Who was the real Ike Turner? It was not the drug crazed wife beater that some Hollywood scriptwriter dreamed up. It is truly unfortunate that several generations of movie goers have accepted the Hollywood version as the real Ike Turner. Hollywood movies are not made to educate but only to entertain and to make money. The film “What’s Love Got To Do With It?” starring Lawrence Fishburn is about as accurate a portrayal of the real life Ike Turner as Fat Albert is of Bill Cosby. I do not condone, downplay or ignore abusive behavior but it would be a shame to allow the media to diminish the tremendous contributions that Ike Turner made to music history. His achievements have been tremendously overshadowed by a few negative incidents in a life of otherwise great accomplishments.

I like Ike. Ike Turner, that is. I loved Ike. Ike Turner one of rock's critical architects died Wednesday, 12 December 2007 at his home in suburban San Diego. He was 76. There was no immediate word on the cause of death.



Born Ike Wister Turner (Nov 5, 1931-Dec 12, 2007) he was an American musician, bandleader, talent scout and record producer, best known for his work with his former wife Tina Turner as one half of the Ike & Tina Turner duo. Spanning a career that lasted half a century, Ike's repertoire included blues, soul, rock and funk. Alongside his former wife, he was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991 and in 2001 was inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame.



Many sources state Turner's real name to be "Izear Luster Turner, Jr." however, in his autobiography Takin' Back My Name, it is stated as "Ike Wister Turner." In the book, Turner explains about this confusion. His father, Izear Luster Turner, was a minister for the local church. Turner had thought he was named Izear Luster Turner, Jr. after his father, until he found out that his name was registered as Ike Wister Turner while applying for his first passport. Turner died at 76 years old at his home in San Marcos, California, near San Diego.
Chief Investigator at the Medical Examiner's Office in San Diego rules Ike Turner's death was "accidental".
The cause of death for Mr. Turner was hypertensive cardiovascular disease and pulmonary emphysema with other contributing factors, such as, cocaine toxicity , Paul Parker, the chief investigator at the medical examiner's office, said in a statement 16 January.

Parker concluded that Turner's death would be ruled accidental, although an official announcement has not been made.


He was born in Clarksdale, Mississippi , to Beatrice Cushenberry and Izear Luster Turner. Ike got his first taste of pleasing an audience at the age of eight working at the local Clarksdale radio station, WROX, located in the Alcazar Hotel in downtown Clarksdale. A man in charge of the station put Turner to work as he watched the record turntables.


He won a Grammy in 2007 in the traditional blues album category for "Risin' With the Blues."

Turner, a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, is credited by many rock historians with making the first rock 'n' roll record, "Rocket 88," in 1951. Produced by the legendary Sam Phillips, it was groundbreaking for its use of distorted electric guitar. His music career began in earnest in the late-1940s where he formed a group whom he christened The Kings of Rhythm. In 1951, the band recorded what historians have debated as "the first rock and roll record" with "Rocket 88", listed on the charts as Jackie Brenston and His Delta Cats. Brenston was both the band's saxophonist and the leading vocalist of the song and Turner was the original writer though credits initially stated that Brenston had written it also. The song was one of the first examples of guitar distortion, which happened by accident when one of the amplifiers dropped before the recording.



Ike and the Kings of Rhythm settled into local fame in St. Louis where the band locally recorded for a St. Louis label and even appeared on local television shows. Throughout this early period, Turner became a recording scout and A&R man for independent record companies including Sun Records - where "Rocket 88" was recorded at, helping the likes of Howlin' Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson, Elmore James and Otis Rush get signed. He also became a sideman playing guitar for these blues acts and more. Musically, Turner was known for his hard-hitting guitar style. He was known to put the whammy bar of his Fender Stratocaster to frequent use.

Turner met the 18-year-old Anna Mae Bullock, whom he would later marry, in 1959 and quickly made the husky-voiced woman the lead singer of his group, refashioning her into the sexy Tina Turner. Her stage persona was highlighted by short skirts and stiletto heels that made her legs her most visible asset. But despite the glamorous image, she still sang with the grit and fervor of a rock singer with a twist of soul.
The pair would have two sons. They also produced a string of hits. The first, "A Fool In Love," was a top R&B song in 1959, and others followed, including "I Idolize You" and "It's Gonna Work Out Fine." Over the years they're genre-defying sound would make them favorites on the rock 'n' roll scene, as they opened for acts like the Rolling Stones.

The densely layered hit "River Deep, Mountain High" was one of producer Phil Spector's proudest creations. A rousing version of "Proud Mary," a cover of the Creedence Clearwater Revival hit, became their signature song and won them a Grammy for best R&B vocal performance by a group.

Accolades for his early and later work continues to come in, and Turner managed to garner a comfortable income as his songs were sampled by a variety of rap acts.
"You can go ask Snoop Dogg or Eminem, you can ask the Rolling Stones or (Eric) Clapton, or you can ask anybody — anybody, they all know my contribution to music, but it hasn't been in print about what I've done or what I've contributed until now," Turner said.

Mr. John Q. Public can be forgiven for thinking that Ike Turner was a wife-beating drug dealer who made his name riding on the skirt-tails of Tina Turner. That is totally wrong. He was there at the birth of Rock'n'Roll and was playing with his whammy when Hendrix was still with his mammy.
As a youngster Ike had soaked up the delta blues and while still in his teens formed the Kings of Rhythm with Jackie Brenston and Raymond Hill and worked with Robert Nighthawk and Sonny Boy Williamson II. On March 5, 1951, he helped make history at the Sun studios in Memphis when the Kings of Rhythm recorded what many consider to be the first ever Rock'n'Roll record, Rocket 88. Ike led the band and played some sparkling piano, letting Jackie Brenston take the vocals and the plaudits.
For the rest of the decade Ike worked as arranger/talent scout/guitarist etc. for a myriad of labels. Clients who benefited include Billy "The Kid" Emerson, Howlin' Wolf (Ike plays piano on How Many More Years), Billy Gayles (Just One More Time - superb) and virtually anyone who ventured out of northern Mississippi. His importance can't be overlooked. If in doubt, have a quick listen to his guitar on Johnny O'Neal's Ugly Woman cut in the summer of '53 but unreleased at the time - the only reason being that the hot summer sun must have played some tricks on ole' Sam's head.


In 1954 he relocated to St Louis and assumed the same role he'd had in Memphis. In 1959 he met Anna Mae Bullock and a new chapter in his life began. She became his wife and Tina Turner and their work together as Ike & Tina Turner saw them sky-rocket to new heights with hot and raunchy R&B. Since their divorce Ike has been pretty much cast aside by the industry, but had recently shown signs of finding some of the old magic. He had been active on stage and in the recording studio, and just as importantly, his contribution to rock music is starting to be appreciated.
Chief Investigator at the Medical Examiner's Office in San Diego rules Ike Turner's death was "accidental".
The cause of death for Mr. Turner was hypertensive cardiovascular disease and pulmonary emphysema with other contributing factors, such as, cocaine toxicity , Paul Parker, the chief investigator at the medical examiner's office, said in a statement 16 January.

Parker concluded that Turner's death would be ruled accidental, although an official announcement has not been made.

I will always like Ike.