ABSTRACT
Ike Turner assembled his band, which he called the Kings of Rhythm, in 1951. Tina Turner became part of this ensemble in 1957, and was inserted into the existing framework of the show: that is, she was not considered anything particularly special by Ike. In order to draw attention to her essential contribution, Ike decided to change the name of his band to the Ike and Tina Turner Revue in 1960. Given her ability to manipulate the vocal style and to claim rock and roll as her generic home, it is interesting to consider that later in her career Tina frequently commented on how much she disliked it and how her discourse became racialized. Ike and Tina began receiving serious attention from superstar white artists in 1966-Phil Spector and The Rolling Stones-and later in the 1960s they tried to market themselves as "the original rock and roll," in an attempt to align themselves with more commercially successful white music.
