Photos and Story by Tim Van Schmidt
The news that Tina Turner had died at the age of 83 this year brought back one of my favorite live music memories from the 1970s.
The year was 1972 and I went to the Valley Music Theatre in the San Fernando Valley to see Ike and Tina Turner. The venue was a strange-looking, dome-like building nestled neatly into the hillside on Ventura Boulevard in Woodland Hills.
Inside was a theater-in-the-round, nondescript as far as ambiance, the stage definitely being the only aesthetic focal point. The seating ringed around the stage and the stage itself revolved.
Opening was surf guitar king Dick Dale, bleached blond and energetic by the very nature of California surf rock — simple, upbeat rock and roll with some dramatic California flair.
Then, Ike and Tina Turner took the stage and revved up their intense amalgam of soul and rock. The main focus on stage, of course, was Tina, flanked by two more vocalists. The women worked hard, singing and dancing, whipping up some real sweat on stage.
I know, because I had a front row seat and the revolving stage broke down dead center in front of me. So for the rest of the evening, Tina was performing not more than ten feet away. Most intense was an engine-hot version of the Beatles’ “Get Back” that Tina seemed to be driving right through my chest.
I remember at one point looking at the young man sitting next to me. He looked back and both of our sets of eyes were wide, wide open. Ike played guitar back by the band, while the women entertained. Other memorable moments included Ike and Tina’s showstopper “Proud Mary.”
Other musicians we lost in 2023:
Denny Laine (Moody Blues, Wings), 79
Wayne Shorter, 89
David Lindley, 78
Gary Rossington (Lynyrd Skynyrd), 71
Dave Jolicoeur (De La Soul), 54
Spot, 71
Jim Gordon, 77
Clarence ‘Fuzzy’ Haskins (Parliament-Funkadelic), 81
Keith Reid (Procol Harum), 76
Ryuichi Sakamoto, 71
Seymour Stein, 80
Ahmad Jamal, 92
Harry Belafonte, 96
Gordon Lightfoot, 84
Andy Rourke (The Smiths), 59
Angelo Badalamenti, 85
Pete Brown, 82
Ed Ames, 95
Cynthia Weil, 82
Bobby Osborne, 91
Robert Black, 67
George Tickner (Journey), 76
Peter Nero, 89
Tony Bennett, 96
Sinéad O’Connor, 56
Randy Meisner (Eagles), 77
Robbie Robertson (The Band) 80
Sixto Rodriguez, 81
Jerry Moss, 88
David LaFlamme, 82
Bob Feldman, 83
Ray Hildebrand, 82
Jack Sonni (Dire Straits), 68
Jimmy Buffett, 76
Burt Bacharach, 94
Robbie Bachman (Bachman-Turner Overdrive), 69
Tom Verlaine (Television), 73
Charles Gayle (Fire and Brimstone), 84
Roger Whittaker, 87
Rudolph Isley (Isley Brothers), 84
Carla Bley, 87
Shane MacGowan (The Pogues), 65
Colin Burgess (AC-DC), 77
Non-music notables:
Ryan O’Neal, 82
Henry Kissinger, 100
Phyllis Coates, 96
Mark Goddard, 87
Louise Glück, 80
David McCallum, 90
Brooks Robinson, 86
Bert Gordon, 100
Al Jaffee, 102
Tom Smothers, 86