Tina Turner's 'Acid Queen'.
Versions:
LP
CD
Tracklisting:
Side One:
1. Under My Thumb
2. Let's Spend the Night Together
3. Acid Queen
4. I Can See for Miles
5. Whole Lotta Love
Side Two:
1. Baby -- Get It On
2. Bootsy Whitelaw
3. Pick Me Tonight
4. Rockin' and Rollin'
Best tracks:
Whole Lotta Love
Under My Thumb
Baby -- Get It On
Currently listening to: LP
As far as I know, this was Tina's first album without Ike. I've liked Tina for many years, but it's only been the last few years that I've really delved into her back catalogue, particularly with Ike. It's a shame that the music will always be scarred by what happened between Ike and Tina, because, fuck me, they made some incredible music. Their back catalogue is a mess, thanks in no small part to Ike being a tyrant and recording and re-recording tracks to put out as many records as possible. But, it's highly rewarding, once you start to dig. If you manage to find the Time Life three disc set The Story Of Ike And Tina Turner, I highly recommend it. They made some amazing music together.
Tina's solo career, however, I've never been a big fan of. Which is a shame. I wish she'd blossomed after leaving Ike. Commercially, I guess she did. But, I've never liked her solo records much. I like a few of her 80's singles, but in a cheesy way - not in the same way that her reading of 'I've Been Loving You Too Long' makes me weak at the knees.
So, that brings me to 'Acid Queen'. I first bought this CD many years ago, based on the track list. I had an Ike and Tina best of, and loved it. This album was covers of songs of many of my favourite bands at the time - The Who, The Stones and Led Zeppelin. Side One is all covers by these three. I loved Tina's version (and performance) of 'Acid Queen' in the Tommy film. Which was my motivation to buy this album. I'm pretty sure I picked up the CD cheap from K Mart or somewhere equally mundane.
And I hated it.
I think it even stopped - temporarily - my investigation into Ike and Tina's back catalogue.
It's a bold choice of songs. 'Under My Thumb', 'Whole Lotta Love', I Can See For Miles', 'Let's Spend The Night Together'. As I said, songs by some of my favourite bands during my teenage years. I remember disliking Tina's version of every one of these songs - even 'Acid Queen', which was a re-recorded version, not the Tommy version, which I loved.
I got the vinyl version of this album in a cheap eBay bundle (which had 'Private Dancer' and a double-LP Ike and Tina best-of, my main reason for buying the bundle) and I'm fairly certain I've never played it. Until tonight.
And, you know what? It's actually pretty good.
I haven't heard it for many years. Side One is comprised entirely of the cover songs. 'Under My Thumb', still one of my favourite Stones songs, is better than I remembered. 'I Can See For Miles' is okay and, most surprisingly of all, 'Whole Lotta Love' is really cool. It's slowed down and real sexy. It's probably a combination of getting into Ike and Tina (I've grown to love their covers of 'Come Together', 'I Want To Take You Higher' and, of course, ' Proud Mary') and of my growing distaste for Led Zeppelin - a band I once obsessively loved but can no longer relate to (yep, just you wait for the Zep blogs!), but I really enjoyed hearing Tina's version tonight. Maybe it's how much I adore her voice - it carries more than a few otherwise average songs during her time with Ike. And after.
Side Two, featuring four songs, all written by Ike, sounds like a typical Ike and Tina album from the early 70's (think Nutbush City Limits or Feel Good) 'Baby -- Get It On' works surprisingly well - although, sounds like Aussie 70's pub rock. Which is maybe why Tina's always been popular here. 'Bootsey Whitelaw' is alright, but it all seems to fall apart a bit here. The last few songs of the side descend into crappy 70's rock.
Which is a shame for an album I wasn't expecting to enjoy, but did. I think I'll happily revisit Side One. Side Two, I'm not so sure. Especially when I could go for Outta Season or a good Ike and Tina best-of.
To end, I've put on the Tommy soundtrack version of 'Acid Queen' (and on iTunes. The SHAME!), which is far superior to the version on this album. I also recommend watching Tina in the movie. She's such a creep. It's great.
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