Cussin' Cryin' & Carryin' On - Music

The Ike And Tina Turner Revue Was One Of The Highest Energy Ensembles On The Soul Circuit In The Late ‘60s And Early ‘70s. Their First Hit “A Fool In Love ” Was Recorded In 1961 When Another Singer Failed To Show Up For A Session. After Several Early ‘60s Hit R&B Singles Including “It’s Gonna Work Out Fine” In 1961 They Became Major Stars In England. A 1971 Cover Version Of John Fogerty’s “Proud Mary” Reached No. 4 On The Pop Chart. Ike And Tina Divorced In 1976. TIMELINE November 5 1931 Ike Turner Was Born. November 26 1939 Tina Turner Was Born. March 1 1951 Sam Phillips Records “Rocket 88” With Singer Jackie Brenston And Ike Turner’s Band. For Chess Records. This Recording Is Widely Considered The First Rock And Roll Record. October 17 1960 Ike And Tina Turner Hit #27 On Pop And #3 On R&B With The Sue Records Single “A Fool In Love”. September 18 1961 Ike And Tina Turner #14 On Pop And #2 On R&B “It’s Gonna Work Out Fine”. 1961 Ike And Tina Turner Hit #4 On The R&B Chart And #38 1/27/62 On The Pop Chart With “Poor Fool”. July 2 1962 After Getting Hurt During A Jump Jimi Hendrix Gets An Honorable Discharge From The Army. Over The Next Three Years He Will Play Numerous Gigs And Studio Sessions With Such R&B Stars As Little Richard The Isley Brothers Ike And Tina Turner And Sam Cooke. March 27 1971 Ike & Tina Turner Hit #4 With “Proud Mary.” November 17 1973 Ike & Tina Turner Hit #22 With “Nutbush City Limits”. 2 As Husband And Wife Ike & Tina Turner Headed Up One Of The Most Potent Live Acts On The R&B Circuit During The '60s And Early '70s. Guitarist And Bandleader Ike Kept His Ensemble Tight And Well-Drilled While Throwing In His Own Distinctively Twangy Plucking Lead Vocalist Tina Was A Ferocious Whirlwind Of Power And Energy A Raw Sexual Dynamo Who Was Impossible To Contain When She Hit The Stage Leading Some Critics To Call Her The First Female Singer To Embody The True Spirit Of Rock & Roll. In Their Prime The Ike & Tina Turner Revue Specialized In A Hard-Driving Funked-Up Hybrid Of Soul And Rock That In Its Best Moments Rose To A Visceral Frenzy That Few R&B Acts Of Any Era Could Hope To Match. Effusively Praised By White Rock Luminaries Like The Rolling Stones And Janis Joplin Tina Was Unquestionably The Star Of The Show With A Hugely Powerful Raspy Voice That Ranks Among The All-Time Soul Greats. For All Their Concert Presence The Turners Sometimes Had Problems Translating Their Strong Points To Record They Cut Singles For An Endless Succession Of Large And Small Independent Labels Throughout Their Career And Suffered From A Shortage Of The Strong Original Material That Artists With More Stable Homes Motown Atlantic Stax Etc. Often Enjoyed. The Couple's Well-Documented Marital Difficulties A Mild Way Of Describing Ike's Violent Drug-Fueled Cruelty Eventually Dissolved Their Partnership In The Mid-'70s. Tina Of Course Went On To Become An Icon And A Symbol Of Survival After The Resurgence Of Her Solo Career In The '80s But It Was The Years She Spent With Ike That Made The Purely Musical Part Of Her Legend. Izear Luster "Ike" Turner Jr. Was Born In Clarksdale MS In 1931 Initially A Pianist He Formed His First Band In High School And Put Together The Kings Of Rhythm In The Late '40s. In 1951 That Group Cut The Pivotal "Rocket 88 " A Tune Often Pinpointed As The First Ever Rock & Roll Record However Since Sax Player Jackie Brenston Took The Vocal The Song Was Credited To Brenston & His Delta Cats Rather Than Turner & The Kings Of Rhythm. Not Long After Turner Switched From Piano To Guitar And He And His Band Became A Prolific Session Outfit In Memphis Backing Various Sun Artists And Bluesmen During The Early '50s. Turner Moved The Kings Of Rhythm To East St. Louis In The Mid-'50s Where They Became Kingpins Of The Local R&B Circuit. In 1956 He Met A Teenage Gospel-Trained Singer From Nutbush TN Named Anna Mae Bullock And Promised Her A Chance To Sing With His Band. That Chance Kept Failing To Materialize Until One Night Bullock Simply Grabbed The Microphone And Started Belting. Impressed Turner Made Her A Part Of His Revue Changing Her Name To Tina. After Tina Became Pregnant By The Band's Saxophonist Raymond Hill She Moved Into Turner's House An Arrangement That Led To Their Own Relationship The Two Were Married In 1958 And Soon Had A Child Of Their Own. In Late 1959 Turner's Band Entered The Studio To Cut A Song Called "A Fool In Love" For The Sue Records Label. The Scheduled Male Vocalist Failed To Show Up For The Session And Tina Was Pressed Into Service. Released In 1960 "A Fool In Love" Shot To The Number Two Spot On The R&B Charts Also Making The Pop Top 30. Tina Was Now Clearly The Focal Point Of The Act Which Turner Rechristened The Ike & Tina Turner Revue With A Large Horn-Filled Ensemble And A Group Of Leggy Backup Singers Dubbed The Ikettes Who Complemented Tina's Short-Skirted Uninhibited Gyrating The Revue Eventually Developed A Reputation For Putting On One Of The Most Exciting Live Shows In R&B. The R&B-Chart Hits Came Fast And Furious During The Early '60s 1961's "I Idolize You" Number Five And "It's Gonna Work Out Fine" Number Two 1962's "Poor Fool" Number Four And "Tra La La La La" Number Nine . It Was An Impressive