 | |
| Coordinates | 38°36′59″N90°09′08″W / 38.6165°N 90.1521°W |
|---|---|
| Owner | Booker Merritt |
| Type | Nightclub |
| Construction | |
| Demolished | 2010 |
The ClubManhattan was a nightclub at 1320 East Broadway in East St. Louis, Illinois. [1] The venue was owned by Booker Merritt. [2] The Club Manhattan has a prominent place in Greater St. Louis music history. It is best known for being the nightclub where singer Tina Turner met her future husband, bandleader Ike Turner.
In 1954, Ike Turner relocated his band, the Kings of Rhythm, from Clarksdale, Mississippi to East St. Louis, Illinois. [3] There he met a man named Booker Merritt who owned a building at 1320 East Broadway. [2] Turner and his band gut renovated the building and created the Club Manhattan where they would practice and perform. [4]
The Club Manhattan was initially a predominantly African-American tavern. Turner later played at the white nightclubs in St. Louis such as the Club Imperial, and soon gained a large following from white teenagers. [4] Turner's competition in the St. Louis club scene was musician Chuck Berry who once brought bluesman Muddy Waters to watch Turner perform. [5] Other musicians who performed at the Club Manhattan include Little Milton, Oliver Sain, and Albert King. [6] [7]
In May 1955, six men were arrested at the Club Manhattan on vice charges. [8] Merritt was also arrested on gambling charges after authorities raided the nightclub while a dice game was in progress. [8] In September 1955, two men were arrested after they injured each other in a gunfight outside of the Club Manhattan. [9]
As a teenager, Tina Turner (then called Ann Bullock) frequented the club to watch Ike Turner and his Kings of Rhythm perform. She recalled that she "almost went into a trance" the first time she saw Turner perform. [10] [11] East St. Louis poet laureate Eugene Redmond recalled that in the 1950s Tina Turner was a "teeny-bopper and a groupie." [12] She used to hang around the Club Manhattan while Turner was practicing. [12] Turner's band was very popular and he had a strong following of female admirers. [13] [14] One night in 1956, Bullock was given the microphone by his drummer Eugene Washington during an intermission and she sang the B.B. King blues ballad, "You Know I Love You." [15] [6] Impressed by her voice, Turner added her as a featured vocalist with his Kings of Rhythm and they later formed the duo Ike & Tina Turner in 1960.
Tina Turner a song titled "Club Manhattan," on the Ike & Tina Turner album Nutbush City Limits (1973) as an homage to the nightclub.
In 1968, Albert King was performing at the Club Manhattan when promoter Bill Graham offered him $1,600 to play three nights at The Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco. [16] [7]
The club had various name changes over the years but was last known as the Four Aces. [17] In later years, it housed a liquor store in the front and a bar in the back. The other half of the building was a club. The Disco Riders, a 32-member motorcycle club, owned and operated the club. [17] According to the Riverfront Times, the building was located at 1312 Broadway and was vacant when it was destroyed by a fire in 2010. [17] However, various articles and advertisements from the 1950s list the address of the Club Manhattan as 1320 East Broadway. [1] [9] [2]
Izear Luster "Ike" Turner Jr. was an American musician, bandleader, songwriter, record producer, and talent scout. An early pioneer of 1950s rock and roll, he is best known for his work in the 1960s and 1970s with his then-wife Tina Turner as the leader of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue.
Tina Turner was a singer, songwriter and actress. Also known as the "Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", she rose to prominence as the lead singer of the husband-wife duo Ike & Tina Turner before launching a successful career as a solo performer. She was noted for her "swagger, sensuality, powerful gravelly vocals and unstoppable energy", along with her famous legs and her tumultuous marriage. A resident of Küsnacht, Switzerland, from 1994 until her death, Turner relinquished her American citizenship after obtaining Swiss citizenship in 2013.
What's Love Got to Do with It is a 1993 American biographical film based on the life of American singer-songwriter Tina Turner. Directed by Brian Gibson and written by Kate Lanier, based on Tina's 1986 autobiography I, Tina, it stars Angela Bassett as Tina and Laurence Fishburne as her abusive husband Ike Turner.
Ike & Tina Turner were an American musical duo consisting of husband and wife Ike Turner and Tina Turner. From 1960 to 1976, they performed live as the Ike & Tina Turner Revue, supported by Ike Turner's band the Kings of Rhythm and backing vocalists called the Ikettes. The Ike & Tina Turner Revue was regarded as "one of the most potent live acts on the R&B circuit."
