I've spent an interesting afternoon reading the new issue of Blues Revue, a bimonthly magazine about that vibrant musical genre published in Salem, West Virginia. It's the ideal niche magazine: vastly knowledgeable about its subject, but well-written, entertaining and non-oppressively informative even for the casual fan.
I confess I'm at a loss as to where the blues begins or ends. The entry for it in Wikipedia talks about blue notes and 12-bar structures, and makes reference to a call-and-response pattern for music and lyrics that has an African origin. I do know that when you're talking about music, the blues aren't necessarily sad, but they do reflect life, and that is often at least a little melancholy.
Every other issue of Blues Revue contains a CD of new blues recordings, a nice bonus.
The magazine starts out with a number of very well-written profiles of blues performers, many of them getting on in years.
The cover story of this issue is about Ike Turner, whose contribution to the music world goes far beyond his notorious marriage to Tina. For instance, as a teenager he played the piano on B.B. King's first hit record, "Three O'Clock Blues," back in the late 1940s. In the early 1950s he sneaked a young white gravel truck driver who wanted to hear Turner play into the back door of a blacks-only club in West Memphis. Yes, Elvis Presley hid behind the piano! Ike Turner remembers his next meeting with Elvis even more vividly. It was years after in a Las Vegas casino, and later that day Turner won a $470,000 jackpot.
Fruteland Jackson seems typical of many blues performers, in that he's had many jobs ― private investigator, shrimp wholesaler, worker in a McDonnell Douglas missile factory ― but has ultimately come back to music. At 53, he believes that experience does count in the blues: "What happens with a lot of young players is that they don't have the life experience for older people to believe. You're 24 years old. How are you going to talk to me about my 'woman'? You just left your mother's house."
Article comments
1 - urban survivor
You know with the passing of Ike Turner, it reminded me of how often black people are overlooked by the national press, and how quickly we're demonized i.e. when a man goes on trail, and is found "not guilty" thats it, he's supposed to be done, well O.J. will never be done or so it seem's
Ike Turner was divorced from a difficult marriage
yet he was demonized by his " uncle Tom" wife and it's not forgotten, why is this ?
2 - Pamela/St Louis
All said in done. Mr.Ike is resting and peace and jamming with the maker and friends that left before him. The readers should get there self together before you leave your last breath on this earthly body. Get right with the maker"Jesus". Ike Turner left a wonderful mark on the next generation of young artist to come.
My Uncle used to perform with the ink spots in the 50s. My family had the opportunity to get to know Tina and Ike.
3 - kim
i am not sure what the deal was between him and tina and seriously, who really cares. there is 3 sides to every story her side, his side, and the truth. i also watched the movie and alot of that shit seemed like bull. ms. tina already had a 2 year old child when she met ike mind you she was 16 then. ike was probally beating her little ass cause she was still fass! obviously there was not alot of discipline in her family cause she had a baby and was in the club at 16. keep it real tina and make a another with some of the truth so ike can not have this bad 'rep' going to the grave with him. no one deserves to be remembered as a horrible person.