“I Love Baby” is from the album ‘Nuff Said. This is one of the four albums they released in 1971. ‘Nuff Said didn’t produce any hit singles, but it must have sold OK because I always see this LP in used record stores. In any case, I enjoy this album–it’s funky and features a good […]
Category Archives: Ike & Tina Turner
Contact High
Thursday, February 14, 2008
“Contact High” appeared on the album Come Together. I happen to have this on vinyl (thanks Willie!) and so I get the full experience of the trippy album cover design to complement the track. As you may have guessed, this song was written by Ike, whose drug habit was still hip in 1970. It starts […]
Stormy Weather
Saturday, February 9, 2008
This version of an old standard appeared around 1973. The most familiar recordings of “Stormy Weather” are the jazzy renditions of Billie Holiday, Lena Horne, and Frank Sinatra. But Ike and Tina were masters of song reinterpretation, and this is a great example of what they could do. With a good beat and bluesy piano, […]
Never Been to Spain
Thursday, February 7, 2008
I don’t know a lot about this recording, but I’m going to make some guesses, based on how it sounds and stuff I read in “I, Tina.” In the ’70s Ike and Tina revitalized their career by covering rock songs. “Never Been to Spain” was a hit for Three Dog Night in the early ’70s, […]
Betcha Can’t Kiss Me (Just One Time)
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Also sometimes called “Remember Baby” This song is from 1968, when Ike and Tina were in a bit of slump, right before they started covering more rock songs. I am fascinated by “Betcha Can’t Kiss Me,” as it features a weird Chipmunks-esque guest vocal. What’s the deal? Well, I poked around the Internet a little […]
Letter from Tina
Saturday, February 2, 2008
This is the Ike & Tina Turner version of the spoken-word pop song–a short ditty where Tina speaks over a simple piano-and-drums arrangement, and the Ikettes pipe in occasionally. I’ve read that Ike was thrashing around for any old material to record to fulfill his contract with Sue Records, but even so this seems misguided. […]
Poor Fool
Thursday, January 31, 2008
This was Ike & Tina’s second hit of 1961, after “It’s Gonna Work Out Fine.” “Poor Fool” is a pretty straightforward early-’60s song, with Tina singing about being in love and the Ikettes singing back up. Of all their songs, this has my favorite opening. It begins with Tina yelling at the listener, I want […]
It’s Gonna Work Out Fine
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
This is an early ’60s call-and-response number between Ike and Tina, with the Ikettes and Mickey & Sylvia chiming in on back-up vocals. Tina sings and Ike makes droll rejoinders in a honey-voiced tone. The overall sound is similar to Mickey & Sylvia’s “Love Is Strange,” with the addition of Tina’s out-of-this-world vocals. She keeps […]
The Ike & Tina project
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
I’m adrift without the 19th-century reading project to organize my life, so I think I’ll start something new. This past summer I celebrated a Summer of Ike & Tina, that is, I bought a bunch of Ike & Tina Turner albums and got obsessed with them. I’d been meaning to do that since I lived […]