eMusic Review 0
Okay, we can agree that he was a son of a bitch — an abuser of women and drugs, and a violent, mean-spirited cheapskate with an outsized ego. But Ike Turner could really, really rock ‘n’ roll. And while the latter doesn’t excuse the former, I still can’t bring myself to steer you clear of Essential Rock ‘N’ Roll Blues Masters.
Turner was the mastermind behind the first genuine rock ‘n’ roll tune (“Rocket 88″), though historically it’s been slighted in favor of Bill Haley’s “Rock Around the Clock.” While Haley was a charlatan, Turner was — and remained — the genuine article. Despite his massive ego, Ike realized that his best chance for success came in writing, producing and arranging material for others. Steeped in the history of all manner of blues and R&B, adept on any instrument handed to him, and qualified to whip a band into shape, Turner was sought by many companies (including Sam Phillips’s Sun label) that recorded black popular music during the late ’40s and early ’50s. These productions were low-rent affairs, thrown together fast and cheap. That the results were of uniformly high quality says a lot about both Turner’s talent and his… read more »
