Love will abide / Take things in stride / Sounds like good advice / But there’s no one by my side / But time washes clean / Love’s wound unseen / That’s what somebody told me / But I don’t know what it means

The reason I ever got into Ike and Tina Turner’s music was the year I spent living in St. Louis, after college.  While I was there I met my best friend, Josh, a native.  He moved around for a while, but landed back in St. Louis about five years ago.  I usually visit STL once a year, to see him and some family I have there.  As noted on this blog, Josh used to take me to the Record Exchange, and that’s where I found this copy of Tina Turns the Country On! in 2010.Like a good St. Louisan, Josh was an Ike & Tina and Tina Turner fan.

Here in Durham we have this weird music video channel called CoolTV.  They often play live concert footage videos, and the Tina Turner Wildest Dreams tour is on their rotation.  One night, W. and I were watching CoolTV and were blown away by the hip-thrusting antics of a big, blond percussionist/saxophonist in one of these videos.  I called Josh to exclaim about it and he replied yes, he knew. In fact, Josh had seen this Fabio lookalike when he attended Wildest Dreams at Riverport.  And by the way, didn’t I know that’s the same guy who plays at the boardwalk in The Lost Boys?

That’s a great example of why Josh was a great friend to have, and why we got along so well.  Who else our age would have this detailed knowledge of a Tina Turner touring band member?

Caught in my fears / and I’m sittin’ here blinking back the tears

Josh died in June.

You know, Ike and Tina don’t really have many sad songs.  They tend to make everything upbeat and energetic, whatever the lyrics may be.  Tina Turns the Country On! is a different animal, since it was produced by Tom Thacker, instead of Ike.  The arrangements are straight country, with no Turner flourishes.

For whatever reason, Tina changes the lyrics a bit.  In Linda’s version (and, I assume, the White composition), the chorus changes slightly through the song, from “I think I’m going to love you for a long, long time,” to “I think it’s going hurt me for a long, long time” to “I think I’m going to miss you for a long, long time.”  Tina just sticks to “love you” throughout.

I’m sure it won’t surprise you that I prefer Tina’s version over Linda Ronstadt’s.  Tina hits a perfect balance on this song, to me.  It’s a fairly restrained delivery (well, compared to what Ike usually called for), but she’s not phoning it in — it’s an emotional interpretation, and beautiful.

Life is full of loss / Sometimes I wonder, who knows the cause?

Guess what I found there?

Tina Turns the Country On!

Whatta find!  I’m ecstatic! I’ve been wanting this for years. More posts to come once I’ve had time to digest the album. But, as a teaser, here’s the track listing:

Side One

Bayou Song (PJ Morse)

Help Me Make It Through the Night (K Kristofferson)

Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You (B Dylan)

If You Love Me (Let Me Know) (J Rostill)

He Belongs To Me (Bob Dylan)

Side Two

Don’t Talk Now (J Taylor)

Long Long Time (G White)

I’m Moving On (H Snow)

There’ll Always Be Music (D Parton)

The Love That Lights Our Way (F Karlin/M Karlin)

And now for some blues, for people who likes the blues.

I’m fixin’ to take my yearly trip to St. Louis soon, so I’ve been listening to What You Hear Is What You Get: Live at Carnegie Hall in anticipation. I think this LP has my favorite cover art of all their albums:

The Carnegie Hall gig was released in 1971. The liner notes don’t mention when it was recorded, but since Ike was usually very prompt with his output, I’ll just guess this was recorded in ’71 as well.

I seem to recall that in Ike’s autobiography he mentions that he barely remembers this performance–it went by in a druggy haze. Too bad, because this is a tight record — the live versions of “Proud Mary” and “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long” that you hear on the radio are from this album.

I especially like this live version of “I Smell Trouble,” a blues song they recorded on The Hunter album. Tracks like this make you think about how if Ike would not have been so intensely driven he would have had a straight-up blues guitar career, maybe been the Buddy Guy of St. Louis.

“I Smell Trouble” runs about eight minutes here, it follows their long, hectic version of “Proud Mary.”  It’s a nice change of pace, and Ike’s guitar work is masterful.  I like Tina’s blues singing live better than I did on The Hunter. I think her stage emoting adds the right kind of drama to the song. Her delivery tears at you a bit — she’s just as strong on the rock songs, but the slowed down tempo of a blues song gives you room to better appreciate Tina’s singing.

They do a little bit at the end of the song where Tina sings a line and Ike copies it on guitar and she tries to stump him.  Finally she reaches deep down for a low note, and laughs to herself.  It’s a charming moment, a bit of playfulness. (Though probably something they did night after night,  like all their stage patter.)

So, to begin: my first Ikettes post. I chose a 1962 single called “Prisoner in Love (No Bail in This Jail).” You can hear it here.

