The Archive Series, Vols. 1 & 2: Hits and Classics [PA] [Digipak]

Performer: Ike & Tina Turner
Distributor: Ryko Distribution

Notes: SPV launched their series of archival Ike & Tina Turner collections with this double-disc set, which curiously enough is the least interesting installment in the program so far. The Archive Series, Vols. 1 & 2: Hits and Classics is devoted to songs already familiar to casual listeners, but the only real-deal Ike & Tina hits included on this set are "It's Gonna Work Out Fine," "Nutbush City Limits," "Proud Mary," and "River Deep, Mountain High" (the latter two each appearing twice), while nearly everything else is a cover of a tune associated with another artist. The tracks collected here are all alternate takes or live recordings, so you're not going to hear the performances of these songs you're likely to remember; the bodaciously funky arrangements of "River Deep, Mountain High" that pop up here are a lot more Ike Turner than Phil Spector ("It Only Took a Moment," credited to the Ikettes, sounds much more like Mr. Wall of Sound's work, with Tina all but inaudible and the singers clearly aping the Crystals), while the recut of "It's Gonna Work out Fine" is a solid but grooved-up version from the 1970s. Ike & Tina sound just fine shaking out R&B classics like "Ooh Poo Pah Doo," "Knock on Wood," and "Tweedle Dee," but "Ode to Billy Joe," "Something," and "Stand by Me" are not the sort of stuff this act was ever meant to play, though there's no arguing that Tina never gives less than a hundred percent and Ike and his sidemen sound tight and emphatic on even the most wrong-headed material. The liner notes offer no information about recording dates, musicians, or other such details, and can't even get the most simple facts straight; "Don't Look Back," credited to "Unknown," is actually "She Belongs to Me" by a little-known tunesmith named Bob Dylan. (What? You've heard of him?) The other episodes in SPV's Archive Series unearth some worthwhile buried treasure, but most of what's on Hits and Classics slipped through the cracks for a reason, though even when Ike & Tina Turner were heading the wrong way they clearly traveled there in style. ~ Mark Deming

While Ike Turner helped lay the foundations of rock & roll and Tina Turner went on to become one of the most successful female singers in pop history, some would argue that the duo made their best music together. Ike & Tina began working together in the early 1960s when Ike discovered the young singer Anna Mae Bullock and transformed her into the smoldering, seemingly unstoppable musical force known as Tina Turner. Their artistic run--which produced soul/R&B/pop classics such as "It's Gonna Work Out Fine," "River Deep Mountain High," and their near earth-moving version of "Proud Mary"--was eclipsed in intensity only by the tumultuous nature of their marriage. Both facets of their partnership came to an end in the mid 1970s.

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