{"id":490,"date":"2011-04-14T05:16:13","date_gmt":"2011-04-14T10:16:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=490"},"modified":"2021-02-17T14:52:47","modified_gmt":"2021-02-17T19:52:47","slug":"album-review-ike-and-tina-turner-river-deep-mountain-high","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2011\/04\/14\/album-review-ike-and-tina-turner-river-deep-mountain-high\/","title":{"rendered":"Album Review: Ike and Tina Turner – River Deep, Mountain High"},"content":{"rendered":"

What happens when an irresistible force meets an immovable object? And what happens when the irresistible force brings her hubby along? The answer, in 1966, was Ike and Tina Turner<\/strong>\u2019s River Deep, Mountain High<\/em>, produced (in part) by Phil Spector<\/strong>. That record was reissued (for the umpteenth time, still without any bonus tracks) in 2011.<\/p>\n

By the mid-sixties Ike and Tina had established themselves as a force to be reckoned with in soul and R&B. Their high-energy, incendiary live shows gained them a following. Their singles \u2013 including \u201cA Fool in Love\u201d (1960) and 1961\u2019s \u201cIt\u2019s Gonna Work Out Fine\u201d stormed up the R&B charts, and (to a lesser extent) the Billboard <\/em>Hot 100.<\/p>\n

Of course Spector had made quite a name for himself in those years, too. His singular \u201cWall of Sound\u201d production technique had delivered massive hits for the Crystals<\/strong>, Chiffons<\/strong>, Ronettes<\/strong> and others; Spector\u2019s production hand was so distinctive that \u2013 then as now \u2013 regardless of the nominal artist on a particular record, the songs would be thought of as Phil Spector singles.<\/p>\n

Spector was arguably the first \u201ccelebrity\u201d producer. His notoriously erratic personality has always been part and parcel of his work, and in light of his, um, 21st<\/sup> century legal troubles (okay, let\u2019s not mince words: murder conviction, currently on appeal) has tended to overshadow his many achievements as a producer, arranger, composer and musician.<\/p>\n

Ike Turner would have his share of bad publicity as well. After he and Tina divorced, Tina\u2019s book I, Tina<\/em> (subsequently adapted as the hit film What\u2019s Love Got to Do With It)<\/em> painted a decidedly unsavory portrait of Ike as an abusive, drug-addled fiend. Be that as it may, those facts should not take away from Turner\u2019s musical contributions: the song often credited as the first rock\u2019n\u2019roll record \u2013 Jackie Brenston<\/strong>\u2019s 1951 \u201cRocket 88\u201d was really Ike and band fronted by vocalist Brenston. While a lesser light than the greatest giants of rock\u2019n\u2019roll music, Turner still deserves mention in any discussion of rock\u2019s history along with Elvis, Chuck Berry, Roy Orbison, Bill Haley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins,<\/strong> etc.<\/p>\n

The pairing of Spector with Ike and Tina might seem odd, then: after all, Ike was a band leader who knew \u2013 and usually got — what he wanted from his players. And Spector\u2019s musical vision \u2013 for all its strengths — always threatened to drown out the individual personality of the artist; only a handful (then-wife Ronnie<\/strong>, the Righteous Brothers<\/strong>) could transcend his undeniably heavy-handed production. In Spector\u2019s world, the artists were merely one of the (often incidental) instruments in his creations.<\/p>\n

River Deep, Mountain High<\/em> represented Spector\u2019s production aesthetic taken to its most extreme limits. It\u2019s likely that he (and Ike and Tina) believed that Tina\u2019s voice was the perfect foil for the Wall of Sound, the vocal instrument most likely to stand up to it. It would be a sonic battle of epic proportions. And with the finished album as evidence, the verdict is: mostly it worked, and occasionally it didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

The single \u201cRiver Deep, Mountain High\u201d opens the album. Spector\u2019s cavernous production technique would come across especially well on monaural, lo-fi AM radio. Individual instruments are largely indistinct; instead the soaring onslaught of a seemingly infinite number of instruments and backing vocals chugs along while Tina shrieks atop the proceedings. It\u2019s an epic recording, emblematic and representative of the Spector\/Turners pairing. That said, Tina\u2019s voice occasionally sounds ever-so-slightly off key. Her wailing makes it sound as if she\u2019s struggling mightily to be heard amidst the Wall. The U.S. charts weren\u2019t all that impressed, and the song is now seen as the culmination of Spector\u2019s hubris; he quickly fell out of favor, not to return with any prominence for another three years.<\/p>\n

Produced by Ike, \u201cI Idolize You\u201d is in a different bag altogether. While the title track had been brought in by Spector (he had a hand in writing the song), \u201cI Idolize You\u201d was a popular number from Ike and Tina\u2019s catalog, having already been a hit. Compared to Spector\u2019s approach, Ike\u2019s production is certainly truer to the feel of the song. Tina and the Iketts<\/strong> have their vocals placed much more prominently in the mix, and Spector\u2019s slabs of reverb are conspicuously absent.<\/p>\n