Robbie Montgomery sings lead on this one, a fairly standard man-done-me-wrong single, but Robbie and the Ikettes elevate the material with a bit of attitude when they can.  Robbie lucks out and gets one of the most fun lines I’ve heard on an Ike single: “I get the fibble-gibble-skibble-dibble-libbles,” which she takes up and down the scale playfully.  I also really love the Ikette’s delivery of the first chorus when they sound so put out on “I believe he’s lost his key, ’cause he never really cared about me.”

Robbie and the Ikettes trade lines back and forth during a borderline-alarming revenge fantasy section of the song:

“I wish I had the strength of  a man / I would grab him in his collar and let a left hook follow, mmm hmm! / and that ain’t ALL I’d do! / I would knock him to his knees and make him beg me to please / he would never wanna hurt me again / then I’d be satisfied ’cause I’d know I’d hurt his pride, mmm hmm!”

Readers of this blog know that I don’t fantasize about beating up men, but instead dream of ’60s Tina Turner covering Screamin’ Jay Hawkins songs.  So imagine my delight: Tina does not sing on this single but she does contribute big crazy-lady cackles throughout! Very Screamin’ Jay style. These demented laughs make “Prisoner in Love” a memorable single but don’t make all that much sense within the song–it’s not like the lyrics lead you to believe the woman has gone completely around the bend. Tina sounds like she’s in a straight jacket, which makes the listener wonder what exactly the fibble-gibble-skibble-dibble-libbles are.

Which leads to the obvious question: why don’t I own any Ikettes records?  I’ve ogled the Fine, Fine, Fine compilation a few times in the record store.  But it doesn’t have the singles I’m really dying to hear–songs with amazing titles like “Zizzy Zee Zum Zum,” “Pee Wee,” “Come On and Truck,” and “Prisoner In Love (No Bail In This Jail).”  I guess I should start trolling the Internet for some used records.

Anyway, next time you are in St. Louis, Sweetie Pie’s is definitely worth a trip.  The yams were the best side I tried there, but everything looked good.  There are two locations, one in the city at 4270 Manchester Avenue and another out north at 9841 W. Florissant Road.  Bring some honey packets in your purse if you want it for your cornbread.

Forget about “What’s Love Got to Do with It,” this is the most iconic song on the album.

It was written by Holly Knight, who is the rock talent behind “Love Is a Battlefield” and Tina’s later hit “The Best.” (She also wrote Rod Stewart’s “Love Touch,” that ’80s hit with the video set in a courtroom. And if you think that’s a bad song, keep in mind the stuff he unleashed upon the world in the ’90s. If only he’d stayed with material as harmless as “Love Touch”!)

In “Better Be Good to Me” Tina blows my mind right off the bat. She starts out with an overheated description of a dramatic love affair:

A prisoner of your love / Entangled in your web. / Hot whispers in the night / I’m captured by your spell . . .(whispered) Captured!

It’s that last “captured!” that charms me. It’s like a wink at the ridiculousness of the preceding descriptions. Then Tina adds just a touch of sarcasm to her tone:

Oh yes I’m touched by your show of emotion. / Should I be fractured by your lack of devotion?

After that the song gets real and begins describing what a more sensible relationship would look like, the give and take of a modern romance between equals.

I can’t resist pointing out a discrepancy between the lyric sheet and Tina’s performance. Those little differences always make me imagine the singer changing the meaning to better match their own feelings. Here it is:

As written:

And I think it’s only right / That we don’t meet at night. / We stand face to face / And you present your case.

As sung:

I think it’s oh-so right / That we don’t need to fight. / We stand face to face / And you present your case.

Soon she turns up that bold voice with:

But did you think I’d just accept you in blind faith? / Oh sure, baby! Anything to please you! / But you better be good to me!

She kills me on this song! Women’s liberation! Feminism forever! That’s how it’s got to be now!

I love the little guitar hook that replays throughout this song. Unlike a lot of the instrumentation on this album, it doesn’t sound dated to me at all. It’s a nice counterpoint to the melody of Tina’s singing. Thanks, Jamie West-Oram! The whole thing rocks. When I hear it I’m tempted to get one of those lion wigs.

Listening to it now, it strikes me that the lyrics of “I Can’t Stand the Rain” are 100% traditional pop song. They would fit perfectly with the material on the It’s Gonna Work Out Fine album.

I can’t stand the rain / Against my window / Bringing back sweet memories. / I can’t stand the rain / Against my window / Because he’s not here with me.

What is this, “Hopelessly Devoted to You” from Grease? [Sidenote: Tina's manager when she went solo was Roger Davies. His other big act at the time was Olivia Newton-John. This connection got Tina a spot on Olivia's 1980 variety hour "Hollywood Nights," which aired before the Oscars. They sang "Heartache Tonight" together!]

No, actually, it was originally a song for another R&B singer from St. Louis–Ann Peebles. It charted for her in 1973.

