Ike Turner (born November 5, 1931, Clarksdale, Mississippi, USA; died December 12, 2007, San Diego, California, age 76) put out an album called Blues Roots (8 videos from the album on page at link) in 1972, but this Blues Roots was inevitable for hundreds of other approximately 3-minute-long reasons. I’ve had that album forever but I never felt like I knew that much about Izear Luster Turner, Jr. (and, somehow, I only recently noticed how the title dovetailed with this series). It wasn’t until this most recent and deepest dive into the blues (starting in about 2014) that I began to see his name over and over on his own records and those of others (including what’s often called “the first rock ’n’ roll song,” “Rocket 88,” a song that James Cotton steadfastly maintained that he wrote (which was a rewrite of Jimmy Liggins’ 1947 hit “Cadillac Boogie” no matter who did the rewrite)—and he performed it like he owned it—see section on James Cotton’s “Rocket 88” performances below. Nominally, “Rocket 88” is Jackie Brenston’s, but it’s actually Ike Turner’s Kings of Rhythm.

…………………………M…e…m…p…h…i…s…………B…l…u…e…s…………………………
Both Ike Turner and James Cotton spent a lot of time in Memphis, recorded in Memphis and have many records on this playlist. John Len Chatman was known as Memphis Slim because that was where he was from, but there aren’t any of his records on this list.

☆☆☆☆☆…A…n…t…o…i…n…e………F…a…t…s………D…o…m…i…n…o………J…r.…☆☆☆☆☆
(February 26, 1928–October 24, 2017)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFkK8sjDI7c

Thanks for checking this out. The next Blues Roots will appear on Thursday, November 10.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::I:K:E:::::T:U:R:N:E:R::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Ike Turner was all over the 1950s blues scene, playing either piano or guitar, as sideman or leader, playing all-night, all-day sets in juke joints and on recordings. I’m not sure what he played more of, but people who talked with him said he thought of himself as a pianist who also played guitar—hard to believe when you hear things like this?

“Prancing,” Ike & Tina’s Kings of Rhythm (1962)

“The Rooster,” Icky Renrut (1962)

“Ho-Ho,” Icky Renrut (early 1960s)

“Twisting the Strings” (1964)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9f-hT3mOFk

Just one of many (personnel listed at video)

Icky Renrut (another name he used) was on so many great recordings, it’s unfortunate that he’s probably best known as the less-famous half of Ike & Tina Turner, her cruel partner; he was infamous because of how he treated her (and for a while everything else he did in his life was overshadowed by that behavior). This is just going to focus on him and his musicianship (and his music with Tina Turner is among his best work [there aren’t any dips, just about all of his work is his best], so I featured a couple of their landmark albums below even though they’re not blues per se). This home movie is really cool.

Here’s his YouTube-generated topic. You really can’t go wrong, but the early stuff is all I need.

…………………………R…h…y…t…h…m………&………B…l…u…e…s………L…e…g…e…n…d…s…………………………
Check out the range of songs he plays on, this album contains a good sampling—too bad there isn’t a better breakdown beyond whose records they were (check each individual video’s description for the main artist, the ones by Billy Gayles are killers [that’s his given name, but he also goes by Billy Gales and Willie King on record labels])—just sit back and listen and you’ll hear Ike Turner’s perfectly tuned guitar or rocking piano cutting through the mix. The other guitarist on the Howlin’ Wolf classic “Riding in the Moonlight” (number 12) is Willie Johnson—most times, I’d say Ike Turner was the “other guitarist,” because the guitarist who defines the sound on this record is Willie Johnson (going to have to do a Blues Roots on him).
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlTil3xGf3YWTuOqJXATWxzvWZVXBDr-5

King Cobra: The Chicago Sessions, Ike Turner and the Kings of Rhythm (1950s)
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5lvMFHmlnfXFduK3XorgJ_0w1cgut0f7

Ike Turner plays on “Double Trouble,” “All Your Love (I Miss Loving),” “Keep On Loving Me Baby” (both versions), “My Baby Is a Good ’Un” (and maybe on others) on The Essential Otis Rush: The Classic Cobra Recordings 1956–1958 (this is one of the best compilations of all time (can’t really call it an album, but it was released as an album many times, starting with an 18-song LP in 1969). ESSENTIAL!
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmtbwq25inMeb_hWcH1WHK6J7QJgKtS1p

1958–1959, with Willie Dixon and Otis Rush
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQdzUF4A23KFXdLR9fDT7R7_LGwhbVimz

Blues Kingpins
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLGNkVyuAFl7oELbMYlmLRi1ydInx11s9m

If you like his early music, check out this 4-CD set. It is great! That Kat Sure Could Play! The Singles 1951 To 1957 (2011). Even if you aren’t thinking of buying it, this link will give you a nice idea of the artists whose records he played on.

