Got home kinda late...and began plugging in a new TV...
The old one died awhile back and we were doing our best to get by without it...
That sorta lasted a month...
But now a beastly 32 inch HD thingamajob sits were the ye olde box was...
After the set was finished looking for channels, I saw Ike Turner's face on the tube...
Which generally is never good for him...
And this time, it was final...
Newscaster said he was dead at 76...
I know he's been a media pariah for years...
But his contributions to rock n roll should go a lot further than being a mere footnote as a wife beater.
First off, let's be clear, he was a mean drug addict, but unlike O.J or your current first lady, he didn't kill anyone...
He made his amends, with the law, and at least with god... and now he's gone.
He was also one of the greatest, most driven showmen to ever wield an axe onstage or a studio.
Nuff said.
Here's the track that put him on the map... or sorta should have, since it sold a healthy half million copies in 1951. Some say it's the first real rock n roll record, made at Sam Phillips Sun Studios in Memphis.
In fact, Ike never was credited with this tune properly, just like a lot of stuff in his life.
Here he is ripping it up, at 19 years old, creating that fuzztone guitar sound long before Link Wray got his rumble on...supposedly because his amplifier had a hole poked in it by a cymbal stand.
Here's Ike Turner with Jackie Brenston & His Delta Cats - Rocket 88
He soon had his own unit rolling up and down the highways, and a legend was in the making. By the latter 1950's Ike Turner & His Rhythm Kings were a serious force to be reckoned with...
He was well established as a bandleader before that certain young gal from Nutbush Tennessee joined the act and became his "8th or 9th" wife. His songwriting and studio efforts are well known and he also helped other artists as an A&R man including B.B King, and many others. Check out some of his early 1950's instrumentals and production work with the Kings of Rhythm to annoit thyself with his pre-Tina legacy.
Here's an instrumental track from some 1969 sessions.
Ike Turner & His Rhythm Kings - Getting Nasty
He went totally Hyperbolic at some point, and his persona changed...
After Tina left him, Ike really spiraled out of control, becoming a tragic figure. By 1989, he was sent to prison for 17 months.
But let's never forget that Ike was someone long before he became her backing musician...
Here's a comeback track Ike did some ten years after getting out of the joint, with a fellow reformed rocker named Billy Rogers a few years back...
i's a classic revision of a tune he did way back in the day...
Ike Turner & Billy Rogers - I'm Blue
Ike continued to record, tour and perform until his death.
In fact in 2007, he was finally honored with a Grammy, for best blues album... his farewell release "Risin' with the Blues"
More on Ike Turner at his official website
http://www.IkeTurner.com
Whatever you do... get some more Ike in your collection, ya really can't go wrong...
I doi sugggest perusing eMusic , the eclectic all DRM free MP3 indie based download website that has plenty of material from this legendary cat ( at prices less than half of I-tunes & others)...
and if yer a new member, heck the first few dozen are always free to keep... with no cancellation fee or penalty if ya wanna quit a good thang...
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