But of course Tina’s “I Can’t Stand the Rain” sounds so, so 1984. It’s more Grace Jones than Ann Peebles. Instead of guitar plucks for raindrop sound effects it’s all keyboards. Dude, this song is all keyboards. And the sound reminds you that Rupert Hine was mostly known then for producing the Fixx.

Tina’s version is ultra cool, a perfect balance between her soulful voice and the cold synths.

I know the secret combination!

It’s Tina’s birthday today, so in her honor I thought I’d write up a few songs from her fabulous solo album, Private Dancer. If you haven’t listened to it in a while, I recommend a revisit. It’s still powerful–whatta comeback!

Anyway, the song I want to highlight first is “I Might Have Been Queen,” which wasn’t a single, but it’s the song she chose to begin side one of the album with. It’s a rock song about reincarnation and Tina gives a controlled, yet dramatic, performance.

As you may (or may not) know, Tina is a believer in past lives. According to her autobiography, one of her comforts during the pain of her marriage was to sneak off and meet with seers and psychics. One told her, and she came to feel within herself, that in one past life she had been an Egyptian queen, specifically Hatshepsut.

Reading about all this in her autobiography it seemed a little comical–what could be more ’80s than a celebrity who believes in reincarnation? However, in Tina’s case it’s more complex than that. This idea that she had been a powerful person in a past incarnation was part of the fire that helped her leave Ike and start over from scratch. It was part of a new story she was telling herself about her worth, her ability to change and be happy.

Years later she was talking to her new record’s producer, Rupert Hine, and his girlfriend, Jennette Obstoj, about her beliefs and then they wrote “I Might Have Been Queen” for her. She mentions in her autobiography how meaningful the song was for her.

Anyway, back to the listener’s perspective: the track starts the album off on a mysterious note and slowly shows you the strong and self-assured Tina in store for you on this LP. (Keep in mind that the album that preceded this was her disco flop, Love Explosion.)

For every sun that sets / there is a new one dawning. / For every empire crushed / there is a brand new nation / Let the waters rise / I have ridden each tide . . . And I might have been queen / I remember the girl in the fields with no name. / She had a love. / Ohhh but the river won’t stop for me.

I really love the river in this song. What a perfect way to refer to her past (“Proud Mary”) in a wholly new context. She isn’t out hustling in this song, the river is a mystic metaphor for time. Time keeps passing and she has the chance to recreate herself.  I feel like I can feel hope coursing through Tina in her delivery.  It’s awesome.

In the end she proclaims that she is a “soul survivor,” and a chorus starts a refrain:

A Soul Survivor / On the river / But it won’t stop

Clue: Former rock duo’s favorite Mexican-Japanese eatery?

**

Answer: Ay Cantina Tuna

Oh man, this is such a good song, I love both live versions. In typical Ike and Tina style, they keep upping the ante in what was already a sad, sad song.

“A Fool for You” starts out slow and bluesy, mostly just piano, drum, and voice, with some horns gradually ebbing in and out. Where Ray’s delivery is worn out and sad, Tina has a little more life to her. It’s one of those passionate, early Tina performances that tear me up. But she’s going to use that extra spirit to pile on the heartbroken hyperbole.

I really like the part of the song where the pace picks up a bit, and the lyrics stop and start between percussion or horn exclamations. The words describe waking up missing the lost love, and putting on a big cry. Note the differences in our two versions:

Ray sings,

I said you even cry so loud
[drums!]
Yeah
[horns]
You give the blues to your neighbor next door
[drums!]
Yeah
[horns]
Ever since you were 5 years old, now baby
[drums!]
Yeah
[horns]
I want you to know that I’ve been a little fool for you little girl
[drums!]
Yeah

Tina sings,

And I KNOW THAT YOU EVEN CRY SO LOU-OU-OUD!
[drum and trumpet!]
Yes you will, mmm
[horns]
That you’ll have the preacher, I said you’ll have the preacher, drinkin’ wine next door
[drums and trumpet!]
Yeah, yeah
[horns]
But I wanna tell you that EVERY SINCE, EVERY SINCE I WAS 2 YEARS OLD!
[drums and trumpet!]
Yes I was, now, mmhm
[horns]
I keep on trying to proo-oove that I’m a little fool for ya baby
[drums and trumpet]
Yes, I am, mmm

Now that’s a fool for love!

This is a live recording, and you can hear some women respond when Tina sings, “I wanna know what makes me be a damn fool for you.” This reminded me of an interesting thing I read in Ike’s autobiography. He said that when he added Tina as the singer in his band, lots of women resented her (’cause Ike was such a heartthrob) and didn’t respond well to their performances due to jealousy. So he purposely gave her songs that would make her seem more sympathetic to female fans. I remember he mentioned their version of “All I Can Do Is Cry” as an example. I think the choice of “A Fool for You” was part of this strategy, too.