Ike & Tina Turner – The Legends Live In ‘71
Picture: C
Sound: B- Extras: C- Concert: B CD sound: B
Fans of Tina Turner often prefer her older work with Ike,
despite how abusive he was at that time, as they preferred the rough Soul to
the Rock that made Private Dancer (1984) a classic. However, much of that material is of covers
of the more popular songs, but Ike & Tina Turner – The Legend Live In
’71 is even by Ike own admission the best “filmed” of all of their
performances. It is actually
videotaped, but Ike is rarely this close to being right, so we’ll cut him a
millisecond of slack.
The concert is Tina already together as an entity too
powerful for even Ike to keep down, more musically able than when they began
working together; complete with the classic showmanship she is now known
for. Backed by the Iketttes in all
their Karate-dancing glory, the songs here appear on both DVD and CD as
follows:
DVD:
1)
Them Changes (DVD only)
2)
Sweet Inspiration
3)
I Want To Take You Higher
4)
Ooo Poo Pah Doo
5)
A Love Like Yours (Don’t Come Knockin’ Every Day)
6)
River Deep, Mountain High
7)
Come Together
8)
Honky Tonk Woman
9)
I Smell Trouble
10)
I Want To
Take You Higher (Reprise)
CD:
1) Sweet
Inspiration
2) I Want To Take You Higher
3) Ooo Poo
Pah Doo
4) A Love
Like Yours (Don’t Come Knockin’ Every Day)
5) River
Deep, Mountain High
6) Come
Together
7) Honky
Tonk Woman
8) Proud
Mary
9) I’ve
Been Loving You Too Long
10) Respect (CD only)
11) Land Of 1,000 Dances (CD
only)
12) I Smell Trouble
13)
I Want To
Take You Higher (Reprise)
The double set is part of a new series of DVD/CD combos
Eagle Vision has been wisely issuing from great artists on their roster. For those who doubted Tina’s greatness, here
it is going way back. The CD offers
more tracks, but to see Tina in action and be so great makes the DVD as much of
a must-have. Besides classics like Sweet
Inspiration, I Want To Take You Higher, River Deep, Mountain High,
Honky Tonk Woman, Proud Mary and the CD-only Respect, she
comes up with another surprise remake that is nothing short of remarkable. On the DTS Celebrate Eagle Rock DVD,
it was of Sam & Dave’s Hold On (I’m A Comin’). Here, it is an uncompromising cover of The
Beatles’ Come Together, originally featuring the lead vocal of John
Lennon. Here, Tina matches his landmark
vocal with a grasp of the song so deep in phrasing and form that it is jaw
dropping. Tina is coming from the same
reality Lennon is and succeeds brilliantly where just about every other Beatles
cover fails. Tina’s version just will
not quit.
The full frame 1.33 X 1 image has been restored as well as
possible, with color improvements offsetting some detail loss, but this is
better than the way it was. The sound
is here in Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo with some pro Logic surrounds and Dolby
5.1, but the best of the three is the DTS 5.1, though the sound in such a remix
is able to only go so far. Thus, we
rate the CD just a tad higher, as no stronger 2.0 option is available on the
DVD. However, the CD still does not
have some of the richness and LFE .1 subwoofer action of the DTS. Which one is preferred will be up to you,
the audience, but the CD is a bit more authentic. The only extras are an interesting comparison of how the tape
source for this concert looked before and after restoration and a
3-minutes-long clip of Ike & Tina from the film Soul To Soul, which
Rhino just issued on DVD.
Nobody, not even Tina Turner’s home label of Capitol
Records, has done more justice to her on DVD than Eagle Vision. They have now released several DTS concerts,
including a stunning remastered reissue of her awesome Live In Amsterdam
concert (reviewed elsewhere on this site), but even more amazing is that much
more material remains to be unearthed.
Until then, Ike & Tina Turner – The Legend Live In ’71 is one
of the great music must-have sets that absolutely belongs in any and all
serious music collections. The best!
- Nicholas Sheffo
