by Cristina |
Last Updated: May 4, 2021 The Tina Turner Documentary on HBO is a must watch. Like watch it now!
Nutshell: HBO Max, Tina Turner, The GOAT of legs, Moving, Incredible, Love has everything to do with it, Must Watch, Hour and a half, The music!!!!
CB Rating: 9
It is hard for me to imagine there is someone out there in the world that has heard Tina’s voice or seen Tina’s moves and isn’t totally and completely in love with her.
If you are unfamiliar, I would start here: Proud Mary.
Don’t lie to me. Don’t lie to yourself… You’re dancing. You can’t even stop yourself if you wanted to. That beat drop is irresistible.
I was caught off guard. Before watching this, I had no idea how much Tina brought to the game. After watching this documentary, it should have always been fairly obvious. I feel it’s one of those stories that I heard, before I was mature enough to really grasp what it all meant. What she had gone through. The barriers that she broke down.
This documentary took you through her life, and while it may have told you a familiar story, it sprinkled it generously with details you maybe didn’t know about Tina. I would say if you’re looking for a little something to inspire you, get you going – this is it.
Some Tina Turner Documentary Highlights
The documentary starts and ends with Tina in all her glory on the stage. It is a packed arena, and your eyes are glued to the center of the party. Partly because that woman is singing from some place deep in her soul, but mostly because of those legs! My God! Tina! Let’s all take a moment of silence to appreciate Ms.Turner’s legs, shall we:
In The Beginning
The documentary then immediately takes us back to her beginning in Nutbush, TN. Only her name wasn’t Tina, it was Anna Mae Bullock. To really quickly summarize, her daddy was abusive and one day her mother just left them. No word. Just went to St. Louis. Then out of the blue her father remarried and left Tina and her two sisters behind. The girls went to live with their grandmother and some cousins, until her grandmother passed away when Tina was 16.
Let that sink in. I still get chills. This woman had every reason to just stop. Quit. Make bad choices. Feel sorry for herself. But she picked herself up by her bootstraps, went to St. Louis and started her journey to be the Tina we all know today.
He Who Shall Not Be Named
From the moment He Who Shall Not Be Named put Tina on stage it was undeniable. The woman was a star. She could just move. The movements weren’t boring and didn’t seem choreographed. She made it look easy. She was fearless. You wanted to have whatever she was having.
I couldn’t get over the fact that her and the backup dancers did all their own choreography on the fly. They also each did their own hair and makeup. It was the only thing she really controlled, she said she found freedom in it
“Only freedom I had was when the Ikettes and I got dressed and got the dances ready. It was awful in a way but it was a lesson. You adjust to what is given, and that was what was given at the time.”
Between this picture and the fact that he called the backup dancers the “Ikettes” you almost don’t have to know the rest of the story to know that that the guy is a douche canoe.
River Deep Mountain High
In 1966, Phil Spector, who was one the hottest producer of the time, had a song for Tina. The song was River Deep Mountain High, and it was unlike anything of the time. A song you might now know as iconic, if only for how often they sing it on American Idol or the Masked Singer, but also because the vocal on the song is bananas.
When it was first released it was actually a total flop in the US. It topped out at #88 so the radio wouldn’t play it. HERE she is singing it at the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame (1989).
This bothered me! I love this song. So as I was trying to find out why I found that while it didn’t chart here, it made it to #3 in the UK and landed Tina and the guy a spot to open for the Rolling Stones. Which does help our girl, Tina in the end. Also over time this grave misstep has been corrected and this song is currently # 33 on The Rolling Stone’s “500 Greatest Songs of All Time” list.
Buddhism Helps Tina Leave Him
Tina left him at 37 after being married to him and surviving his abuse for 16 years. At one point in the documentary she credits Buddhism with saving her life. It showed her she can change. It showed her she had the strength to change.
She tells an amazing story about crossing an interstate to find her freedom on the Fourth of July. It is difficult to comprehend even as you hear it, how hard this woman had to fight her way out of this terrible relationship. In the divorce, he got the royalty rights to ALL the music, the house, the money, she didn’t want anything from him. She famously only asked for the rights to her name, Tina. She wanted to send him a message
“you gave me this name but watch what I build with it.”
Finally, On Her Own
She was a black woman in her late 30’s about to start all over again in the music industry. Statistically her success should have been impossible!
She starts to work getting any job she can get. Ends up recording a song with Olivia Newton John, not sure if you remember this one:
This led her to meeting her manager, Roger Davies. A big first step on a path to make what is probably one of the biggest best comebacks in music history. However, she doesn’t call it a comeback (you have to watch it to find out why).
Sidebar: Remember This Guy?
Kurt Loder makes an appearance in this Tina Turner documentary! Do you remember Kurt Loder? In the 90’s I got my information from one of two places, 17 magazine or Kurt Loder on “MTV News”.
He was hired by Tina to write her first biography. The first time she was really opening up about everything she went through with him following her big People cover story. Hoping once she put the story out there, people would stop asking her about him. I mean who leaves an abusive relationship, finds success, and then just wants to answer questions about him for the rest of her life?!
He’s 75 now by the way. If Kurt Loder is 75, I do not want to know how old that makes all of us.
The Hair
At first when her new image was still unclear. Roger, the manager, recalls her saying that her goal was to be the female Mick and Keith, and to fill stadiums all over the world. At the time, she was just doing cabaret in Vegas, and was middle aged and surrounded by that “relationship narrative”. He wanted to do something to really change her image. So they do what we all do when we need a big drastic change- we cut our hair. Only when Tina cuts bangs, they’re Badass. There are now Tina Turner costumes:
She also then came out with her album Private Dancer that featured “What’s Love Got to do With it” You can check out the video HERE. In 2012, “What’s Love Got to Do with It” was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, making it her Third Grammy Hall of Fame Award. The song ranked number 316 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.” Has been covered by several people including Kygo who released THIS remix with Tina in 2020.
Queen Tina
The woman is rock royalty. I had no idea how COOL she was. I mean, I knew she was cool, but I didn’t know she was teach Mick Jagger how to dance cool. That is a level of cool that basically no one can ever reach. Mick Jagger actually credits Tina for teaching him how to actually do “The Pony” and for inspiring him to be more free on stage. (Sidenote: I found that Pony video on youtube, and I can’t explain it. You have to click the pony video. You have to. Please. Do it).
They famously performed together at Live Aid in 1985
Live Aid Performance 1985
Here they are at the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame in 1988:
Here is Tina and Bowie performing together:
Mad Max
She starred in the movie Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome with Mel Gibson. Maybe you knew that already, but I had no idea. I had to show it here because her costume is AMAZING and deserves it’s moment. But also to say, you know you have made it as a singer, when they are calling you to be in movies. Mel Gibson (at the time) Big Deal!
Dream Come True
I’m leaving you here with the video of her living out her dream. She is performing Proud Mary, in front of a sell out crowd of 186,000 people in a stadium in Rio. This woman, was born to sharecroppers, abandoned by them, fought her way out of a terrifying abusive relationship, and fulfilled her dreams. She became the first black woman rock and roll superstar to sell out stadiums. In case you were looking for a little bit of motivation today. And, my God, Tina! Those legs.