Electric Guitar Great Ike Turner Passes Away at the Age of 76

by Staff.

Guitarist Ike Turner passed away at the age of 76 on December 12, 2007, at his home in San Marcos, California. Though the cause of death has not yet been disclosed, Turner was known to have been suffering from emphysema. Whether or not he was, as many claim, the father of rock 'n' roll, his musical DNA strongly contributed to the genre's birth.

Born 1931 in the blues-famous city of Clarksdale, Mississippi, Turner and his group, The Kings of Rhythm, recorded "Rocket 88" at Sun Records in 1951, a track considered by some as the first rock 'n' roll record. Turner also served as a talent scout for a number of labels and influenced the recording careers of artists such as Otis Rush, Howlin' Wolf, and Elmore James. Through the '50s and early '60s, Turner became a well recognized music figure in St. Louis (and East St. Louis) and an important influence on a generation of budding rock 'n' roll electric guitarists through Turner's recordings of guitar instrumentals such as "Prancin'."

Though he will be remembered as a Fender Stratocaster-wielding guitarist, Turner often referred to himself as a piano player and participated as a sideman in many recording sessions in the '50s on the keyboard (for example, he served as the piano player on B.B. King's 1951 hit "Three O'Clock Blues"). Turner's boogie-woogie piano style likely had much to do with the early influence of Pinetop Perkins who taught and encouraged the young Ike Turner (the two can be seen performing a piano duet on Martin Scorsese's The Blues: Godfathers and Sons, filmed in Chicago in 2001).

But, of couse, it's Turner's association with Tina that brought Ike to international fame and, following the couple's split in 1976, infamy. During their association, Ike and Tina scored hits such as "River Deep - Mountain High," "I Want To Take You Higher," "Proud Mary" and "Nutbush City Limits." Following 1976, Turner entered a dark period of his life, suffering strong blows to his reputation from Tina's 1986 autobiography, I, Tina, and the 1993 movie What's Love Got To Do With It largely based on the book, and serving time in prison on drug and weapons charges.

Since 1991 and his induction into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame, Turner saw a resurgence in his career, highlighted by the Grammy-nominated 2001 album Here & Now and its follow-up, 2006's Risin' With The Blues, which won a 2007 Grammy for Best Traditional Blues Album.

Related Link
Official Ike Turner Website

---