| Rocks the Blues | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1963 | |||
| Label | Crown | |||
| Producer | Ike Turner | |||
| Ike Turner chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
Rocks The Blues is the first album credited to musician Ike Turner. Released in 1963 from Crown Records, it contains mostly previously released singles from the 1950s.
After the release of "Rocket 88" in 1951, Ike Turner became a session musician and production assistant for the Bihari brothers at Modern Records. They also contracted him as a talent scout to exploit his connections in the Delta Blues scene. Unaware of songwriter's royalties, Turner was also paid to write new material which they copyrighted under their own names. [2] A majority of the tracks on Rocks The Blues were written by Turner, but credited to him and the Bihari brothers. The Biharis were not songwriters, they used pseudonyms for songwriting credits: Julius Bihari was credited as Jules Taub, Joseph Bihari as Joe Josea, and Saul Bihari as Sam Ling. [3]
The album starts off with the blues rock instrumental "Hey Miss Tina" and culminates with a nearly 9-minute blues medley titled "All the Blues, All the Time" for the closing song. Dennis Binder is the lead vocalist on "I Miss You So" (originally released on Modern 930 in 1954) and "Nobody Wants Me." [4] "Cubano Jump" (1040A), "Loosely" (1040B), "Cuban Getaway" (1059A), and "Go To It" (1059B) which were originally released on Flair Records in 1954, have a different title on this album. [2] [5] "The Way You Used to Treat Me" was originally released on RPM 409 in 1954, credited to Ike's alias "Lover Boy".
Rocks The Blues was released on Crown Records, a subsidiary of Modern Records. By the time the album was released in 1963, Turner had already had a string of hit records as half of the R&B duo Ike & Tina Turner.
Rocks the Blues was reissued by P-Vine Records (PCD-3031/2) as a 2-CD compilation in 1993. It features an additional 36 recordings from Ike Turner & The Kings of Rhythm. [4]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Hey Miss Tina" (previously titled "Cubano Jump") | Joe Josea, Ike Turner | 2:13 |
| 2. | "Stringin' Along" (previously titled "Go To It") | Jules Taub, Sam Ling | 2:24 |
| 3. | "I Miss You So" (vocal: Dennis Binder) | Joe Josea, Ike Turner | 3:05 |
| 4. | "Nobody Wants Me" (vocal: Dennis Binder) | Joe Josea, Ike Turner | 2:37 |
| 5. | "The Way You Used to Treat Me" (vocal: Ike Turner) | Joe Josea, Ike Turner | 2:39 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Bayou Rock" (previously titled "Cuban Getaway") | Joe Josea, Ike Turner | 3:13 |
| 2. | "The Wild One" (previously titled "Loosely") | Jules Taub, Sam Ling | 2:31 |
| 3. | "All the Blues, All the Time" (Instrumental Medley) | 8:44 |
Note: the songs included in the "All the Blues, All the Time" medley:
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 wife Tina Turner as the leader of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue.
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.
Modern Records was an American record company and label formed in 1945 in Los Angeles by the Bihari brothers. Modern's artists included Etta James, Joe Houston, Little Richard, Ike & Tina Turner and John Lee Hooker. The label released some of the most influential blues and R&B records of the 1940s and 1950s.
Kent Records was a Los Angeles–based record label, launched in 1958 by the Bihari brothers. It was a subsidiary of Crown Records Corporation. Kent was a follow-up to Modern Records, which ceased operations in 1958. The label reissued Modern's singles, including recordings by B.B. King. By 1964, Kent had signed acts such as Ike & Tina Turner and released new material. Other acts signed to the label included Z.Z. Hill, Johnny Otis, and Lowell Fulsom. Modern Records was revived in 1964 with successful singles from the Ikettes.
RPM Records was an American Los Angeles–based record label launched in 1950. This is not the same RPM used by Tony Bennett, nor is it related to labels in the UK and South Africa.
Herman "Junior" Parker was an American blues singer and harmonica player. He is best remembered for his voice which has been described as "honeyed" and "velvet-smooth". One music journalist noted, "For years, Junior Parker deserted down home harmonica blues for uptown blues-soul music". In 2001, he was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame. Parker is also inducted into the Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame.
The Bihari brothers, Lester, Jules, Saul and Joe, were American businessmen of Hungarian Jewish origins. They were the founders of Modern Records in Los Angeles and its subsidiaries, such as Meteor Records, based in Memphis. The Bihari brothers were significant figures in the process that transformed rhythm and blues into rock and roll, which appealed to white audiences in the 1950s.
Jackie Brenston was an American singer and saxophonist who, with Ike Turner's band, recorded the first version of "Rocket 88" in 1951.
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.
"Every Day I Have the Blues" is a blues song that has been performed in a variety of styles. An early version of the song is attributed to Pinetop Sparks and his brother Milton. It was first performed in the taverns of St. Louis by the Sparks brothers and was recorded July 28, 1935 by Pinetop with Henry Townsend on guitar. The song is a twelve-bar blues that features Pinetop's piano and falsetto vocal. The opening verse includes the line "Every day, every day I have the blues".
"The Hunter" is a blues song first recorded by Albert King in 1967 for his landmark album Born Under a Bad Sign. It was written by Stax Records' house band, Booker T. and the MGs, and Carl Wells. Along with "Born Under a Bad Sign" and "Crosscut Saw", "The Hunter" is one of King's best-known and most-recorded songs. In 1969, Ike & Tina Turner's version reached the singles charts in the U.S.
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.
"Ooh Poo Pah Doo" is a song written and performed by Jessie Hill. It was arranged and produced by Allen Toussaint. The single reached No. 3 on the Billboard R&B chart and No. 28 on the Hot 100 in 1960 although the charts list the B-side, instrumental "Ooh Poo Pah Doo - Part II", as the hit.
Live! The Ike & Tina Turner Show is a live album by Ike & Tina Turner released on Warner Bros. Records in 1965. In 1967, The Ike & Tina Turner Show – Vol. 2, consisting of different recordings from the same shows was released on Loma Records.
This article contains information about albums and singles released by of American musician and bandleader Ike Turner.
Maxayn Lewis is an American soul singer, musician, songwriter, and producer. She began her career in the 1960s, under her birth name Paulette Parker, as member of the Ikettes in the Ike & Tina Turner Revue. In the 1970s, Lewis sang lead in the band Maxayn with her then-husband Andre Lewis. She was described as "a cross between Aretha Franklin and Roberta Flack." The group eventually morphed to Mandré.
Earl Forest was an American musician and a member of the Memphis-based R&B coalition called the Beale Streeters, which included Johnny Ace, Bobby Bland, Junior Parker, B.B. King, and Roscoe Gordon. Forest had a hit record in 1953 with "Whoopin' And Hollerin'" on Duke Records. He also recorded for Meteor Records and Flair Records.
The Beale Streeters were a Memphis-based R&B coalition of musicians, which at times included John Alexander, Bobby Bland, Junior Parker, B.B. King, Earl Forest, Willie Nix, and Rosco Gordon. Initially, they were not a formal band, but they played at the same venues and backed each other during recording sessions.