*An Appreciation of R & B's Ike Turner

Click On Title To Link To YouTube's Film Clip Of Ike Turner And His Kings of Rhythm In A 1959 Rock Out.

CD REVIEW

The Sun Sessions By Ike Turner and His Kings of Rhythms, Ike Turner, Sun Records, 1959

Needless to say the late Ike Turner’s reputation as a performer has suffered from the revelations about his sexual abuse of the currently still performing Tina Turner (and still wowing audiences with her raucous soulful energies). Tina's revelations in her biography and through the movie "What's Love Got To Do With It" have all but erased any popular knowledge of Ike's seminal role in the R&B aspect of the creation of Rock 'n' Roll in the early 1950's. While one needs to pay due respect to political correctness in this matter and all one's sympathies are with Tina it is nevertheless necessary to pay homage to Ike's pivotal role in that development, warts and all.

One needs to start from Ike's work on 1951's "Rocket 88" (often considered the first rock 'n' roll record although readers of this space know that my preferred candidate is Big Joe Turner's "Shake, Rattle and Roll"), to his piano backings for Little Milton and Junior Parker and his twangy, pre-funk heavy guitar playing throughout the 50s (for Loma, among others). Turner was there, contributing ideas and stretching existing sounds into the new cosmos (and new white teenage music market). However, we all know it always has to get back to that Sun studio in Memphis (and the pervasive Sam Phillips). Right? But where is that classic "Rocket 88" here? Although it is readily available elsewhere it should be in this compilation. I went crazy recently when I heard it for the first time in a long time. That was a time when men and women played hard-driving R&B for keeps.


As others have pointed out and I am beholding to here for the remaining comments as a recording artist Turner hopped around quite a bit, recording for (or having his recordings leased to) a variety of labels throughout the 50s, including RPM, Modern, Chess and Sun. His nomadic wanderings make a label-centric compilation such as this more like a snapshot than a coherent view of his pre-Ike & Tina work. Even the liner notes (from Bill Dahl) have a difficult time providing context for these tracks without alluding to coincidental tracks (on other labels) that aren't here.
Of the actual Sun-cut tracks, there are many stand-outs, including several that weren't released at the time of their waxing. Billy "The Kid" Emerson vocalizes on several of the disc's highlights, including his Sun debut, the tremelo-and-blues "No Teasing Around." Here he mixes R & B crooning (of the sort peaking with Specialty artists like Percy Mayfield and Joe Liggins) with a bit of the rockabilly swagger that would soon flourish. His follow-up, "The Woodchuck," features a lyric that riffs on the childhood rhyme, and is powered by a generous helping of Turner's stinging guitar.

After leaving Memphis and cutting sides for Federal in '56 and '57, Turner self-produced recordings in St. Louis in 1958 and sold them to Sun. New lead vocalist Tommy Hodge had great style, and the Louis Jourdan-like jump-blues of "I'm Gonna Forget About You Baby (Matchbox)" is very catchy. Carlson Oliver's rocking sax solo is a real standout, and Turner's whammy bar gets a full workout on "How Long Will It Last."

Note: Many of the songs by the various artists featured here have been placed on other Sun-related compilations, especially the work of Billy Emerson. However, it is nice to have Ike's early Sun work in one place except that mandatory "Rocket 88".