The Kings of Rhythm are an American music group formed in the late 1940s in Clarksdale, Mississippi and led by Ike Turner through to his death in 2007. Turner would retain the name of the band throughout his career, although the group has undergone considerable line-up changes over time.
Jimmy Thomas was an American soul singer and songwriter. He was best known as a vocalist for Ike Turner. Thomas joined Turner's Kings of Rhythm in 1958, and remained with the band when the Ike & Tina Turner Revue was formed in 1960. He released solo singles on Turner's labels Sue, Sputnik, and Sonja Records. After his departure from Turner, Thomas continued recording as a solo artist, eventually relocating to London. He formed his own label, Osceola Records, in 1979.
"A Fool in Love" is the debut single by Ike & Tina Turner. It was released on Sue Records in 1960. The song is Tina Turner's first release with the stage name "Tina Turner" although she had been singing with Ike Turner and his Kings of Rhythm since 1956. It was the first national hit record for bandleader Ike Turner since the number-one R&B hit "Rocket 88" in 1951, for which he did not receive proper credit.
The Soul of Ike & Tina Turner is the debut album by Ike & Tina Turner. It was released on the Sue Records in February 1961. The album is noted for containing the duo's debut single "A Fool in Love" and their follow-up singles "I Idolize You" and "I'm Jealous."
"You Know I Love You" is a song written and recorded by B.B. King. Released on RPM Records in 1952, it was King's second No. 1 single on the Billboard R&B chart. King's friend and collaborator Ike Turner played piano on the original recording. The song was included on King's debut album Singin' The Blues in 1957.
Raymond Earl Hill was an American tenor saxophonist and singer, best known as a member of Ike Turner's Kings of Rhythm in the 1950s. He also recorded as a solo artist for Sun Records and worked as a session musician.
Arthur Lassiter was an American singer, known for his work with Ike Turner.
Robbie Montgomery is an American singer and restaurateur. She is noted for being one of the original Ikettes in the Ike & Tina Turner Revue in the 1960s. After her tenure as an Ikette, she was a member of the Mirettes, and then became a "Night Tripper" for Dr. John. In the 1970s, Montgomery was a backing vocalist for acts such as Stevie Wonder, Barbra Streisand, the Rolling Stones, and Joe Cocker. She later created the Sweetie Pie's franchise, and starred in the award-winning reality series Welcome to Sweetie Pie's.
"Boxtop" is a song written and produced by musician Ike Turner. It was originally released as a single in 1958 on Tune Town Records. "Boxtop" is noted for being Tina Turner's first appearance on a record under the name "Little Ann," two years before her debut as Tina Turner on "A Fool In Love" in 1960.
The Club Imperial was a nightclub at 6306-28 West Florissant Ave in St. Louis, Missouri. During the club's heyday in the 1950s through the 1960s, acts such as Ike & Tina Turner, Chuck Berry, and Bob Kuban and the In-Men performed at the Club Imperial.
Willie Kizart was an American electric blues guitarist best known for being a member of Ike Turner's Kings of Rhythm in the 1950s. Kizart played guitar on "Rocket 88" in 1951, which is considered by some accounts to be the first rock and roll record. The record is noted for featuring one of the first examples of distortion ever recorded; played by Kizart.
Billy Gayles was an American rhythm & blues drummer and vocalist. Gayles was a member of Ike Turner's Kings of Rhythm in the 1950s with whom he recorded for Flair Records and Federal Records as the lead vocalist. Gayles also backed various musicians, including Earl Hooker, Robert Nighthawk, Otis Rush, Albert King, and Richard Arnold "Groove" Holmes.
Stacy Johnson was an American R&B singer and songwriter best known as a vocalist in the Ike & Tina Turner Revue. Johnson also released solo records and sang in the St. Louis based group the Sharpees led by Benny Sharp.
Vernon Guy was an American R&B vocalist based in St. Louis. Early in his career he toured with bandleader Ike Turner in the Ike & Tina Turner Revue. Guy released a few solo records on Turner's labels before forming the Sharpees with Benny Sharp in the mid 1960s. He later performed with musicians Bennie Smith and Johnnie Johnson.
Ruby Alline Bullock was an American songwriter. She was the older full sister of singer Tina Turner. Bullock once served as the manager of the girl group the Ikettes. She wrote songs for Ike & Tina Turner as well as their band the Kings of Rhythm, including "Funkier Than a Mosquita's Tweeter" which was covered by Nina Simone.
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