21

The Ike Turner Advocate
by Walter Daniels

First, I must vent on a particular peeve of mine: I like to ask folks who their
musical favorites are or which genres they favor. Routinely, people tell me their
tastes are "ECLECTIC' or "I listen to everything."

I am not sure--maybe my status as an obscure musician carries a lotta heft.
However, I've decided EVERYONE would like to think their tastes are varied--or,
dare I say it, ECLECTIC! When people tell me they list to "everything", I
question them about three genres: jazz, classical and opera. I hardly ever have to ask
about the European jive, since so few people listen to jazz--discussion over (one of
the Steely Dan dudes says, "Americans despise jazz). My own tastes? Not eclectic. I
listen to dead people A LOT! I've yet to read it, but R. Crumb has an essay entitled
"To Be Interested in Old Music Is To Be a Social Outcast."

Now, loyal readers of Geek Weekly might be wondering: "Why is this man
the Ike Turner Advocate?"

Many, many people saw the Tina Turner biopic What's Love Got to Do with
It? I saw it and thought it stunk. But the audience really dug the movie and the story
cemented Ike Turner as a brutal wife-beating druggie that shoves cake in people's
faces. So, in the wake of this dreadful film, I found that saying anything positive
about Ike Turner was considered to be approval of wife beating and cake-shoving.

I do not practice or approve of wife beating. But in the movie, Angela
Basset looked like She-Hulk. She coulda whupped the tar out of Ike.

I was reading the liner notes of a Bobby "Blue" Bland CD collection and
found out that Ike Turner had played a small role in his career. I was shocked. I knew
Ike had played piano with the Howlin' Wolf, I had heard some of the truly rockin'
guitar instrumentals that he had recorded, and naturally, I had heard various Ike and
Tina Turner Sides. But this was an important historical wrinkle in R 'n' B.

Thankfully, I'm not alone in appreciating Ike Turner. John Waters, creator
of Peggy Gravel from the film Desperate Living, also prefers the music Tina Turner
made with Ike to the flaccid Euro-crap that took Tina to the top of the charts in the
80's. Can't figure out why Tina doesn't have a record deal these days--I guess her
fans--you know, the ones with ECLECTIC tastes-- have moved on. Maybe that is
the real definition of eclectic--not really exploring the work of an artist--but
zigging and zagging all over the place.

Since Ike's career before Tina Turner is sometimes overlooked, it's easy for
some to think of him as a parasite. The biopic shows the Ike and Tina revue with
another guitarist besides Ike. I'm curious, was the filmshowing a historical truth, or
did they add the other musician to diminish Ike Turner?

Ike Turner is one of the artists at this year's South by Southwest and though
it is possible his "Revue" could suck, I wanna check it out. I've heard good things
about recent appearances and it could be quite groovy. So, why not be a social
outcast and check out this true rock n' roll legend?

Spring 2001 21