'Risin' with the Blues'
What The Critics Say
R&B/pop fans who only know Ike Turner from his brilliant work with ex-wife Tina Turner (and her dark point of view on their marriage and the heavy stories of his rage and drug use) should check out Risin' with the Blues so as to discover the soul of a musician in the midst of the turmoil. True Ike fans recall that he spearheaded the formative years of rock with his early-'50s recorded output and his later scouting for Chess Records. The one thing he never really did was come to the forefront as a singer, and some of the growly vocals on this powerful recording make it clear that his singing, while definitely stylish in its way, is a secondary talent. What's clear from this sizzling set -- and his Grammy nominated, W.C. Handy Award winning 2001 album Here and Now -- is that he's still at the top of his musical game. The real joys of this disc are his scorching guitar energy, followed by his jumpy boogie-woogie piano. It's pretty much a funky and humor-laden bluesfest throughout, from his funked-up update of "Gimme Back My Wig" to the shuffling blues of "Tease Me." He finds a balance between tongue in cheek attitudes (as on the retitling of "Five Long Years" to "Eighteen Long Years," a reference to his marriage to Tina) with more heartfelt touches on softer songs like "A Love Like Yours." He also ventures into spirited New Orleans territory on "Goin' Home Tomorrow" and offers a prayer of forgiveness for his countless lifelong sins by declaring that "Jesus Loves Me." Hey, who said great gospel singers couldn't be crazy and tormented? Whatever one thinks of Ike Turner personally, there's no denying the man's contribution to several genres of music, and it's good to see them celebrated with so much zeal in his later years. ~ Jonathan Widran, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Back in the '80s, you would have been forgiven if you'd thought Tina Turner would prove to be the lasting half of one of music's notoriously volatile marriages. Back then, it seemed that Ike would be consigned to footnote status, forever a static signpost on a musical back road. Funny how things change. Now it's Tina's later music that sounds embarrassingly overdone and synth-drenched and it's Ike's blend of soul and blues that sounds, well, timeless. Stepping out on guitar and keyboard, Turner snarls and stomps through several roadhouse chestnuts with the vigor and swagger of a much younger man. If, in context, several of the lyrical choices here still sound like tangential swipes at his wife and -- given their history -- uncomfortable swipes at that, it's easy to forget on many of these tracks that this guy probably should have shuffled off to the dust heap years ago. The caveat to this record is the artificial drum overdubs that threaten to turn some of these tracks into exercises of techno embarrassment. ~ Rob Ferrier, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
When he was out on tour in 1969 with his regular gig, the Ike & Tina Turner Revue, Ike Turner found the time to cut the instrumental album A Black Man's Soul. Whenever he had some spare time he would drag the band into a local studio and lay down tracks, resulting in these 12 funky soul jams that sound like they were lifted from the soundtrack to a blaxploitation film. The band is tight and laid-back at once, with horns at the forefront most of the time. Turner came up with some fine grooves like "Thinking Black," "Getting Nasty" (with Billy Preston on piano), "Scotty Souling," "Nuttin' Up," and the monumental "Funky Mule." However, the record lacks Turner's usual fire and flair and ultimately is too polite and slick to be very memorable ("Funky Mule" aside). ~ Tim Sendra, All Music Guide
