Tina Turner turns a Stones classic into pure controlled fire
The one and only pioneer Tina Turner is our Woman Crush Wednesday. It’s her tearing through a Rolling Stones classic in 1971 that has our dance tails spinning.
On February 27, 1971, Ike & Tina Turner hit the West German music program Beat-Club and delivered one of their highest-energy covers: “Honky Tonk Women.” Tina takes command almost immediately, pushing the song away from the Stones’ loose barroom swagger and into the harder-driving soul-rock force that made the Ike & Tina Turner Revue such a ferocious live act.
And this was not a one-song drop-in. That Beat-Club appearance also included “I Want to Take You Higher,” “River Deep – Mountain High” and “Proud Mary,” turning the television set into something much closer to a full-scale revue than a polite promotional stop.
music
Tina Turner Takes On The Rolling Stones
A 1971 Beat-Club performance catches Tina Turner turning “Honky Tonk Women” into a charging soul-rock workout.
Some links may be affiliate links. INYIM may earn from qualifying purchases.
“Honky Tonk Women” Was Already a Stones Giant
The Rolling Stones originally released “Honky Tonk Women” in July 1969, written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards and produced by Jimmy Miller. The single went to No. 1 on both sides of the Atlantic, but Tina does not approach it like a museum piece. The song becomes something more physical in her hands — less smirk, more stomp.
Tina Does Not Cover the Song — She Rewires It
That is the pleasure of watching this one now. Tina’s performance style was already fully formed: the explosive movement, the rasp that could cut straight through a band, and the ability to make a borrowed song sound like it had been waiting around for her to arrive.
Ike & Tina Turner would keep “Honky Tonk Women” in their live repertoire, including a version captured later that year on What You Hear Is What You Get: Live at Carnegie Hall. But the Beat-Club performance has its own electricity — compact, fast and made for television without ever feeling contained by it.
Woman Crush Wednesday officially belongs to Tina. One microphone, one Rolling Stones classic, and enough movement to make standing still feel completely unreasonable.
Watch Tina Turner Perform “Honky Tonk Women” on Beat-Club
Ike & Tina Turner performed the Rolling Stones classic on Beat-Club in West Germany on February 27, 1971.
Don’t have TikTok? Watch on IG.
Sources: Beat-Club; The Rolling Stones; Apple Music.
