There is no denying Ike Turners place in musical history. While the general public may know about his heyday with the Ike & Tina Turner Revue during the 60s (a meteroic rise to fame that peaked with their early 70 hits Proud Mary and Nutbush City Limits), only hardcore Ike fans and jump blues enthusiasts are aware of him spearheading the formative years of rock n roll with the 1951 hit Rocket 88(cut in Memphis by his Kings of Rhythm but issued on Chicagos Chess Records label under the name Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats). Few know of Turners role as a kind of super talent scout of the South during the 1950s for both the Chess brothers of Chicagos Chess Records or the Bihari brothers of Los Angeles Modern/RPM Records. Fewer still know of Ikes participation on several early 50s RPM recordings by B.B. King (including his piano accompaniment on Kings 1951 hit Three OClock Blues and his 1952 followup You Know I Love You), his playing second guitar on classic 1958 Cobra sessions for Buddy Guy and Otis Rush (including Rushs signature pieces Double Trouble and All Your Love (I Miss Loving)), or hammering the 88s behind the likes of Howlin Wolf, Muddy Waters, Elmore James, Little Walter, and Willie Dixon during the 1950s.
While playing as a house pianist in West Memphis "blacks only" blues clubs, Ike often snuck In a young white truck driver to sit next to the piano to study Ike's boogie style and dance moves: thsat kid was Elvis Presley.
In the 1960's, Ike's influence on several of the most recognized names in Rock continued: Janis Joplin sought Turner for vocal coaching, and a young Jimi Hendrix played in Ike's Kings of Rhythm for a time. As a teenager, Bonnie Bramlett was briefly a member of the Ikettes, prior to starting her own rise to stardom a few years later.
In retrospect, Ikes early innovations seem to have been overshadowed by his notoriety in later years. Following the breakup of Ike & Tina in 1976, Turner entered a dark period of self-imposed exile marked by his heavy cocaine addiction. I just went into a 15-year party, is how he put it. The 90s were further marred by his incarceration for cocaine possession at the outset of the decade and the public besmirching of his name by the 1993 movie Whats Love Got To Do With It?, which portrays Tinas take on their tumultuous 18-year relationship. But like the mythical phoenix, Ike would eventually rise from the ashes of his fallen career and begin life anew.
With 2001s triumphant Here and Now, one thing was eminently clear: the swagger was back in Ike Turners stride. That comeback album took critics by surprise,
proving that, at age 70, he still had plenty of fire left to give. The album received a GRAMMY nomination for "Best Traditional Blues album" in 2001, and a 2002 W.C. Handy Blues Award in 2002.
On Risin' with the Blues, the R&B icon and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer takes the intensity level up a notch or two with typically slashing-stinging guitar work, rollicking boogie woogie piano flourishes and some of the nastiest, rawest, most potent vocals hes ever summoned up in a fabled career that dates back more than 50 years.
All my life I was afraid to come out front and sing, says the longtime bandleader who throughout his career stood behind a dynamic front person, whether it was Jackie Brenston, Billy Gayles or Clayton Love in the early years or Tina Turner during the 60s and 70s. I dont know whether I was too bashful to sing it myself on stage, I just liked it better in the background.
Personnel:
Ike Turner lead vocals, guitar, piano
The Kings of Rhythm:
Mack Johnson, Leo Dombecki,Ryan Montana: Horns
Seth Blumberg: Guitars
Paul Smith: Hammond B3, Keys
Ernest Lane: Piano, keyboards
Kevin Cooper, and
Armando Cepeda: Bass
Bill Ray: Drums
