THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

752-Ike & Tina Turner-Proud Mary.

1970-It has never charted in the UK.

Best Bit-At 2.19. A song of two halves. Tina warns us, ‘We’re gonna start it off nice and easy,’ and then she goes on to say,’We never do anything nice and easy, and then she tells us that they will finish it ‘Nice and rough.’

The original version of ‘Proud Mary’ was written by the American singer/songwriter John Fogerty, and recorded by his band Creedence Clearwater Revival (see also best songs 502) in 1968, the ‘CCR’ version reached Number 2 on Billboard, and Number 8 in the UK in 1969, and was one of five singles by that band that stalled at Number 2, they never had a Number 1 single in America. John Fogerty has said that he wrote ‘Proud Mary’ in just two days after being discharged from the National Guard. Fogerty has said that in the beginning ‘Proud Mary’ had nothing to do with a riverboat, envisioning it as the story of a woman who works as a maid for rich people. ‘She gets off the bus every morning and goes to work, and holds their lives together, then she has to go home.’ It was Stuart Cook, the bass player at that time with ‘CCR,’ who came up with the idea of a riverboat, after watching the American Western television programme ‘Maverick.’ Fogerty felt that a riverboat would fit in well with the song, and ‘Proud Mary’ went from being a ‘cleanup lady,’ to a boat.

Ike & Tina Turner (see also best songs 485 and 192) recorded ‘Proud Mary’ for their 14th joint studio Album ‘Workin’ Together,’ from November 1970, it was the second of four singles released from the Album, with the production being by Ike Turner, (1931-2007) and went on to reach Number 4 on Billboard in 1971. It was the American Soul singer Soloman Burke (1940-2010) who released the first charting cover of ‘Proud Mary,’ ( Billboard Number 45- 1969) and it was he who introduced the song to Ike Turner,’The greatest thing I ever did was tell Ike Turner, “Hey man, you should get on this record … I think you and Tina could tear this thing up.” Ike Turner was not over keen on the song until he heard another cover version by ‘Checkmates, Ltd. Featuring Sonny Charles,’ (Billboard Number 69 & UK Number 30-1969) and it was on that versions arrangement that Ike Turner, along with the R&B drummer, who played live with the ‘Ike & Tina Turner Revue,’ Soko Richardson, based their rearrangement of ‘Proud Mary’ on. Ike & Tina Turner, along with the girls who danced and sang as ‘The Ikettes,’ would perform the song live several times, with it being the highlight of their show on many occasions. In 1993 Tina Turner (1939-2023) re-recorded ‘Proud Mary’ for her biographical film, and eighth solo studio Album ‘What’s Love Got to Do with It,’ the spoken male vocals on the track were provided by the American actor Laurence Fishburne.

The discography of Ike & Tina Turner included 22 studio Albums (including 2 reissues) released between 1961-1980, and 70 singles released between 1960-1985, there are also at least 31 official compilation Albums, eight live Albums, and two soundtrack Albums available. In America on the Billboard Hot 100, six of their singles have made the top 40, with ‘Proud Mary’ charting the highest, while in the UK, they have had four top 40 hits, with ‘River Deep – Mountain High,’ peaking the highest at Number 3 in 1966. For the solo discography of Tina Turner see best songs 485.

The narrator of ‘Proud Mary’ is a low wage earner, who leaves what they consider to be a ‘good job,’ to embark on a new life, where he/she starts out by hitching a ride on a riverboat queen, bidding farewell to the city. As the boat pulls away the narrator sees the ‘good side of the city’ for the first time from a distance, it is far removed from the experiences of their own life. Down the river the narrator is pleased to find that the people are generous and friendly, even so they have very little money themselves.

‘Left a good job in the city, workin’ for the man every night and day. And I never lost one minute of sleepin’ worryin’ ’bout the way things might have been. Big wheel keep on turnin’ Proud Mary keep on burnin’ Rollin’, rollin’, rollin’ on the river.’