RIP - Ike Turner

Let's get one thing clear, here - Ike Turner's death is a very real loss. Before all else, and after all else, there will always be the music. Ike Turner was a great musician and incredible songwriter. From his work in the early-1950s to his work with Tina Turner, to his most recent work (a very good guest-appearance on Gorillaz's Demon Days, and his 2006 album Risin' With the Blues), he was remarkable. Unfortunately, since 1993's What's Love Got to Do With It, that's been all but forgotten. He's just remembered for the abuse, and when people talk about the work of Ike and Tina in the 1960s, the emphasis is always on Tina's voice, and never on the songs, which were as killer as her voice.

This is in no way an apologia for spousal abuse. Should we just forget he was abusive and made bad mistakes? No. Spousal abuse is despicable, period, and he should be rightfully criticized on that front. But that doesn't make his music any less good. If you don't want to listen to it on ideological reasons, fine, but what he did in his home doesn't detract from his music anymore than the fact that Miles Davis openly admitted to beating and terrifying Cicely Tyson detracts from his music. And it seems a bit fair that we can forgive some (such as Davis) and chastize Turner so harshly. So with his passing yesterday, try not just to remember that he hit Tina Turner (the first thing the AP obit mentions). Remember his music, too, and how solid and great it was.

...UPDATE - as with Karlheinz Stockhausen, Allmusic has a great obituary on Turner here.