Ike & Tina Turner

September 12 - 19, 1 9 9 6 [Off the Record]

**** Ike & Tina Turner

WHAT YOU HEAR IS WHAT YOU GET: LIVE AT CARNEGIE HALL

(EMI)
Back when I was a kid and watched Ike and Tina's revue host the Midnight Special TV show, it was the wildest, freakiest, sexiest thing I'd ever seen. Hearing this concert from the same era (1971) brings that whole rush back. It's stone blues played with rock-and-roll edge, Ike coming on like a psychedelic Robert Nighthawk on guitar, Tina's voice rippling through the air like some untamable force. Hits like "Proud Mary" and standard Ike-and-Tina revue numbers like "I Want To Take You Higher" drop like funky, revved-up, soul firebombs. Tina's vocal performances on Bobby Bland's "I Smell Trouble" and Otis Redding's "I've Been Loving You Too Long" wring every drop of love and regret from their lyrics. And Ike's on-the-microphone imitation of pussy-eating on the latter is still a little mind-blowing today. (Hey, I don't remember that from the TV show.) If you're too young to have seen or heard Ike and Tina as a team, you might not understand why they're both legendary performers. This powerhouse reissue clarifies the matter.
-- Ted Drozdowski