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Living in the here and now
Rock 'n' roll legend Ike Turner releases his first solo effort in two decades and talks about leaving all the ''negative stuff'' behind.
By GINA VIVINETTO, Times Pop Music Critic
© St. Petersburg Times
published April 4, 2002
[Publicity photo]
Ike Turner’s Here and Now contains a remake of Rocket 88, the tune Turner wrote in 1951 that is considered by many pop music historians to be the first rock ‘n’ roll song ever recorded.
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Ike Turner would rather answer the rock 'n' roll questions.
"I don't want to talk about that negative stuff," Turner, 70, says, referring to his famous breakup with Tina Turner and What's Love Got to Do With It?, the 1993 biopic in which actor Laurence Fishburne portrays Turner as a wife-beating, drug-abusing control freak.
"That's old news," Turner says by telephone from his home in San Marcos, Calif. "Tina and I broke up 30 years ago, and it's still all people care about."
Turner enjoys discussing what he considers the best record of his career, Here and Now, his first solo effort in two decades, released last year. Here and Now contains the raucous, 1950s-style R&B Turner made famous, including a remake of Rocket 88. That's the tune Turner wrote back in 1951, and, according to many pop music historians such as legendary Sun Records producer Sam Phillips, the first rock 'n' roll song ever recorded.
So, did Ike Turner, who's in St. Petersburg this weekend to headline the Tampa Bay Blues Festival, invent rock 'n' roll?
"That's what they say," says Turner, laughing. "People say -- or I read -- that Rocket 88 was the first rock 'n' roll song. I don't know if it was. I did not go into the studio to create a new style of music. It was just R&B mixed with boogie woogie.
"But, you know, I was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and they mentioned that I made the first rock 'n' roll record, and I'm sure they would do their research."
Since releasing Here and Now, Turner says he has for the first time in his life learned to enjoy performing live. With his first band, Ike Turner's Kings of Rhythm, followed by the Ike and Tina Turner Review, and in later solo performances, Turner always stayed in the background, letting other folks sing his songs and enjoy the spotlight.
"I was afraid," Turner says. "That's the real reason. That's the reason there is a Tina today. I was always doing my thing through someone else. I was too shy, too bashful. I was afraid of rejection. I never had the nerve to walk onstage and do it myself. I just handed out the parts to everyone else."
That's all changed, says Turner. Much of it has to do with aging. Turner has shed his notorious insecurity. He's more confident these days. "I know I'm 70," he says, "but it's like this is the beginning of my life. "With Ike and Tina, I'd do like three little songs, then take my tail and get back behind her again. I wish to God I had done this 50 years ago. I feel like I cheated my fans."
Turner reluctantly discusses the hardships he faced after What's Love Got To Do With it? hit movie theaters.
"I will say this, I made a mistake and signed that contract to Disney. I gave them permission for someone to portray me however they liked," says Turner. "I never even read the contract. That whole thing brought me five or six years of hell.
"But what can I do? It didn't happen the way they showed it. That movie, even if everything happened how they said it did -- and it didn't, believe me, but, even if it did -- the only person I would owe an apology to is Tina.
"There are two sides to every story. Nobody's perfect," Turner continues. "Not me. Not Tina. When people want to talk to me about all that stuff, I say, 'If I can't look in your closet, then shut up.' " Turner laughs again. "But that wasn't me in that movie. Nobody is like that. Nobody is that awful." (To be fair, Tina Turner herself has said in interviews that the flick's depiction of her former husband contained some elements of fiction.)
Here and Now features many songs, includingGave You What You Wanted and I Need A-Nuddin', that find a hardluck and heartbroken Turner singing the blues about the women who leave him.
Are all women trouble?
"No, no," Turner says, laughing. "Not all women. Some. But men can be trouble, too. With Ike and Tina, see, I'd write what I thought women wanted to say to men. I'd have the women saying, 'Why you makin' love to another woman? Why you runnin' around?' That's how you got to do it. If you want a sad song, it has to be sung happy.
"Down South we use 'a nuddin' to mean another. So, on that song, I'm hurt, but I still want another. On the other one, I'm saying, I gave you what you wanted -- I can't help if you don't like what you got," Turner laughs. "Those are hot songs."
Turner's battles with cocaine abuse and alcohol have been well-documented. When he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991, he couldn't attend the ceremony: He was serving two years for drug trafficking. Now clean and sober for 12 years, does Turner have any bad habits?
"Nothing anymore," Turner says. "Nothing. Well, only having a deep desire to do something and then not doing it. What's that? Procrastinating."
Turner says he's happier than he's ever been. If his frequent giggles during this half-hour conversation are an indication, it's true. How important is it to him to have a sense of humor?
"You got to have fun," Turner says. "Why climb in a hole? I hate being depressed and stressed out. It's no good for you. It shortens your life. Laughing is good for you. It keeps you young. That and sex."
The past, Turner says, is done. Gone. He has no hard feelings for anybody. Every day is brand new, he says. He's thrilled with his music and that fans still care about him.
Turner says he'd help out anyone in a jam. He knows, he's been there. If he found a $100 bill on the street today, what would Turner do with it?
"I'd probably see some homeless person," he says, "and give it to him. Really."
He's the kind of guy, he says, who would pull over to the side of the road to help someone fix a flat tire.
What if it was Tina Turner who had the flat?
"I've got no problem with that," Turner says. "No problem at all."
-- To contact Gina Vivinetto, email gina@sptimes.com.
PREVIEW
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Roots in blues
Several musicians slated to perform at the Tampa Bay Blues Festival have music in their blood. |
The Sound Advice Tampa Bay Blues Festival, 3:30-10 p.m. Friday, noon-10 p.m. Saturday, 1-10 p.m. Sunday, Vinoy Park, downtown St. Petersburg. Tickets are $20 for Friday and Sunday; $25 for Saturday. Available at the gate, or through Ticketmaster at (813) 287-8844 or (727) 898-2100. No recording devices, pets, alcohol, coolers, food or beverages may be brought in. Lawn chairs and blankets are welcome. Food, beer, wine and soft drinks will be sold. Shade is scarce; bring sunscreen, sunglasses and hats.
For information, call the festival line: (727) 824-6163, or check www.tampabaybluesfest.com.
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