Ike Turner (born Izear Luster Turner, Jr.; November 5, 1931 – December 12, 2007) was an American musician, bandleader, songwriter, arranger, talent scout, and record producer. An early pioneer of fifties rock and roll, he is most popularly known for his work in the 1960s and 1970s with his then-wife Tina Turner in the Ike & Tina Turner Revue. His first recording, “Rocket 88”, credited to “Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats”, in 1951 is considered a contender for “first rock and roll song”. Throughout his career Turner won two Grammy Awards and was nominated for three others. With his former wife, Turner was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991. Allegations by Tina Turner of abuse by Ike damaged Ike Turner’s career in the 1980s and 1990s. Near the end of his life, he returned to live performance as a front man and, returning to his blues roots, produced two albums that were critically well received and award-winning. Turner has frequently been referred to as a ‘great innovator’ of Rock and Roll by contemporaries such as Little Richard and Johnny Otis. (More from Wikipedia)
Sometime in the 1949 to 1952 period, Bill Haley and the Saddlemen were formed; this was the band that would later evolve into Bill Haley and His Comets. This band recorded a cover version of “Rocket 88” on Holiday Records that was released on June 14, 1951, barely two months after the original release of this song by Ike Turner’s Kings of Rhythm (though this original record was actually credited to Jackie Brenston and His Delta Cats).
Now, Ike Turner’s “Rocket 88” is named by many rock critics and music historians as “the first rock and roll record”; what’s more, “Rocket 88” as recorded by Bill Haley and the Saddlemen is one of the very earliest recordings in what would later become known as “rockabilly”, the musical style pioneered by Elvis Presley and others.
(June 2013/1)
