Few other husband-wife duos in the world of music elicit such charged and mixed feelings. It's nearly impossible to separate each groundbreaking performance from the ugly ghost of domestic abuse hanging over it. At the same time, Tina's ultimate triumph over adversity and phoenix-like rise to solo stardom is part of the story, too.
In fact, let's be honest: no one gave half a damn about seeing Ike on stage.
It was all about Tina.
The track "Nutbush City Limits" (1973) is all about her, too.
Long before she was known as "Tina Turner" (a stage name Ike gave her in 1960 to lock down her identity and keep her from leaving his band), she was Anna Mae Bullock from Nutbush, TN.
Yes, Nutbush is a real place, located on Tennessee Highway 19, just as she sings in the lyrics.
On the surface, it's just a song about a "one-horse town" with a badass, chunky guitar riff and a four on the floor beat. But dig a bit deeper down, and it reveals itself to be a reclamation of her true identity.
Anna Mae from Nutbush is who she really was.
Writing this song and turning it into one of the duo's last hits revealed who she had the power to be.
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