After the release of "
Rocket 88" in 1951, Ike Turner became a
session musician and
production assistant for the
Bihari brothers at
Modern Records. They also contracted him as a talent scout to exploit his connections in the
Delta Blues scene. Unaware of
songwriter's royalties, Turner was also paid to write new material which they copyrighted under their own names. A majority of the tracks on
Rocks The Blues were written by Turner, but credited to him and the Bihari brothers. The Biharis were not songwriters, they used
pseudonyms for songwriting credits: Julius Bihari was credited as Jules Taub, Joseph Bihari as Joe Josea, and Saul Bihari as Sam Ling. The album starts off with the
blues rock instrumental "Hey Miss Tina" and culminates with a nearly 9-minute blues medley titled "All the Blues, All the Time" for the closing song.
Dennis Binder is the lead vocalist on "I Miss You So" (originally released on Modern 930 in 1954) and "Nobody Wants Me." "Cubano Jump" (1040A), "Loosely" (1040B), "Cuban Getaway" (1059A), and "Go To It" (1059B) which were originally released on
Flair Records in 1954, have a different title on this album. "The Way You Used to Treat Me" was originally released on RPM 409 in 1954, credited to Ike's alias "Lover Boy".
Rocks The Blues was released on Crown Records, a
subsidiary of Modern Records. By the time the album was released in 1963, Turner had already had a string of hit records as half of the R&B duo
Ike & Tina Turner. == Reissues ==