The album opens with "I've Been Loving You Too Long," one of Otis Redding's most classic cuts, yet Tina's version gives the original a serious run for its money. Another notable moment is "Crazy About You Baby," an uptempo blues in which Tina rides the cresting wave of the band's churn like an all-star surfer on the beaches at Maui, making for a bravura performance.
Ike and his band aren't just blushing in the background to support Tina, though, as they're a force to be reckoned with in their own right. Indeed, Ike's guitar work is all over these records, confident and brash. There's something extraordinary about hearing a truly tight R&B group in its prime, considering how much discipline it must take to feel and create this music. It's the kind of thing that sounds effortless yet requires an intense amount of work. Such is what you're hearing on this disc.
Would I recommend Ike & Tina Turner Sing The Blues to Tina Turner fans more comfortable with her pop direction since the early Eighties? Probably not. Tina's latter-day recordings have her raw talent polished to a fine sheen. It's good material overall, but it lacks grit.
Ike & Tina Turner Sing The Blues, however, has grit to spare. This is a deep dive into the back catalogue of a legendary, yet still underrated R&B duo. It's vintage, real blues music with a hint of soul lathered on top.
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Article comments
1 - Diane
Loved the Ike and Tina Turner era!
Beautiful things come out of adversity sometimes...
adore Tina Turner now and forever!
2 - Mike Sharman
Matt,
I first saw "Th Ike and Tina Turner Revue" at the Pasadena Ice Palace in 1967. I was 17. Tina! The Ikettes! the band! Oh my God!!! That same year I waited outside of "The Galaxy Club" on Sunset Blvd, Ike and Tina were playing. I was way too young to get in. There wasn't a stage entrance so I wanted to see Ike and Tina, not onstage, but up close. Soon a chocolate brown Lincoln arrived, Ike got out a waited for Tina's chocolate brown Cadillac. She arrived a minute later, gave her car to the valet, they embraced, kissed and entered the club. That had to be enough this 17 year old! "I Idolize You", "It's Gonna Work Out Fine". I had kind of forgotten about the old Ike and Tina stuff, I'm most surely buying "...Sing the Blues" Thanks for a great article about, I think, the greatest entertainer alive.
3 - sindarous
i love tina and would really like to meet her one day and sing with her cause i can sing and i love watching the movie whats love got to do with it and my favorite song is tina wishes and whats love got to do with it and river deep and proud marry i love them song and i love tina turner as well and i would like to meet her