Tina Turner, Simply the Best

 

by Pa Rock

Fan Boy

A powerful human being with an amazing voice left us last week.  Tina Turner passed away at her home near Zurich, Switzerland, on May 24th at the age of eighty-three.  Ms. Turner, who was born Anna Mae Bullock on November 26, 1939, in Brownsville, Tennessee, is more readily associated with the Tennessee hamlet of Nutbush, the place where she grew up in the household of her grandmother.  Tina's grandmother passed away when Tina was just sixteen, and the girl packed up and moved to St. Louis with ambitions of becoming a success in the music industry - and the rest is history.

 It was a long road and a hard life from Nutbush to Zurich, and Tina Turner laid her hard life out for public scrutiny.  She was married twice, first to fellow musician Ike Turner who had serious substance issues and was a physically abusive spouse, and second to Erwin Bach, a European record executive who was sixteen years her junior.  Turner and Bach, whom she described at the love of her life, were together 38-years and married for the final ten years of her life.  Ike Turner gave Tina regular beatings, and Erwin Bach gave her one of his kidney's five years before she passed away.  

Tina Turner also raised four sons.   Two of the four were adopted, Ike's sons from previous relationships, one was her biological son from a previous relationship before she was with Ike, and one was with Ike.  Both of her biological sons preceded their mother in death - one by just five months.

The astounding Tina Turner had essentially two musical careers.  The first was her partnership with Ike Turner that lasted  from the late-1950s for about two decades into the mid-1970s.  Those were the "River Deep, Mountain High" and "Proud Mary" years in which her rich and powerful voice was  making its imprint on the music scene and with the public.  Her second career was after she very publicly shed herself of Ike, and that one showed her true range as a singer and entertainer.  The second career was mostly a solo effort, and was born with her "Private Dancer" album of 1984, an effort which produced multiple memorable singles including the title track "Private Dancer," as well as "What's Love Got to do with It," and "Better be Good to Me."

But, there were also some powerful duets in the second career.   Ask Alexa to play "Tina Turner duets," crank jp the volume, and just try to not get swept up and washed away by the sounds!

"What's Love Got to Do with It," the 1993 movie biography of Tina's life and particularly about the abuse she endured from Ike Turner, received many accolades as well as an Oscar nomination for Angela Bassett who played Tina in the movie.  It also did much to stir a national conversation about domestic abuse.  The movie was rooted in her book about those years which was titled "I, Tina."

One of my favorite Tina Turner memories of all time (and yes, I have told it in this space before) originated in about 1976, after Ike and Tina had broken their act but had not yet divorced, and after Sonny and Cher had also broken their act and were in the process of divorcing.  Sonny and Cher's troubles brought about the end of their successful television variety show, and CBS had given Cher her own show which lasted from 1975-1976.  One evening her guests were Tina Turner and British actor and singer, Anthony Newley.  The three of them did a wild and raucous rendition of Neil Diamond's "Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show" that brought down the house! I've always thought that CBS was missing a sure bet by not digging that one out of the vaults and releasing it as a music single.

I thought about featuring a song today that was strongly associated with Tina Turner, but there are just too many to choose from.  Musically she was everywhere, from "Proud Mary" to "Private Dancer" and so much more.  Her voice, and music, and dancing were all so distinctive, so "Tina"!

Tina Turner has left thee stage, for good this time, but it will be a long damned time before the world forgets her - if it ever does.  She was and always will be simply the best!