain of Turner’s father, who didn’t understand the whole rock and roll “nonsense.”
Ed Turner Jr. was one of six siblings born to Lt. Cmdr. Edward B. Turner and Wylene Turner. The elder Turner and his wife relocated to Augusta from Spartanburg, S.C. in 1955 where they started a modest piano sales business on Walton Way.
Ed Turner Sr. was not only a bona fide World War II hero — a fighter pilot who shot down five enemy aircraft in one mission — he was a man who had an ear for the tones a piano makes and settled down after the war to raise his family and work in a business that brought joy to people.
Wylene Turner was in charge of the front room of the store where the pianos were sold, and Ed Turner Sr. was in the back of the store tuning, servicing and delivering the products. Young Ed Turner Jr. hung out in the back room with his father learning with his hands.
Lisa Turner Maddox, their daughter and Ed Jr.’s sister, says that her and Ed Jr.’s parents both put an emphasis on togetherness with the family and that family life meshed well with the business they ran together.
“We grew up being together all the time, holidays, birthdays, our lives were very much interconnected; social events, and of course working together every day and we spent our time off together. We were really tight-knit, and at the time you don’t know how lucky you are to have that,” Maddox said.
The younger Ed Turner eschewed proper schooling at the age of 13 and began to work for the family business.
“I would cut a couple of periods at Richmond Academy. My teachers knew I wasn’t going to college. I had a job, I would walk off down to Turner’s, which was just down the road,” Turner said.
While Lt. Cmdr. Edward Turner might not have understood his son’s taste in the newest music being produced, he certainly figured out the lad had a bit of business acumen at a young age, and he loaned Ed Jr. the money to purchase sheet music and expand the family business.
The deal worked out, and Ed Turner paid his father back in full.
Later, Ed Turner says his dad loaned him the money to create the business now known as Turner’s Keyboards on Washington Road, and the success of that business led to him becoming a radio personality, a professional writer and, later, an onstage musician.
Turner was known as a radio host and later a columnist with both The Augusta Chronicle and Metro Spirit before launching the band Number 9, and from day one, the band was committed to donating all proceeds to charity. It is estimated that over $1.5 million has been raised for charity through Number 9 band concerts.
Turner’s commitment to community service also included him being a little league baseball coach when he was a young man in his twenties. Ed Turner has no children of his own, so instead he adopted the neighborhood kids and taught them how to play baseball.
One of those kids is now the chairman of the Columbia County Commission, Doug Duncan, who says that Turner’s impact on his life was tremendous.
“By the grace of God, Ed Turner was my coach; he coached me for three years, and later we became fast friends. Ed is a motivator, and he is always pushing the envelope. We have been friends now for almost 50 years,” Duncan said.
Turner insists that he is not retiring at age 69, but rather reinventing as he has done so many times before. Turner teases that he may bring back a live multimedia version of the Mad Music Asylum.
Turner’s sister, Lisa Maddox says her entire family is proud of their famed Ed Turner, a man who is flamboyant, yet humble in nature.
“I wish my dad would have lived to see what an impact he has made on the community. Making an impact was important to our father and Ed has really done that,” Maddox said.
Ed Turner is about to be inducted into the Richmond Academy Hall of Fame. The Academy decided to look past the fact that Turner missed more than 70 days of classes in his senior year; he is still a star student and, in their minds, a true scholar.
To the rest of us, Ed Turner is a living legend.
Scott Hudson is the senior reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach him at scott@theaugustapress.com