“Sho Nuff I Do,” Elmore James and His “Broomdusters,” Raymond Hill (tenor), Oliver Sain (alto, baritone saxes), Johnny Jones (piano), Ike Turner (guitar), Odie Payne (drums), Chicago, IL, April 5, 1954.

Ike Turner also plays guitar on “1839 Blues” (same session as above). He plays piano on “Please Find My Baby,” “Hawaiian Boogie, Part 1,” “Hand In Hand” and “Rock My Baby Right (take 2)” recorded in Canton, Mississippi on Friday, January 25, 1952.

“All in My Dreams,” Boyd Gilmore (vocal), Ike Turner bangs the 88s on this one, he’s a great pianist too, James Scott Jr. (guitar, he played on the additional Sun recordings I added to the last Blues Roots with Latge B. Lawson), Jesse Knight Jr. (bass), 1952

“Take a Little Walk With Me” Boyd Gilmore as above, 1952, intro on this one is a killer, sloppy-perfect tracing of an F chord

“Ramblin’ On My Mind,” Boyd Gilmore, 1952. Ike Turner pianizes on this Robert Johnson by way of Elmore James song.

Essential Rock ’n’ Roll Blues Masters (1950s)—the chording to the first song “Why Did You Leave Me” (and others) was approximated by Brian in EP083.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQIuKUfmGPwf-dUWia1bBkp_0meMhLGYU

This TV show from 1959 is more than you need, but the tangential stuff is kind of fun.

There’s a gap of about 6 crucial years here.

River Deep Mountain High, Ike & Tina Turner (1966)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mVErCpHgQE

The Hunter q (1969), Outta Season (1968), Ike & Tina Turner. Title track of The Hunter is a cover of Albert King’s 1967 version from Born Under a Bad Sign (one of about 50 ESSENTIAL albums).

A Black Man’s Soul, Ike Turner and the Kings of Rhythm (1969)
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwhhUUkCYk3fdbHZXf58mjNfJIqIDDZnM

Ike Turner & Kings Of Rhythm live at the Jazz Club Lionel Hampton, Paris, 2002 (set list at video)

Risin’ with the Blues, his last album (2006)
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLn8OtmOZQ1rUXn863_McvzGzYrBaaUe18

“Going Home,” the last song on Ike & Tina Turner’s Kings of Rhythm Band: Dance (1961)

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::J:A:M:E:S::::C:O:T:T:O:N::::“:R:O:C:K:E:T::::8:8:”::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
The Jimmy Cotton Blues Quartet from Chicago / The Blues / Today, vol. 2 (1966), not from the album we see on screen. The whole Chicago / The Blues / Today series is ESSENTIAL and available as a nice 3-CD set.

The New Penelope Cafe, Montreal, Canada, September 28, 1967

Winterland, San Francisco, CA, June 15, 1973
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Iv3DzeUHw8

From 100% Cotton, 1974

From Live & On the Move, 1974

All the way live, thinking this is the early 1980s. Anyone?

North Atlantic Blues Festival, Rockland, Maine, July 2010

From Chicago Blues: A Living History—The (R)evolution Continues with Billy Branch, 2011

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::H:A:N:D:-:C:L:A:P:P:I:N:G:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
“Nat Dee Special” is beyond cool, having the clapping hands on this record puts it out in the stratosphere somewhere. Memphis Slim (piano), Purcell Brockenborough, Neil Green (tenors), Matt Guitar Murphy, Henry Taylor (bass), Otho Allen (drums), Chicago, IL. Wednesday, November 26, 1952. This song is named for Nathanial Dowd Gaston Williams , the first black radio announcer (on WDIA in Memphis).

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::T:R:Y:I:N:G:::::T:O:::::G:E:T:::::T:O::::Y:O:U:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Anita Tucker “Trying To Get To You”