“I was knocked out”: why Tina Turner knew ‘River Deep – Mountain High’ would be a hit
It’s hard to understate the impact of Tina Turner on rock and roll.
The comeback queen was responsible for a colossal number of monster hits throughout her career, from ‘Better Be Good to Me’ in 1984 to ‘Proud Mary’ back in 1971, but it was on tunes like the latter, alongside husband Ike Turner, where this legend really made her name. While performing as Ike and Tina, there’s no denying how long the string of supersonic hits was – but there was one in particular they knew was destined for great things from the very beginning.
That would be ‘River Deep – Mountain High’, a song now so iconic that it’s hard to conceive that it’s less than 60 years old. Released in 1966, it marked the start of the notorious Phil Spector’s production partnership with the Turners, which only actually involved Tina, but nevertheless, the songs were credited as a pair. Spector was renowned for his unconventional recording techniques – most notably the ‘Wall of Sound’ – and it was this spark of innovation that truly drew the later queen of rock and roll to the song.
She explained at the time: “I was knocked out by ‘River Deep’ the first time I heard it. Phil Spector kinda sang it along with a guitar and I loved it. Then when he did the instrumental tracks! Wow! It’s just a great record.”
It’s clear that Turner had a sharp eye for catching a golden opportunity because even when the song was in its rudimentary form, she knew they were on to a winner. And then, even though he wasn’t going to be featured on the track itself, it seems it didn’t take much to convince her husband, either: “Ike decided to go with him [Spector] because he wanted to see what someone else could do with my voice. He flipped when he heard what Phil did with the backing. He’s very impressed. We’re both delighted!”
But however brilliant that backing may have ended up being, it didn’t mean it had been easy to get to that point. The process was brutal, which Turner alluded to when she said: “It didn’t take much time to record the voice track, but the instrumental ones were another story. Spector’s difficult to work with, but it’s well worth it!”
That description is certainly a generous one, because Spector wasn’t exactly well-known for his caring and compassionate approach towards his artists. The “other story” she mentions likely refers to the infamous process where Spector made her re-record her vocals hundreds of times repeatedly for the track in order to achieve the perfection he knew they were destined for. But what’s worse – initially, it didn’t seem to pay off.
Believe it or not, despite ‘River Deep – Mountain High’ being considered such an iconic record today, when it was first released, it failed to chart very successfully in the US, though it did become a hit across Europe. It sent Spector into a bit of a tailspin, to put it mildly, and many wondered how Ike and Tina Turner could ever continue.
But, in a way only the champion of comebacks knows how, of course she let the setbacks make her stronger. Despite its somewhat lacklustre reception at the time, the song has become a staple of Turner’s stratospheric sonic legacy, to the point that she performed it at her induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, alongside Ike, in 1991. It’s clear to see that although it took Phil Spector kind of chucking his toys out the pram for it to work, everyone knew when he was ultimately on the money.
