''Soul The Hits'' is the debut album by American

girl group A girl group is a music act featuring several female singers who generally harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female pop music singing groups, many of who ...

the Ikettes The Ikettes, originally The Artettes, were a trio (sometimes quartet) of female backing vocalists for the Ike & Tina Turner Revue. Despite their origins, the Ikettes became successful artists in their own right. In the 1960s they had hits such as ...

, released on

Modern Records Modern Records (Modern Music Records before 1947) was an American record company and label formed in 1945 in Los Angeles by the Bihari brothers. Modern's artists included Etta James, Joe Houston, Little Richard, Ike & Tina Turner and John Lee ...

in 1966.

Background

In 1960,

Ike Turner Izear Luster "Ike" Turner Jr. (November 5, 1931 – December 12, 2007) was an American musician, bandleader, songwriter, record producer, and talent scout. An early pioneer of 1950s rock and roll, he is best known for his work in the 1960s and 1 ...

wrote "

A Fool in Love "A Fool in Love" is the debut single by Ike & Tina Turner. It was released on Sue Records in 1960. The song is Tina Turner's first professional release although she had been recording with Ike Turner and his Kings of Rhythm since 1958. It was the f ...

" for singer

Art Lassiter Arthur Lassiter (January 27, 1928 – August 4, 1994) was an American singer, known for his work with Ike Turner. Early life Lassiter was born in 1928 in North Carolina. His parents were cotton sharecroppers, and Lassiter began singing after j ...

. When Lassiter failed to show up for the recording session at

Technisonic Studios Technisonic Studios was a production company in St Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1929, it was the largest and oldest production facility in St. Louis, used to shoot feature films and television commercials. It contained a recording studio where Ike ...

, Turner had Lassiter's backup singers, the Artettes (

Robbie Montgomery Robbie Montgomery (born June 16, 1940) is an American singer and restaurateur. She is noted for being one of the original Ikettes in the Ike & Tina Turner Revue in the 1960s. After her tenure as an Ikette, she was a member of the Mirettes, and t ...

, Frances Hodges, and Sandra Harding) accompany

Tina Turner Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939) is an American-born Swiss retired singer and actress. Widely referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", she rose to prominence as the lead singer o ...

on the recording. After the single became a hit, Ike Turner formed the

Ike & Tina Turner Ike & Tina Turner were an American musical duo consisting of husband and wife Ike Turner and Tina Turner. From 1960 to 1976, they performed live as the Ike & Tina Turner Revue, supported by Ike Turner's band the Kings of Rhythm and backing vocal ...

Revue which included a trio of backing vocalist called the Ikettes. The first set of Ikettes to tour with the Revue were different from the trio on the recording. Hodges and Harding remained with Lassiter, and Montgomery was pregnant and unable to tour. Montgomery joined the Revue shortly after having her baby. The lineup went through many changes, but by 1964, the consistent set of Ikettes were Robbie Montgomery, Jessie Smith and

Venetta Fields Venetta Lee Fields (born 1941) is an American-born singer, musical theater actress and vocal coach. She was a backing vocalist for American and British rock and pop acts of the 1960s and 1970s, including Ike & Tina Turner, Pink Floyd, Humble ...

who are pictured on the cover of ''Soul The Hits''.

Singles

The album contains six previously released singles. The first single "Camel Walk" reached No. 107 on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'''s

Bubbling Under The Hot 100 Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...

. Their second single, "Peaches 'N' Cream" became the biggest hit for the Ikettes since "

I'm Blue (The Gong-Gong Song) "I'm Blue (The Gong-Gong Song)" is a song written by Ike Turner and recorded by Ike & Tina Turner's backing trio The Ikettes in 1961. In 2017, ''Billboard'' ranked the song No. 63 on their list of 100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time. Overv ...

" in 1961. It peaked at No. 36 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and No. 28 on the

R&B chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

. The follow-up "(He's Gonna Be) Fine, Fine, Fine" reached No. 125 on Bubbling Under The Hot 100. The next single, "I'm So Thankful," was an R&B hit (No. 74 Pop, No. 12 R&B). "(Never More) Lonely For You" reached No. 122 on Bubbling Under The Hot 100. By the time the last single, "Not That I Recall," was released in 1966, Montgomery, Smith, and Fields had left the Revue to form The Mirettes.

Reissues

In 2007, ''Soul The Hits'' was reissued on CD with 17 additional tracks by

P-Vine Records P-Vine Records is an independent record label based in Tokyo, Japan. History It was started in 1976 by Blues Interactions, a firm founded in 1975 by Yasufumi Higurashi and Akira Kochi, as a record label focused on black music. The label name c ...

(catalog no. PCD-93060).

Track listing

References

{{Authority control 1966 debut albums Modern Records albums Albums produced by Ike Turner The Ikettes albums