Redtree Times

Tina Turner on the Eiffel Tower/ Photo by Peter Lindbergh, 1989

And you know what I say to people who ask, “What do you do when all the odds are against you?” I say, “You keep going. You just don’t stop. No matter, if there’s one slap to the face, turn the other cheek. And the hurt you’re feeling? You can’t think about what’s being done to you now, or what has been done to you in the past. You just have to keep going.

― Tina Turner, My Love Story

Saddened to hear of the passing of Tina Turner yesterday. She lived quite a life, one that had more than its share of highs and lows and touched many worlds. She was a one-of-a-kind performer, a generational talent. She was the prototype for dynamic rock and roll singers, a commanding presence onstage. But she was more than that. Among the many labels she wore, she was a survivor, a worldwide symbol of personal and spiritual growth as well as an inspiration and muse to many.

I am not going to say much more today on her death. I will leave that to others. It is a great loss but she left us plenty to carry forward in the form of her music and performances.

That is immortal.

I have literally hundreds, maybe thousands of favorite songs. It would be hard to choose any single one as my favorite but if forced, her River Deep, Mountain High might be that pick. I think it might be Phil Spector‘s masterpiece and it marked Tina’s first time recording as solo artist, without Ike. It is a tour-de-force that goes full bore quickly and somehow keeps building. It was song, with its huge sound and power, that was perfectly designed for the big stadium shows that marked Tina’s resurgent career in the 80’s and 90’s. A perfect bond of song and singer.

This performance of that song is from a television program in the 90’s from France, a country that which she had great affection, spending much of her later life at her home in the south of France and in Switzerland. I don’t now that I ever saw her give less than total effort and this is no different. As I wrote about this song a few years back when I shared it here, in the words of the great John Lee Hooker: If you can’t dig this, you got a hole in your soul– and that ain’t good.

There also a short video– only a minute long– below it about her work with the late fashion photographer Peter Lindbergh. He is the man whose work began the era of the supermodel and who took the iconic phot at the top of the page of Tina climbing the Eiffel Tower in her heels. 

Thanks for everything, Tina. Peace be with you.