Tina Turner, Proud Mary, 1971. If you’re here for an Ike & Tina soul ballad, hit play and enjoy yourself for the next minute and 55 seconds, at which point Tina blows it to smithereens.
If you’re here for Tina, skip ahead to about 1:40 to catch your breath for a couple of seconds before Tina takes it away.
Tina’s rendition reached its peak in March 1971, exactly two years after Creedence Clearwater Revival’s original version reached its peak, winning the Grammy for 1971′s Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Group.
In fact, Solomon Burke recorded a cover before Ike & Tina did, very soulful of course, very worth your while to track down, but also very much in line with John Fogerty’s original performance. As Burke recalled later, though, “The greatest thing I ever did was tell Ike Turner, ‘Hey man, you should get on this record… I think you and Tina could tear this thing up.’”
The wisdom of Solomon is right again! Tina’s performance simply obliterates everything in its path.
