News

A half-century after her solo career began, the late, great Tina Turner’s earliest albums will come back into print this fall – including the premiere CD release of her first solo album.

Rhino, who digitally reissued Tina’s four solo albums for United Artists last year, will press Tina Turns the Country On! (1974), Acid Queen (1975), Rough (1978) and Love Explosion (1979) on CD and vinyl. It’s the first time the latter three have been in print in more than 20 years. The LP of Tina Turns the Country On! – marketed as a 50th anniversary pressing – is a half-speed master by John Webber at AIR Studios in London, pressed on 180-gram vinyl. All titles will be available on November 15.

Now well-known as the Queen of Rock and Roll, Turner wasn’t terribly well-known outside of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue when her husband and bandleader arranged for her to cut a solo LP. Drawing from country and folk influences, Turner lends her signature voice to compositions by Bob Dylan (“Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here with You,” “He Belongs to Me”), Kris Kristofferson (“Help Me Make It Through the Night”), Dolly Parton (“There’ll Always Be Music”) and James Taylor (“Don’t Talk Now”). Backed by a murderer’s row of session players, including James Burton and Glen D. Hardin (Elvis Presley’s guitarist and pianist), Tina Turns the Country On! did not find a sizable audience but earned the singer a Grammy nomination for Best R&B Vocal Performance – Female.

Turner would follow her solo debut with her first acting role in a feature film, playing the Acid Queen in a screen musical based on The Who’s rock opera Tommy. Her standout performance informed the title and timbre of her next solo effort: Acid Queen‘s first side was all-killer, no-filler rock covers of The Who (“Acid Queen,” “I Can See for Miles”), The Rolling Stones (“Under My Thumb,” “Let’s Spend the Night Together”) and Led Zeppelin (“Whole Lotta Love”). The other half, though, was written and produced by Ike Turner himself; despite the minor success of single “Baby Get It On” (and the modest chart placement of the LP on the lower quarter of the Billboard 200) Turner was not fully establishing herself as a solo performer.

Of course, her relationship with the abusive Turner was reaching its nadir at this point, too: in 1976, she left him and endured lengthy court proceedings stemming from their divorce and cancelled gigs. Though Ike had walked away from their label home of United Artists Records, Turner would continue her relationship with the label. (Longtime executive Michael Stewart was a personal and financial champion of Tina during this time.) She re-emerged with Rough in 1978, a barn-burning collection of favorites from Elton John (“The Bitch is Back”), Bob Seger (“Fire Down Below”), Willie Nelson (“Funny How Time Slips Away”) and even Dan Hill (“Sometimes When We Touch”). A slightly slicker rock affair than the material on Acid Queen, Rough was yet another Tina Turner album to miss the charts.

That trend unfortunately continued with Love Explosion, a 1979 venture into disco with French producer Alec R. Costandinos. Recorded in London (where Tina was enjoying some of her strongest success as a cabaret draw), the album – featuring versions of The O’Jays’ “Back Stabbers” and the Barry Mann-Cynthia Weil composition “Just a Little Lovin'” (previously recorded by Dusty Springfield) – ended up being released only in Europe. United Artists dropped Turner shortly thereafter, and it was four years before she’d secure a new deal – although what followed would be the decade’s biggest musical comeback story.

Pre-order links and track lists for all four reissues are below. (Vinyl links are live, with CDs following faster in some territories than others.) As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

Tina Turns the Country On! (originally released as United Artists UA-LA200-G, 1974 – reissued Rhino, 2024)

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Half-Speed Mastered LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

1. Bayou Song
2. Help Me Make It Through the Night
3. Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here with You
4. If You Love Me (Let Me Know)
5. He Belongs to Me
6. Don’t Talk Now
7. Long Long Time
8. I’m Moving On
9. There’ll Always Be Music
10. The Love That Lights Our Way

Acid Queen (originally released as United Artists UA-LA495-G, 1975 – reissued Rhino, 2024)

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

1. Under My Thumb
2. Let’s Spend the Night Together
3. Acid Queen
4. I Can See for Miles
5. Whole Lotta Love
6. Baby – Get It On
7. Bootsey Whitelaw
8. Pick Me Tonight
9. Rockin’ and Rollin’

Rough (originally released as United Artists UA-LA919-H, 1978 – reissued Rhino, 2024)

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

1. Fruits of the Night
2. The Bitch is Back
3. The Woman I’m Supposed to Be
4. Viva La Money
5. Funny How Time Slips Away
6. Earthquake & Hurricane
7. Root, Toot Undisputable Rock ‘n’ Roller
8. Fire Down Below
9. Sometimes When We Touch
10. A Woman in a Man’s World
11. Night Time is the Right Time

Love Explosion (originally released as United Artists UAG-30267 (U.K.), 1979 – reissued Rhino, 2024)

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

1. Love Explosion
2. Fool for Your Love
3. Sunset on Sunset
4. Music Keeps Me Dancin’
5. I See Home
6. Backstabbers
7. Just a Little Lovin’ (Early in the Morning)
8. You Got What I’m Gonna Get
9. On the Radio