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TINA TURNER R.I.P. 1939 - 2023

May 25, 2023 – 7:45 am

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TINA TURNER R.I.P. 1939 - 2023

Tina Turner, the raspy-voiced fireball who overcame domestic abuse and industry ambivalence to emerge as one of rock and soul’s brassiest, most rousing and most inspirational performers, died on May 24 at age 83.

“Tina Turner, the ‘Queen of Rock & Roll’ has died peacefully today at the age of 83 after a long illness in her home in Küsnacht near Zurich, Switzerland,” her family said in a statement Wednesday. “With her, the world loses a music legend and a role model.” A cause of death was not immediately available, though Turner had a stroke and battled both kidney failure and intestinal cancer in recent years.

Starting with her performances with her ex-husband Ike, Turner injected an uninhibited, volcanic stage presence into pop. Even with choreographed backup singers - both with Ike and during her own career - Turner never seemed reined in. Her influence on rock, R&B, and soul singing and performance was also immeasurable. Her delivery influenced everyone from Mick Jagger to Mary J Blige, and her high-energy stage presence (topped with an array of gravity-defying wigs) was passed down to Janet Jackson and Beyoncé. Turner’s message - one that resounded with generations of women - was that she could hold her own onstage against any man.

Mick Jagger shared a collection of photos of Turner on Twitter, including a shot of the two of them on stage together, remembering: “I’m so saddened by the passing of my wonderful friend Tina Turner. She was truly an enormously talented performer and singer. She was inspiring, warm, funny and generous. She helped me so much when I was young and I will never forget her.”

Diana Ross, whose career timeline overlapped with Turner’s beginning in the early sixties, added in a separate post: “Shocked. Saddened. Sending condolences to Tina Turner’s family and loved ones.”

Debbie Harry shared a statement via Blondie’s official social accounts, remembering just how much she’s been inspired by Turner from the very beginning. “I was a benefactor of the energy, creativity and talents of Tina Turner. A woman who started in rural Nutbush, TN cotton fields and worked her way to the very top,” she shared. “Tina was a great inspiration to me when I was starting out and remains so to this day. Love you Tina. RIP.”

Flea shared a photo of Turner on stage, calling her the “Truest rocker. Greatest performer. Most profoundly sexy woman.” He added, “What a dynamo, what a story, what a heroine. Always an energy inspiration for me, always tapping the source. Tina forever. Man. Always been in awe of her and the infinite power.” - rollingstone.com

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Ike and Tina Turner… in happier times.

IKE AND TINA TURNER
River Deep, Mountain High Outtakes

Ike Turner died on December 12, 2007 at his home in San Marcos, California. He was 76. Known for the Ike And Tina Turner Revue, Ike made what many consider to be the very first rock ‘n’ roll record, Rocket 88, in 1951. He played guitar and piano on the track, and was the first to use fuzz guitar sounds on the song, sounds that were caused by damage to an amplifier.

In memory of the musician, bandleader, talent scount and producer, here are eight tracks containing 18 takes of the 1966 Ike and Tina Turner classic, River Deep, Mountain High. These were recorded at Gold Star Studios in Hollywood in 1966.

While the song is credited to the duo, River Deep, Mountain High was really Phil Spector’s baby. In He’s A Rebel (The Truth About Phil Spector), Mark Ribowsky wrote about how producer Phil Spector got the Turners involved with the song: “The chance of getting into rock mainstream excited Ike. After Phil obtained permission from Ike’s current label, Loma Records, an R&B branch of Warner Brothers, to lease them for US$20,000, Phil and (promotions man) Danny Davis went to Ike and Tina’s Baldwin Hills house to close the deal.

‘I didn’t know what to expect, Ike had a mean reputation,’ Davis said, ‘but he was thrilled at the time that no less than Phil Spector was interested in them.’ Although Ike had no objection to keeping out of the studio with Phil, ‘he did think he would be involved somehow in what came out and so forth. I remember there was a lot of talk about it because Phil wanted to keep him happy. He was scared to death of Ike’.”

The song took five sessions to cut. At the end, the recording costs came up to US$22,000, “which would have been an unthinkable cost for several albums.”

This is what happened at one of the recording sessions: “Trying to sing [the song] again while the immense rhythm track gorged her ears through headphones, [Tina] was constantly interrupted by Phil. ‘That’s close,’ he would say. ‘Let’s try it again.’ She had to inch up on the vocal, until, long after midnight, she was dripping with sweat and had to take off her blouse. Standing in a pitch-dark room in her bra, her head and her ears pounding, she took a deep breath and ripped it again, the veins in her neck bulging and her lower stomach in stabbing pain. When she left the studio, Tina still did not know if she did it the way Phil wanted it, and neither did Phil.”

These outtakes (very good soundboard) are taken from the bootleg What Is See Is What You Get (Big Fro Discs). These tracks are presented in stereo, in spite of Phil Spector’s love of mono.

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A READER WRITES IN

Your site is a killer. Ike played piano on Rocket 88… the guitar was played by Willie Kizart. Willie tuned down 1/2 step to Eb, so he could be in a key more suitable to the horns and piano. The full line-up for that session was Ike Turner - piano, bandleader; Jackie Brenston - vocal, tenor sax; Raymond Hill - tenor sax; Willie Sims - drums.

Raymond Hill was name-checked the Jackie when he said “blow your horn, Raymond… BLOW”.

Raymond Hill was with Tina before Ike was, and Raymond fathered Tina’s first child.

Rocket 88 was recorded on March 3, 1951 and Ike really didn’t start playing guitar until sometime in 1952.

John Ellis

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Click on the highlighted tracks to download the MP3s (192 kbps). As far as we can ascertain, these tracks have never been officially released on CD.

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Track 01. Outtake 1 6:30
Track 02. Outtake 2 4:05
Track 03. Outtake 3 6:10
Track 04. Outtake 4 6:58
Track 05. Outtake 5 3:39
Track 06. Outtake 6 4:37
Track 07. Outtake 7 3:39
Track 08. Outtake 8 3:44
40 mins

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