“‘River Deep — Mountain High’ is one of the greatest rock records probably ever made. And [Tina Turner] is simply one of the greatest rock singers, you know.” – Bruce Springsteen, From My Home to Yours Volume 9
It sure is, and she sure as heck is.
“River Deep — Mountain High” is breathtaking in every aspect, an almost overwhelmingly powerful declaration of devotion that shockingly didn’t actually do all that well when Ike & Tina Turner released it in the spring of 1966, peaking only at #88 on the Billboard Hot 100. (It fared better in the U.K., where it peaked at #3.)
It performed so poorly against expectations, in fact, that producer Phil Spector sat on the album that bore the same name for more than three years and withdrew from the music industry altogether in the interim.
Only after Eric Burdon & The Animals and Deep Purple both released higher-charting covers of the song in 1968 did Spector release Tina’s original version–and even then, Tina couldn’t crack the Billboard Hot 100 with it.
It wasn’t as if audiences had tired of the song. In 1970, The Supremes and The Four Tops covered “River Deep — Mountain High” and took it all the way to #14, the highest the song would ever chart in the United States. It was just Tina’s version that had a hard time breaking through.
Critics adored it, though, and over time Tina’s version of “River Deep — Mountain High” amassed the audience and accolades it deserves. In 1999, it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Rolling Stone ranked it #33 on their 500 Greatest Songs of All Time List, and NME ranked it #37.
And yet the ignominies continue: as of this writing, Tina Turner still is not a member in her own right of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. (She was inducted as part of Ike & Tina Turner in 1991, but anyone who knows her story understands why it’s especially important that she be inducted on her own.)
She’s nominated this year, though, and if the voters do their job well, maybe we’ll see her at the next Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
In the meantime, though, we can watch her perform “River Deep — Mountain High” at the 1989 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, where she was backed by an absolutely insane all-star band that included The Rolling Stones, The Temptations, Stevie Wonder, Little Richard, Hall and Oates, and many, many more–plus a blink-and-you’ll-miss-him Bruce Springsteen.
And yes, I know: that’s a pretty slight Springsteen connection for a blog that’s supposed to be all about him.
But come on: this is Tina Turner. Let’s band together and vote her into the Hall of Fame.
You can vote here and vote often–once a day through April 30th.
Let’s do this.
River Deep-Mountain High
First performed: January 18, 1989 (New York City, NY)
Last performed: January 18, 1989 (New York City, NY)
