December 23rd, 2007Thanks for giving Ike the credit he deserved
Very classy of you to dedicate enough space for your obituary about Ike Turner (“Ike Turner: Love him or hate him, the man left his mark on music world” by George Varga, Passages, Dec. 16).
I am glad that he is at rest and in peace.
He deserves credit, if for nothing else just the fact that he was a true pioneer and a hard-working musician.
And many of the stories about his “bad” behavior are probably true, but every story has two sides. Let it be known that I do not condone hitting a woman, or any woman period!
I was a bright-eyed kid from Tijuana, soaking up everything that American music had to offer in 1969. My first gig in the U.S. was at the Blue Bunny in Pico Rivera with Hayward Lee and The Marauders. On weekends, Fridays and Saturdays, this place had an after-hours jam session that started about 2 a.m. and lasted until about 6 a.m. Many times, Ike and Tina Turner showed up for these sessions as well as the Spiral Staircase and Pat and Lolly Vega also known as “Redbone.” And I can attest that Ike was a funky dude with a lot of soul.
Jose Molina Serrano
La Mesa
A special thanks to George Varga and Beth Wood for the kind and professional article on the passing of Ike Turner. It is a shame that he did not receive more tributes, as you mentioned, from the more than 1,500 newspapers worldwide.
Bad dirt can be dug up on almost any entertainer, including Bing Crosby, who has an entire neighborhood named after him in Rancho Santa Fe. As a college student in the ’60s, everyone went to see Ike and Tina Turner in concert at The Red Dog Saloon in Lawrence, Kan. All the greats came there. They were loved and admired by most everyone.
When I take my street rod to car shows, I am usually playing “Rocket 88” full blast when I arrive. It still remains one of the top 10 trademark car songs for car shows nationwide. Living in the North County, I always hoped to run into Ike at the Guitar Center in Escondido, but our paths never crossed again. I raised my daughters on his music as well as the other great black performers of the ’30s through the ’70s. White mothers raising daughters in the ’50s would have had heart attacks if their little “angels” were exposed to these same sounds. His music and all his influence will live on forever.
