Another Passing...
I was stunned to read this today. Although I shouldn't have been, considering the rough life he led--he lasted longer than most people would have in his situation! I certainly had no great admiration for him, but that was mostly because of the way he treated his wife (we pretty much only had her side of it, but the fact that she had to have her nose and jaw surgically fixed at one point pretty much says it all).
To give him his due, though, he was a musical genius and there would have been no Tina Turner--at least as we've known her--if it weren't for Ike. With her talent, she certainly would have gone places, but the unique blend of circumstances that shaped her life and her career from the late 70s onwards were largely due to him. I'm not in any way excusing, or trying to excuse, his behavior (as if that would be for me to do anyway), but in the end it worked out the best for her. As strange as it sounds to say, would she have felt the need to move to England if it hadn't been for the way he had her blackballed here? Would she have met and worked with Rod Stewart? David Bowie? Played the Acid Queen in "Tommy?" (Yes, I know that was the year before she left Ike, but the writing was on the wall even then.) Would she have had the creative impetus to start over all by herself as she did? When she came back, she came back hard. And she did it all by herself, from the ground up, and showed everybody what it was all about. And all this while raising four kids.
So in a strange way, Ike Turner gave us Tina Turner as a gift twice. And the second time, he never even knew he did it.
To give him his due, though, he was a musical genius and there would have been no Tina Turner--at least as we've known her--if it weren't for Ike. With her talent, she certainly would have gone places, but the unique blend of circumstances that shaped her life and her career from the late 70s onwards were largely due to him. I'm not in any way excusing, or trying to excuse, his behavior (as if that would be for me to do anyway), but in the end it worked out the best for her. As strange as it sounds to say, would she have felt the need to move to England if it hadn't been for the way he had her blackballed here? Would she have met and worked with Rod Stewart? David Bowie? Played the Acid Queen in "Tommy?" (Yes, I know that was the year before she left Ike, but the writing was on the wall even then.) Would she have had the creative impetus to start over all by herself as she did? When she came back, she came back hard. And she did it all by herself, from the ground up, and showed everybody what it was all about. And all this while raising four kids.
So in a strange way, Ike Turner gave us Tina Turner as a gift twice. And the second time, he never even knew he did it.
posted by Aaron at 10:58 AM
2 Comments:
The girls on The View credited Ike with inventing Rock and Roll. Sorry girls, Rock and Roll started in the Fifties with the likes of Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper and Elvis Presley with his "You Ain't Nothing But a Hound Dog."
He did make Tina Famous but in his Autobiography he never said he was sorry but that he only slapped her. I don't think you need surgery after being slapped.
Tina said she hasn't seen him in 35 years and won't comment on his death. She is still a class act. After seeing her sing "Proud Mary" at the age of 60 I knew she had it going on. Ed
She doesn't have to say anything about his death...what she lived through speaks for itself! And yes, she is a class act all the way! I hear rumors of a comeback, too...wouldn't that be a treat? She'd still have it.
I'm sorry, but "The View" has just become a glorified hen party. I just wish those broads would peck each other to death and get it over with. They don't know what they're talking about half the time, and now with Sherri Shepherd, they essentially have TWO Elisabeth Hasselbecks (as if ONE weren't enough to argue against continuing the human race).
Post a Comment
<< Home