Mississippi Rolling Stone - Paperback

by Janet Gray (Author)

IZEAR LUSTER "IKE" TURNER JR.

Named after his father, Isaiah (or Izear, as pronounced among the Black folks in the segregated South of Mississippi, .Clarksdale, in 1931), he was born to a local backwoods church reverend and a seamstress. Their son, whose mother called him Sonny, would later be nicknamed Ike by his peers.

Ike, at a very tender age, endured the loss of his father, who suffered a three-year-long agonizing death inflicted by a local White man, Bird-Doggin, and his fellow thugs, who dragged the reverend from his home and brutally kicked holes into his abdomen, later dumping him into his own front yard. Bird-Doggin was disgruntled about the extra ministry outreach of home calls that the reverend had extended to his lonely White girlfriend.

Poverty and the hardships of day-to-day living increased. Life went on as Ike became more vulnerable without a father. Before the age of thirteen, Ike fell victim to three sex predators-unbridled women in his community. Being exposed to such bestiality distorted little Ike's perception of women and relationships. He was afraid of them but interpreted that his genitalia, or his manhood, was a power and that their feminine lust was a weakness. Therefore, this power put him in control.

Ike was privileged to receive formal piano lessons from his schoolteacher, but the process bored him as it was too lengthy. He was fortunate to meet Pinetop Perkins, who taught him boogie-woogie. Little Ike, ahead of his time, quickly became a socialite and a magnet.

He landed a job at the local WROX Radio Station as a preteen and later could be found serenading at the local honky-tonks, eventually traveling with a local swing band called the Top Hatters. Ike was no stranger to Mississippi venues or their ladies.

Beatrice, Ike's mother, had remarried and was burdened with the routine antics of a brutal alcoholic. At fifteen, Ike entered the house and encountered a violent attack on his mother, which naturally involved him in a life-and-death situation. Butting heads with the new man of the house, he protected his mother with a blow to his stepfather's head, leaving him seemingly dead. In a panic, Ike's mother whisked him off to Tennessee in fear that her dear Sonny might be arrested.

Ike's stepfather recovered while Ike was subjected to a grueling journey of suffering to Tennessee and back home. This experience made Ike more intense and callous to the point that his stepfather was intimidated and cowered on Ike's return -the future "Pistol-whipping Ike."

He eventually departed from the "music reading" Top Hatters to form his own "play by ear" band, the Kings of Rhythm. They were hot and jumping! The locals couldn't resist their intoxicating energy and charisma. They became the talk of the town and all of Mississippi.

Ike worked and frequented venues that hosted artists from Duke Ellington to elite blues singers such as B. B. King. He knew everybody in the circuit. Ike and his band eventually got their own chance to record in Memphis, Tennessee, with Sam Phillips. The first rock 'n' roll record, titled "Rocket 88," was released on the Chess label. And to Ike's dismay, the band did not receive credit for the song or their work. The band was cheated out of $20 per person, while Jackie Brenston, the singer, received $910 for his participation, a "work for hire" in the recording. Ike was devastated by this betrayal. This kind of abuse would plague Ike for years to come. He learned the hard way to establish his own business affairs, musical rights, and conditions.

Pressing forward, Ike commuted by bicycle seventy-five miles back and forth to Memphis, seeking new opportunities. After a period of ins and outs, he was noticed by Joe Bahari of the label Modern/RPM. Joe was so impressed by Ike's genius and his eye and ear for talent that he hired him to scou