R.I.P. Ike Turner

[GangstaBoogy]

Ike Turner should have been remembered as a king of rhythm and blues and one of the architects of rock ’n’ roll.

Instead, Turner - who died yesterday in his suburban San Diego home at age 76 - will forever be known as the abusive husband who viciously beat his wife, Tina Turner, the singer he molded into a star and who became an even bigger star after she left him.

Raised in Clarksdale, Miss., a precocious Turner learned piano from blues great Pinetop Perkins and began leading his own band, the Kings of Rhythm, as a teenager. In 1951, B.B. King arranged a recording session for him in Memphis with Sam Phillips, who a year later would found the legendary Sun Records.

The result was “Rocket 88,” released on Chicago’s Chess Records, a song that meshed big city jump blues with the raw sound of the Delta and that some, including Phillips, have called the first rock ’n’ roll record. It also created a blueprint for keyboard craziness for Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis to follow.

But “Rocket 88” was mistakenly released under the name of his saxophone player, Jackie Brenston, who sang it. As a result, Turner never received widespread recognition for his accomplishment.

He would also end up overshadowed in his musical partnership with Anna Mae Bullock, a singer he plucked from obscurity, married in 1958, and, after changing her name to Tina, turned into a star. A major attraction in the r & b world but little known to white audiences, Ike and Tina crossed over when Phil Spector produced their “River Deep, Mountain High” (which Ike, to his great displeasure, had little involvement in recording). The song flopped in the United States, but elevated their reputation, leading eventually to their opening the Rolling Stones’ 1969 tour and a hit cover of “Proud Mary” in 1971.

Ike and Tina’s run in the big time ended with their divorce in 1976. Tina re-emerged as a pop star in 1984 with “What’s Love Got to Do With It,” while Ike, in the thrall of cocaine addiction, remained inactive. Then came his vilification with the publication of Tina’s autobiography, “I, Tina,” which painted Turner as a cruel and domineering wife-beater. In 1991 he and Tina were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but there was no opportunity for a reconciliation: Ike Turner was serving 10 months in prison for selling cocaine.

It would get worse. After Laurence Fishburne’s satanic portrayal of Ike in “What’s Love Got to Do With It,” the 1993 film version of Tina’s book, Turner’s name became a punch line for comedians’ jokes. His reputation seemed unsalvageable.

“It hurts, man,” Turner told me in 1996, as he prepared to launch his comeback. “I have no regrets about the way I treated my wife. I think we had a happy relationship. It was nothing like the movie.”

Turner’s comeback proved a modest but gratifying success. Last year he won his first Grammy - and a measure of respect - for Best Traditional Blues Album for “Risin’ with the Blues.”

“I shouldn’t be judged by my personal life,” Turner said in our interview. “I should be judged by my music. That’s what I should be known for.”

Maybe now he’ll get his wish.

http://www.bostonherald.com/entertainment/music/general/view.bg?articleid=1050471

[swangin and bangin]

damn


erybody dyin

RIP

[WestCoasta]

he probably went to hell or somethin

[C-BLUE]

he probably went to hell or somethin

hell nahh he did more for music then all em rappers combined. nigga was a good man. my grandfather used to kicc it wit this nigga and he did alot for the community. so put on his blues records and praise the nigga. r.i.p. Ike

[WestCoasta]

oh ya I forgot a raging cocaine addict who abuses women is a good dude, my bad

[REGIME MOB 510]

oh ya I forgot a raging cocaine addict who abuses women is a good dude, my bad

LMAO ike is definitely snortin A1 with satan

[Native_Joe99]

oh ya I forgot a raging cocaine addict who abuses women is a good dude, my bad

LMAO ike is definitely snortin A1 with satan

lmao! yah he wasnt always doin white gurl tho, he liked dat hard shit more i think.