Kings of Rhythm
| The Kings of Rhythm | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Jackie Brenston & His Delta Cats, Ike Turner & His Orchestra, The Family Vibes, |
| Origin | Clarksdale, Mississippi, United States |
| Genres | Jump blues, rhythm and blues, rock and roll, funk, soul |
| Years active | c. 1940s–present |
| Labels | Sun Records, Modern, United Artists Records, Sue Records |
| Associated acts | Ike & Tina Turner, Ike Turner, The Tophatters, The Family Vibes |
| Website | http://kingsofrhythm.com/ |
| Members |
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| Past members |
Jackie Brenston (deceased) Ike Turner (deceased) Willie Kizart Raymond Hill, Willie “Bad Boy” Sims, Johnny O’Neal, Bobby Fields, Bob Prindall, Edward Nash, Eugene Washington, Eddie Jones, Eugene Fox, Clayton Love, Ernest Lane (late 50s – early 60s and 1999–2009) C. V. Veal, Jesse Knight, Jr. Bonnie Turner, Annie Mae Wilson Mack Johnson Clifford Solomon Teasky Tribble Fred Sample, Billy Preston (deceased) Washee, Jesse Heron, Edward Burks, Jackie Clark, Warren Dawson, McKinley Johnson, Mark Landon – guitar John Leland Mary Reed J.D. Reed, Soko Richardson (deceased) |
The Kings of Rhythm are an American Rhythm and blues and Soul group formed in the late 1940s in Clarksdale, Mississippi and led by Ike Turner through to his death in 2007. Turner would retain the name of the band throughout his career, although the group has undergone considerable lineup changes over time. The group was an offshoot of a large big band ensemble called "The Tophatters". By the late 1940s Turner had renamed this group the "Kings of Rhythm". Their early stage performances consisted largely of covers of popular jukebox hits of the day. A 1951 lineup of the group recorded the song "Rocket 88", which was an early example of Rock and roll. In the 1960s they became the band for the "Ike & Tina Turner Revue". For a few years in the early 1970s they were renamed "The Family Vibes", and released 2 albums under this name, both produced by, but not featuring Ike Turner. The band have continued, for a time under the leadership of pianist Ernest Lane (himself a childhood friend of Turner's), and continues to tour with vocalist Earl Thomas. The group has been running for at least 64 years.
In high school, a teenage Ike Turner joined a huge local rhythm ensemble called "The Tophatters", who played dances around Clarksdale, Mississippi, playing big band arrangements from sheet music. Members of the band were taken from Clarksdale musicians, and included Turner's school friends Raymond Hill, Eugene Fox and Clayton Love.
At one point the Tophatters had over 30 members, and eventually split into two, with one act who wanted to carry on playing dance band jazz calling themselves "The Dukes of Swing" and the other, led by Turner becoming the "Kings of Rhythm". Rivalry between the two former factions of the Tophatters lasted for some time, with the two staging an open air 'battle-of-the-bands' where they played from atop two flatbed trucks every fortnight.
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Wikipedia