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Ike Turner Dies

December 13, 2007 | People
Legendary artist Ike Turner has died aged 76. Turner is best known for his recordings with former wife, Tina Turner. Among them "Proud Mary", which was also recorded by Elvis.

Long before Elvis and Chuck Berry burst into the public eye, Turner was playing rock ‘n’ roll. Some people think he even invented it with the pummeling “Rocket 88” in 1951, recorded with his Kings of Rhythm at Sam Phillips’ Sun studio in Memphis and spiked by Turner’s distorted guitar. The song, released on Chicago-based Chess Records and released under the name of the singer, Jackie Brenston, established a pattern for Turner’s career: He would always be the man behind the scenes, a crucial but often unrecognized cog in the development of blues, R&B, rock ‘n’ roll and soul over the next three decades.

“Blues men in America, we were outcasts,” he said in a 2001 interview with the Tribune. “All of our lives, since I was born, we were outcasts. Before the Beatles and the Rolling Stones and the Yardbirds came along --- it had to come from whites in England for America to appreciate what we did.”

Turner was also quoted as saying he made $60.00 for doing "Rocket 88". In an interview with Record Collector magazine earlier this year, Turner spoke briefly about meeting Elvis during his Sun days.

From the UK's Daily Telegraph:

In 1952, Elvis Presley was a Memphis truck driver. Ike Turner was a budding musician performing in the black section of the city. Turner recalls that the future legend "was just a white boy that would come over to black clubs. He would come in and stand behind the piano and watch me play. I never knew he was no musician."

Ike Turner, with Tina, his wife in the Sixties: 'Elvis would watch me play. I never knew he was no musician'

But neither did Presley appreciate that Turner was the man who had, a year earlier, recorded what the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame now recognises as the first rock and roll single: Rocket 88, attributed on the label to Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats.

It was 20 years after recording Rocket 88 that Ike Turner and Elvis Presley met again, this time in Las Vegas. Turner was unaware that the "King of Rock and Roll" was the same man who, in the early 1950s, had stolen into the segregated black venue in Memphis to watch him perform.

But as they approached each other in a corridor of the International Hotel, says Turner, "Elvis Presley walks up and says, 'Hey! Do you remember me?' "
Source:Chicago Tribune
Jerome wrote on December 13, 2007
My condolences. He made some fine music and he was a good boxer..ask Tina..
Michael.W. wrote on December 13, 2007
Very good musician! I especially like his pre Tina era! RIP
old shep wrote on December 13, 2007
Ike certainly had a turbulent lifestyle but that aside Rocket 88 was a rock n roll classic. Why do we always loose great performers around this time of the year?
Greg Nolan wrote on December 13, 2007
Jerome, as with Elvis, the man's musical legacy (one of the earlier rock and rollers) should be celebrated at the time of this death, rather than harping on his personal failings. I saw one too many obituaries today that managed to put Tina Turner's charges in the first line of the article. That's the equivalent of harping on Elvis' fixation about wanting to kill Mike Stone, or dying on a toilet , obese and abusing drugs, etc.
Steve V wrote on December 13, 2007
RIP Ike. You certainly were a pioneer and vastly under acknowledged. Old Shep - I was thinkling the same thing. James Brown was last December.
My boy, my boy wrote on December 14, 2007
Greg Nolan, would you give us a break ?...Elvis had in mind to get Mike Stone killed but he never went all the way...on the other hand, Ike had in mind to beat Tina repeatedly and he did go all the way...so between the 2 mistakes, I'll cover Elvis !...
fidelio wrote on December 14, 2007
to greg nolan! dont talk about the king like that man!!! elvis had a drug problem thats true but he never beaten a woman and ike was a very violent man and took a lot of drugs in his life. And talking about dying on the toilet and being obese, elvis had a lot of medical problems at the end of his life so leave those subjects for your own. Well see between this and 30 years who whe still be talking about. Greetings from belgium. Never insult the king man!
JimmyCool wrote on December 14, 2007
I didn't know he was alive! R.I.P.
Harvey Alexander wrote on December 14, 2007
Ike never beat Tina. It was all in her imagination. Ask people who were in Ike's band at the time - they'll tell you he didn't beat her. And anyway, she was built like a bloody tank and could probably have decked him anyway. Ike Turner was a pioneering legend. God bless him.
benny scott wrote on December 15, 2007
Harvey Alexander: you don't believe that yourself don't you? In Tina's imagination ? C'mon, face the truht man. Nevertheless, who are we to judge someone. So R.I.P.
Ton Bruins wrote on December 15, 2007
What counts is that he was a great musician/songwriter.
Elvisnites wrote on December 15, 2007
Sorry, can't get past spousal abuse. In my opinion, he wasn't that great.
FLASHBOY wrote on December 22, 2007
Sorry, I have no respect for this guy. He Beat his wife more than once and this is unnaceptable!And for Elvis taking drugs and stuff ... please get over it almost everybody in showbusiness did it and let me tell you something stronger than Elvis. The beatles was more drugs than Elvis my friends so why that people cant just leave it alone. The Beatles the rolling stones Janis joplin ext they were worst than Elvis but it's Elvis that is remember a junkie. Tired of that!