TINA TURNER - Tina Turns the Country On - (UA) - 1974

what Frank is listening to #62 – TINA TURNER – Tina Turns the Country On – (UA) – 1974

Everyone knows Tina Turner and her story, more or less.

But if you don't, from allmusic: The most dynamic female soul singer in the history of the music, Tina Turner oozed sexuality from every pore in a performing career that began the moment she stepped onstage as lead singer of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue in the late '50s. Her gritty and growling performances beat down doors everywhere, looking back to the double-barreled attack of gospel fervor and sexual abandon that had originally formed soul in the early '50s. Divorced from Ike in the mid-'70s, she recorded only occasionally later in the decade but resurfaced in the mid-'80s with a series of hit singles and movie appearances; her high-profile status was assured well into the '90s.

The specific details can be found in the bio link at the end.

Suffice it to say that you can't help liking Tina and she certainly can (visually and aurally) induce hard ons. She is one "foxy lady" as we used to say back in the … errrr 80s when we were watching all those blaxploitation films.

This was her first solo album (even though she was still with the Ike Turner Review) and it's a selection of (then) contemporary country, traditional country and country rock tracks. For a performer so rooted in up-tempo R&B a country-ish album may seem strange but in 1974, I suspect, it seemed like a good bet. Country rock was all over the pop charts and black country performers like Charley Pride and Dobie Gray, likewise, were all over the country and crossover pop charts. Also, other Afro-American artists had been experimenting with country and country soul (Booker T, Taj Mahal, Bobby Womack, Solomon Burke) and roots music was generally well received.

Tina was born in Brownsville Tennessee, so she was not immune to country sounds and Ike and Tina had mined this sound earlier (the country rock "Proud Mary" and other tracks on the "Nutbush City Limits" album from 1973 for example). In fact, Ike and Tina were the most receptive of black acts – they frequently played white audiences (like Vegas), covered white rock acts, were produced by whites (Phil Spector etc) and, otherwise, had no problems mixing it up a little.

Now it should be said here that black music and country music are not mutually exclusive. Many Afro-Americans were from country regions. Up until the end of the Second World War most of them were from the country heartland. It would seem silly to suggest that they weren't influenced by the music even though it is "white music" just like it would be wrong to say that whites weren't influenced by "black R&B". The big melting pot that is America gave rise to cultural cross fertilization as a norm.

This album, though, is, properly, "country soul". Tina belts it out whether the song requires it or not, which I suppose is her style, though some of the subtleties in some of the tracks are missed. Ultimately it all works, though a lot of it is not memorable … but it is enjoyable whilst it is on, if that makes any sense.

The album is effectively played by (Elvis regulars) James Burton on guitar -(see the Everly Brothers Review in this blog for the Burton references), Glen D Hardin on piano as well as other well known musos, John Hammond, Tom Scott, Merry Clayton etc.

The tracks and their writers give you an idea as to the content, whilst the best tracks are in italics:

"Bayou Song" (P.J. Morse)
"Help Me Make It Through the Night" (Kris Kristofferson) – It's just a great song by one of the best modern country songwriters (and Elvis had done a version of it)
"Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You" (Bob Dylan) – from Bob's "Nashville Skyline" album.
"If You Love Me (Let Me Know)" (J. Rostill) – the big Olivia Newton-John country schmaltz hit (and Elvis had done a version of it)
"He Belongs To Me" (Bob Dylan) – from Bob's "Self Portrait" album though with an obvious gender change in the title.
"Don't Talk Now" (James Taylor)
"Long Long Time" (G. White)
"I'm Movin On" (Hank Snow) – another great song by the legendary country artist Hank Snow and Tina really belts this one out though it could have used the full on funk maelstrom of the Ike and Tina "Proud Mary" (and Elvis had done a version of it on his country soul album "From Elvis in Memphis" in 1968)
"There'll Always Be Music" (Dolly Parton)
"The Love That Lights Our Way" (From the motion picture The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman) (F. Karlin, M. Karlin)