Label: Proper Records
Release Date: April 6, 2004
Recording Time: 76 minutes
Styles: Early R&B, Modern Electric Blues, Soul-Blues
Ike Turner was there at the epicenter of rock & roll in its earliest incarnation, first as a pianist and then as an electric guitarist with a naturally raw and biting tone, and his "Rocket 88," recorded in 1951 at Sam Phillips' famous Sun Studios with Jackie Brenston fronting things, has frequently been cited as the first real rock & roll record. This set features several 1950s tracks where Turner and his Kings of Rhythm back a whole host of R&B and blues artists, including Brenston, B.B. King, Howlin' Wolf, Charley Booker, Bobby "Blue" Bland, and Little Milton, and if it isn't necessarily rock & roll, it's R&B done at its roughest and rawest. Highlights include the historic "Rocket 88," a stomping, explosive "How Many More Years" from Wolf, the electrified country blues of Booker on "Rabbit Blues," and the slashing "Somebody Told Me" by Little Milton. Ragged, loose, and garage-sounding, these sides show what Ike was up to in his pre-Tina years.
by Steve Leggett
Credits: Sunny Blair - primary artist; Bobby "Blue" Bland - primary artist; Robert Calvin Bland - primary artist; Houston Boines - composer, primary artist; Charley Booker - composer, primary artist; Jackie Brenston - primary artist; Chester Burnett - composer; Ben Burton - primary artist; Boyd Gilmore - primary artist; Sarah-May Stanley Gustar - artwork, design; Howlin' Wolf - primary artist; B.B. King - primary artist; Adam Komorowski - annotation, photo archivist; Sam Ling - composer; Little Milton - primary artist; Sarah May - artwork, design; Junior Parker - primary artist; The Prisonaires - primary artist; Jules Taub - composer; Bonnie Turner - primary artist; Ike Turner - composer, primary artist; Joseph Vernon Turner - composer; Geraint Watkins - digital remastering; Sonny Boy Williamson II - composer.
Tracks: 1) Rocket 88 - Ike Turner feat. Jackie Brenston; 2) Independent Woman - Ike Turner feat. Jackie Brenston; 3) My Real Gone Rocket - Ike Turner feat. Jackie Brenston; 4) Tuckered Out - Ike Turner feat. Jackie Brenston; 5) You Know I Love You - Ike Turner feat. B.B. King; 6) How Many More Years - Ike Turner feat. Howlin' Wolf; 7) Dry Up Baby - Ike Turner feat. Robert Calvin Bland; 8) Ridin' in the Moonlight - Ike Turner feat. Howlin' Wolf; 9) 3 O'Clock Blues - Ike Turner feat. B.B. King; 10) Gonna Let You Go - Ike Turner; 11) Blue Serenade - Ike Turner; 12) Please Send My Baby Back - Ike Turner feat. Sunny Blair; 13) Troubles & Heartaches - Ike Turner feat. Ben Burton; 14) You're Driving Me Insane - Ike Turner feat. Ben Burton; 15) Good Morning Baby - Ike Turner; 16) Relation Blues - Ike Turner feat. Houston Boines; 17) Rabbit Blues - Ike Turner feat. Charley Booker; 18) Charlie's Boogie Woogie - Ike Turner feat. Charley Booker; 19) Ramblin' on My Mind - Ike Turner feat. Boyd Gilmore; 20) Whole Heap of Mama - Ike Turner; 21) If You Feel Froggish - Ike Turner; 22) Lookin' for My Baby - Ike Turner feat. Bonnie Turner; 23) My Heart Belongs to You - Ike Turner feat. Bonnie Turner; 24) Bad Women Bad Whiskey - Ike Turner feat. Junior Parker; 25) Good Lovin' - Ike Turner feat. Bobby "Blue" Bland; 26) Shake It Up and Go - Ike Turner feat. B.B. King; 27) Beggin' My Baby - Ike Turner feat. Little Milton; 28) Somebody Told Me - Ike Turner feat. Little Milton; 29) A Prisoner's Prayer - Ike Turner feat. The Prisonaires.