Run But The Well Went Dry Over The Next Several Years Ike Supplied Much Of The Band's Original Material And Although He Was Responsible For Many Of The Early Successes He Simply Wasn't A World-Class Songwriter Who Could Deliver Hit-Caliber Tunes With Regularity. Much Of The Revue's Repertoire Consisted Of Bluesy Chitlin Circuit R&B That Wasn't Exceptionally Memorable. Ike & Tina Branched Out From Sue Records And Spent The Next Few Years Issuing Records On Additional Labels Including Kent Modern And Loma. While They Had Some Undeniable High Points And Several Chart Entries None Reached The Level Of Their Initial Run Of Top Ten Hits. In 1966 The Turners Worked With Legendary Producer Phil Spector Who Was Seeking A Way To Restore His Artistic And Commercial Standing At The Forefront Of Pop Music In The Wake Of Advances By The Beach Boys And Beatles. The Powerful Instrument That Was Tina's Voice Appealed To Spector's Sense Of Grandeur And He Conceived Of A Massive-Scale Production Framing That Voice That Would Rank As His Greatest Masterpiece. Ike Already Had A Reputation For Demanding Control And Spector Struck His Deal Accordingly Although The Records Would Be Fully Credited To Ike & Tina Turner Ike Would Not Be Allowed To Enter The Studio Or Alter The Finished Recordings In Effect Spector Was Paying Him Not To Meddle . The Centerpiece Of Spector's Collaboration With Tina Was "River Deep - Mountain High " A Monumental Pop Symphony That Cost Over $22 000 To Produce In 1966 This Was A Whopping Sum For An Album Let Alone A Single . The Single Represented Spector's So-Called Wall Of Sound Style At Its Most Gloriously Excessive And Tina's Was One Of The Few Voices In Popular Music Strong Enough To Cut Through The Monolithic Orchestral Backing. With The High Cost And His Own Slipping Stature Spector Was Betting The Farm On "River Deep - Mountain High " And Although It Rocketed Into The British Top Five And Made Tina A Star In The U.K. It Flopped In America Where Its Mixture Of Black And White Musical Aesthetics Was Still Slightly Ahead Of Its Time. A Crushed Spector Retreated From The Music Business Not Long After And His Philles Label Yanked The Accompanying Album Of The Same Name From American Release Spector Wound Up Producing Only Five Of The 12 Cuts . Although Some Critics Dismiss "River Deep - Mountain High" As Overproduced Bombast Many Still Consider It One Of Rock's Greatest Singles George Harrison Famously Described It As "a Perfect Record From Start To Finish." After The Spector Deal Fell Through Ike & Tina Returned To Their Somewhat Mercenary Recording Habits Cutting Songs For Modern And Innis Then Moving To Minit And Blue Thumb In 1969. That Year They Went On The Road As The Opening Act For The Rolling Stones And Ike Slightly Retooled The Revue's Sound To Appeal To White Rock Audiences In Addition To Their Core Black Following. In 1970 They Signed With Liberty/United Artists And Recorded Come Together Which Incorporated Contemporary Rock & Roll Covers Into Their Repertoire Versions Of The Beatles' Title Track And Sly & The Family Stone's "I Want To Take You Higher" Made The R&B Top 30. Released Later That Year Workin' Together Became The Most Popular Album Of Their Career Making The Top 25 On The Strength Of A Storming Reinterpretation Of CCR's "Proud Mary." Featuring A Notorious Spoken Intro By Tina The "nice...And Rough" Version Of "Proud Mary" Gave Ike & Tina Their First Top Five Hit On The Pop Charts And Returned Them To The Same Heights On The R&B Side As Well It Also Won Them A Grammy. The Covers Gimmick Couldn't Last Forever Though And Their Formula Soon Grew Predictable Their Last Major Success Was 1973's "Nutbush City Limits " A Semi-Autobiographical Song Written By Tina That Made The R&B Top 20 And Just Missed That Placing On The Pop Side. By That Point Tina Had Grown Increasingly Uninterested In The Duo's Well-Established Act And Was Tiring Of The Largely Unchallenging Material She Continued To Perform. Unfortunately The Music Itself Wasn't The Only Factor In Ike & Tina's Downturn. As A Bandleader Ike Had Long Been A Disciplinarian But During The '60s He Developed Severe Addictions To Alcohol And Especially Cocaine. Wanting To Maintain Control Over The Star Of His Show At Any Cost Turner Kept His Wife In Line Through An Increasingly Violent Pattern Of Emotional And Physical Abuse Often Drug-Related His Flights Of Rage Could Result In Severe Beatings Or Burns That Pushed Tina To Attempt Suicide In 1968 According To Her Autobiography. She Continued To Endure Ike's Dominance Through The Early '70s And Her Performances Were Clearly Weary By The End Finally She Walked Out On Her Husband And Generally Declined To Pursue Claims For Financial Compensation From Their Work Together. Their Divorce Became Official In 1976. After A Long Period Of Struggle Tina Re-Emerged Triumphantly In The '80s As A Superstar Solo Act Ike Meanwhile Ran His Own Recording Studio For A Time But His Drug Problems Worsened Resulting In Several Arrests. Sadly And Perhaps Fittingly He Was Serving Prison Time When He And His Former Wife Were Jointly Inducted Into The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame In 1991 And Was Unable To Attend The Ceremony. ~ Steve Huey Rovi read less