On \u201cA Love Like Yours (Don’t Come Knocking Every Day),\u201d Spector\u2019s production — full of choir-like backing vocals and sweeping strings \u2013 completely overwhelms Tina\u2019s voice. She gamely turns in an emotive performance, but it\u2019s buried in Spector\u2019s over-the-top approach. Thing is, it\u2019s still a worthwhile recording.<\/p>\n

This bipolar approach continues its pattern with a re-recording of another Ike and Tina catalog number, \u201cA Fool in Love.\u201d Like \u201cI Idolize You,\u201d this Ike Turner production is among the finest tracks on the record. \u201cSho\u2019nuff,\u201d as Tina sings. The Iketts are in especially fine, funky form.<\/p>\n

\u201cMake \u2018Em Wait\u201d is, by Spectorian standards, a restrained effort. Lots of brass helps propel the song and give it a Spector trademark, but the chugging arrangement and backing vocal work (including Ike\u2019s brief but note-perfect vocal turns) result in a splendid track that has worn well. The finger-wagging lyric is amusing, too.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s back over the Wall for \u201cHold On Baby.\u201d Faint echoes of how the song might have sounded live do remain, and the manic riffing from the brass section hints at the energy of the Ike and Tina Turner Revue<\/strong>. Imagine a crack R&B band; now imagine them with a forty-piece orchestra behind them. With its start-and-stop rhythm, the song has more dynamics than are usually found in a Spector production.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll Never Need More Than This\u201d sounds like a cross between Motown and Spector\u2019s Wall of Sound; Spector never worked with the Supremes<\/strong>, but if you wonder what it might have sounded like if he had, check out this track. Tina\u2019s up to her neck in Spectorian arrangement, but she manages not to drown. The Iketts don\u2019t fare quite as well.<\/p>\n

Beach Boys<\/strong> fans might be startled when they listen to Ike and Tina\u2019s \u201cSave the Last Dance for Me\u201d; the arrangement sounds a whole lot like SMiLE<\/em>\u2019s \u201cHeroes and Villains” (recorded around the same time and with many of the same musicians). Tina turns in a predictably ace vocal, but in the end this lead vocal could have been recorded by nearly anyone; the music is the star here; the string charts are especially tasty, washing the song in an infinite number of violins, cellos and harps.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a jarring transition from there back into \u201cOh Baby! (Things Ain’t What They Used to Be).\u201d An intimate arrangement featuring support by the Iketts and a beefy horn section calls to mind the Stax sound more than anything else. A thumping, steady beat makes this among the funkiest moments on the record; it\u2019s also closest representation of what Ike and Tina sounded like onstage in those days.<\/p>\n

Steve Alaimo<\/strong> had already had a hit with \u201cEvery Day I Have To Cry Some,\u201d but in this team\u2019s hands it\u2019s transformed into a sweeping, Spectorian epic. Tina\u2019s soulful lead vocal is backed by heavenly choirs and sleigh bells, all sounding like they were recorded in a huge cavern. The key modulates to up the emotional ante; thankfully that oft-overused technique is kept to a minimum on this album; in this case it works.<\/p>\n

\u201cSuch a Fool For You\u201d keeps the stylistic back-and-forth right on track: it\u2019s a hard-charging funky number with stellar brass accompaniment. This one has to be an Ike production number; Spector would have never allowed such distinct and up-front mixing of the rhythm section. If this song doesn\u2019t make you want to dance, you\u2019re probably a rock journalist.<\/p>\n

Ike shows up again to help close out the album on \u201cIt\u2019s Gonna Work Out Fine.\u201d If you can set aside any negative feeling you might have about \u201cIkey,\u201d you\u2019ll allow yourself a real treat; Ike\u2019s spoken replies to Tina\u2019s vocal lines are worth the price of admission. And while that electric guitar probably isn\u2019t him, it certainly is true to the spirit of his style. Spector pulls the faders down on the band, so the song\u2019s fadeout features only Tina and the Iketts.<\/p>\n

Owing largely to its split personality, River Deep, Mountain High<\/em> is not a perfect record. But in its own way, its inconsistency is also its strength. An album full of Ike\u2019s productions (loaded as it would be with remakes of earlier material) would have arguably offered nothing new. A record filled with Spector\u2019s Wall of Sound would have been too much to take for many, and would have likely further alienated Ike and Tina\u2019s fan base. As it is, a mishmash of the two approaches still equals an album that\u2019s an essential part of any comprehensive 60s music collection.<\/p>\n

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DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION:\"I<\/a><\/p>\n

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What happens when an irresistible force meets an immovable object? And what happens when the irresistible force brings her hubby along? The answer, in 1966, was Ike and Tina Turner\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-490","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-review","cat-65-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=490"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20532,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490\/revisions\/20532"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}