Tina Turner – Proud Mary – 1982

“Proud Mary” is a song by American rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival, written by vocalist and lead guitarist John Fogerty.

In January 1971, Ike & Tina Turner released “Proud Mary” on Liberty Records as the second single from their 1970 album Workin’ Together. Their rendition differs greatly from the structure of the original, but is also well-known and became one of Tina Turner’s most recognizable signature songs.

This was a #4 hit in the US for Ike & Tina Turner in 1971, and a highlight of their live shows. Tina Turner recalled in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine in 1971 how they came to record this on their Workin’ Together album: “When we cut the album, we were lacking a few tunes, so we said ‘Well, let’s just put in a few things that we’re doing on stage. And that’s how ‘Proud Mary’ came about. I had loved it when it first came out. We auditioned a girl and she had sung ‘Proud Mary.’ This is like eight months later, and Ike said, ‘You know, I forgot all about that tune.’ And I said let’s do it, but let’s change it. So in the car Ike plays the guitar, we just sort of jam. And we just sort of broke into the black version of it. It was never planned to say, ‘Well, let’s go to the record shop, and I’d like to record this tune by Aretha Franklin’… it’s just that we get it for stage, because we give the people a little bit of us and a little bit of what they hear on the radio every day.”

The song continued to be an essential part of Tina’s performances as a solo artist. In 1988, a live version was included on the album Tina Live in Europe.

Tina Turner recorded a solo version for her 1993 album What’s Love Got To Do With It, which was the soundtrack to her biopic of the same name. In the film, it was lip-synced by Angela Bassett and Laurence Fishburne (who played Ike and Tina), but on the recording, Tina’s sax player Tim Cappello did Ike’s bass vocals. By recording her own version with no trace of Ike, it made sure he could not profit from its use in the film or soundtrack – an important distinction considering Tina’s accusations of spousal abuse.

When Tina performed the song live, she would usually do a variation on the spoken part, but without the male vocal.