TINA

The Soul Of Tina Turner is a compilation album covering material from what could be described as  the 'middle' period of Ike & Tina Turner’s joint career. 

Hang on, you say, who is this Ike character? Who indeed. 

Ike Turner was a producer, guitarist, talent scout and band leader whose Kings of Rhythm released "Rocket 88", a contender for the first rock and roll record, in 1950. After seeing Annie Mae Bullock in a St Louis nightclub, he added her to his band as a backing singer, changing her given name along the way. Her raw talent soon saw her elevated to lead singer, a position cemented by their marriage in 1958, thus completing the transformation of Annie Mae Bullock to Tine Turner. 

Ike was accomplished at the art of matrimony; he wed no fewer than fourteen times, with a number of the unions overlapping. Controlling, domineering and prone to physical violence, Ike’s behaviour was inexcusable. Leaving him during their 1975 tour was an act of great courage, as was Tina's resilience in re-building her career. 

What of the music that emerged from that toxic liaison? 

During the 1960s, Ike and Tina Turner recorded for numerous record labels; Ike changed them almost as often he discarded wives. Warner Brothers, Kent, Sue, Phillis, Loma, Modern, Minit, Tangerine, Blue Thumb… it’s an astonishing list that makes navigating the back catalogue very tricky. What The Soul Of Tina Turner does is collect tracks from four albums recorded in 1968 and 1969 on two labels, Pompeii and Blue Thumb. It is not a re-issue of the debut 1961 LP The Soul Of Ike & Tina Turner, nor the similarly named 1966 Kent album The Soul Of Ike & Tina. The sixteen tracks cherry pick songs from the following albums:

So Fine [July 1968, Pompeii]

Outa Season [March 1969, Blue Thumb]

Cussin’, Cryin’ and Carryin’ On [July 1969, Pompeii]

The Hunter [October 1969, Blue Thumb]

They amply demonstrate the thrilling R&B sound of the band and the raw power of Tina’s voice. Surprisingly, that doesn’t begin until track two. The opening cut is "Beauty is just skin deep" from Cussin’, Cryin’ and Carryin’ On where the lead vocals are in fact by the backing singers, the Ikettes. It’s a strong performance in the girl-group tradition, but I confess to being relieved when Tina’s husky vocals appear front-and-centre on "Ain’t nobody’s business." Also from that LP is the next song, "You’re so fine" which shows how well Tina and the backing group melded. It’s 60s soul at its best.

One unexpected inclusion is "Bet’cha can’t kiss me (just one time)" which has backing vocals from—wait for it—The Chipmunks. It was released as a single too, originally in 1966. Fortunately the last cut on side one wipes away that brow-furrowing collaboration: "Too Hot To Hold" is a first division Tina Turner belter with a super funky bass line.

The Otis Redding classic "I’ve been loving you too long" opens side two with a rich performance that proves Tina was more than a high octane powerhouse. It is followed by another song from Outa Season, the heart-breaking "I am a motherless child", written by the singer. A slow gospel number, it shares some DNA with "House of the rising sun" and "Motherless children" and stands out for its emotional heft. Her cover of sonny Boy Williamson’s "Crazy 'bout you baby" is another bluesy, soulful highlight of the collection. The album closes with "Bold Soul Sister" from The Hunter. This deeply funky track concludes proceedings with an upbeat energy that would do James Brown proud. 

If you want a sampler of the late 1960s work of a great R&B singer, you could do a lot worse than this 2022 RSD release. It does indeed capture something of The Soul Of Tina Turner.

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© Bruce Jenkins—September 2024