Did you know Ike and Tina Turner once released a great gospel LP in 1973?
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Welcome to Shout! Black Gospel Music Moments. I’m Robert Darden.
One of the great oddities in the Black Gospel Music Restoration Project is The Gospel According to Ike and Tina Turner – an entire LP of classic gospel songs, including “Amazing Grace,” “Take My Hand Precious Lord,” “When the Saints Go Marching In,” “What a Friend We Have in Jesus,” “Just a Closer Walk” and several others.
From what we now know about Ike and his relationship with Tina, this foray into gospel is, to say the least, an unexpected side venture. But the LP was well received when it was released in 1973, with Ike using it to experiment with some of the earliest synthesizers and adding a funky, soulful sheen to the songs. Both the LP and the single “Farther Along” were even nominated for Grammy Awards!
Ike and Tina take turns on the vocals ... and Tina doesn’t even sing on some of the tracks. “Farther Along” probably is the best of Ike’s contributions – he displays a nice baritone and, of course, the guitar-playing is first-rate. Actually, ALL of the tracks are more than listenable ... whatever was going in their private lives, and apparently there was a LOT -- it sounds like everybody in the studio was having a ball!
MUSIC: “Father Along” (Actually, “Farther Along”) by the Ike and Tina Turner Revue, The Gospel According to Ike and Tina LP, Side 1, Track 1
I’m Robert Darden … “Shout! Black Gospel Music Moments” is produced by KWBU, the Black Gospel Music Restoration Project at Baylor University Libraries and is funded by generous support from the Prichard Foundation.
