Babe Kyro Lemon Turner, known professionally as Black Ace, was born on December 21, 1905 in Hughes Springs, Texas. He taught himself to play guitar and performed in east Texas from the late 1920s. In the early 1930s, Turner started playing with Smokey Hogg and Oscar "Buddy" Woods. He then bought a National resonator guitar and developed his unique style. In 1937, Turner recorded six songs for Decca Records in Dallas, including the notable "Black Ace". That same year, he launched a radio show on KFJZ in Fort Worth using this recording as his theme song, adopting the name Black Ace. Turner was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1943 and temporarily stopped playing music. He returned to recording in 1960 with Chris Strachwitz's Arhoolie Records, releasing the album The Black Ace: BK Turner and His Steel Guitar (1960). Turner died from cancer on November 7, 1972, in Fort Worth.
