By the time that Ike Turner met and transformed young Anna
Mae Bullock into Tina Turner he had already had a lengthy
career on the southern blues and R&B circuit. In the ensuing
success of Ike and Tina Turner as well as the notoriety accorded
Ike by Tina’s subsequent account of their marriage and
career, drug problems, and appearances on People’s
Court, the innovations wrought by Ike’s Kings of
Rhythm band have all but been forgotten by the general public.
True, many music writers and musicologists credit the outfit
with the recording of the very first rock record, “Rocket
88.” But for the most part, Ike has been relegated by
most to the back pages of popular music history. Fortunately,
this entry in the Blues Kingpins series, released
to coincide with the broadcast of Martin Scorsese’s
blues documentary this autumn, does much to demonstrate that
Ike was a heavy influence on much of the R&B and rock
music that followed.
Born in Clarksdale, Mississippi, the legendary birthplace
of the blues, Turner first cut his teeth as a pianist influenced
by the boogie pyrotechnics of Willie “Pinetop”
Perkins. It was as a pianist that Ike started out, playing
piano on the famed “Rocket 88” single, which was
released by Chess records under the name of saxophonist/vocalist
Jackie Breston. At the same time Turner was playing the ivories
behind acts like Howlin’ Wolf and Elmore James as well
as acting as a talent scout for the Bihari brothers’
Modern/RPM record labels, helping to scour the south in search
of new talent. In 1952 he cut his first RPM record, accompanying
himself on the piano while he sang “Trouble and Heartaches”
and “You’re Driving Me Crazy.” Both tracks
display Ike’s boogie woogie piano roots, which were
buried too far beneath the surface of his style. He then hooked
up with singer/girlfriend Bonnie and recorded two duets, “Looking
For My Baby” and “My Heart Belongs To You.”
Since Bonnie could play the piano as well as singing and Ike
was having trouble finding and keeping a steady guitarist,
he got himself an electric Fender guitar and began to work
on the instrument.
By 1954 he was playing guitar on recording sessions for other
artists, and he began recording on the instrument himself
at his own Clarksdale recording studio. He recorded several
tracks here that unleashed his newfound guitar style, which
was modeled on the work of Guitar Slim. This is the place
where Turner really left his mark, with his hyper whammy-bar
attack providing fertile inspiration for many later blues,
rock n’ roll, and even surf guitarists. “Cubano
Jump” finds Ike’s high-powered guitar work punctuated
by the saxophone work of Jackie Brenston and Raymond Hill.
Then there’s the rollicking ode to whiskey “Early
Times,” featuring vocalist Dennis Binder. Ike’s
work on this track is much more of a supporting role, his
blues guitar riffs walking the piece forward. Binder also
takes the vocal chores on “Nobobdy Wants Me,”
with Ike slashing and pushing the singer along. “Go
To It (Stringing Along)” is like a Delta blues recipe
book, with Ike stringing together a series of tasty ingredients
to make his final dish spicy and rib-sticking. “Cuban
Getaway” features a mellower style, but with the intense
reverb and picking style Ike still manages to turn it into
an exciting statement. One of the highlights of the collection
has to be the amazing “All the Blues All the Time,”
an eight-plus history of the blues and its influence on boogie
and rock. In fact, Turner manages to work in the guitar riffs
of a number of blues legends, including Muddy Waters, Elmore
James, and B. B. King.
The Blues Kingpin series is a set of six CDs, each
of which focuses on a major musician in the trip from the
early country blues to the modern, electric urban blues and
straight into the halcyon days of R&B and the conception,
if not the birth, of rock and roll. Other releases in the
series feature B.B. King, Elmore James, Fats Domino, John
Lee Hooker, and Lightnin’ Hopkins. It’s good to
see Turner in his rightful place here, as a leading light
in the transition from blues-based R&B to the beginnings
of rock music. Whatever his later problems, Turner left a
series of signposts for future artists as a songwriter, a
pianist, a guitarist, and as a mover and shaker on the Southern
blues circuit. Though the legacy of his recordings with Tina
Turner will likely always overshadow his earlier accomplishments,
it is only fitting that those accomplishments be honored in
this, the official year of the blues. Ike Turner’s Blues
Kingpin collection is a great introduction to Turner’s
music and to his contribution to the blues and all that came
after.
