Ike and Tina Turner on Sue Records

Originally posted on January 24, 2008

The sixties were born in a blaze when Ike Turner played a signature guitar intro to Ike and Tina’s hit “I Think It’s Gonna Work Out Fine.” It was a rhythmic chord progression played on an electric guitar with, of course, a tube amp of the time. He dialed up the tremolo setting and, for about 16 seconds, created an icon of guitar playing. It still sounds great. What follows of course is a powerful vocal dialogue with Tina belting it out like nobody else back then. It’s on an Ike & Tina Turner Golden Classics CD (Collectibles) and classics they are.

Only the Everly Brothers rivaled Ike at the time for signature guitar chord intros, like on “Wake Up Susy” or “Bird Dog.” OK, you can’t leave out Bo Diddley either. Anyway the Ike & Tina CD consists of all (?) of the material they recorded for Sue Records, from 1960 to 1962. These are some killer tracks, with Tina just astounding. Listen to her on “Poor Fool” or “A Fool in Love” and you’ll know that she had more soul that the rest of the world put together. Indispensable stuff.