Tina Turner - Rough (1978)

“Rough” is Tina Turner's third solo album, released in September 1978, and the first solo album after her 1976 split with husband Ike Turner. Her first two solo albums, “Tina Turns the Country On!” (1974) and “Acid Queen” (1975), were recorded while she was still married to Ike Turner and also a member of the Ike and Tina Turner Revue. “Rough” would be the first album where there was no association with Ike Turner. The divorce proceedings between the Turners finally ended in 1978, the same year “Rough” was released, leaving Tina penniless - but with the legal right to still use her stage name Tina Turner.

The album was made up of rock songs, instead of the soul, bluesy, and R&B music that she typically had performed with the Revue. But the album was recorded at the height of the disco era and so shows influences from that genre. The opening track, "Fruits of the Night", for example, was co-written by Giorgio Moroder's longtime collaborator Pete Bellotte. Turner also included a cover of Bob Seger's "Fire Down Below", which was later covered again by Bette Midler for the 1979 movie The Rose. The album also includes Turner's first cover version of Elton John's "The Bitch Is Back", which she re-recorded in 1991 for the tribute album Two Rooms: Celebrating the Songs of Elton John & Bernie Taupin.

The album “Rough” along with its four singles, "Viva La Money", "Root Toot, Undisputable Rock & Roller", "Sometimes When We Touch" - a cover of Dan Hill's ballad - and "Night Time Is the Right Time", all had minor success on the charts. The album received no certifications. Just like the preceding Acid Queen, the album was an indication of the direction that Turner wanted to take her music; combining rock with elements of pop and R&B.

Track listing

01. "Fruits of the Night"   (Edo Zanki, Vilko Zanki, Pete Bellotte)  - 4:05
02. "The Bitch Is Back"   (Elton John, Bernie Taupin)  - 3:30
03. "The Woman I'm Supposed to Be"   (Cliff Wade)  - 3:10
04. "Viva La Money"   (Allen Toussaint)  - 3:14
05. "Funny How Time Slips Away"   (Willie Nelson)  - 4:08
06. "Earthquake & Hurricane"   (Willie Dixon)  - 2:30
07. "Root, Toot Undisputable Rock 'n Roller"   (George Jackson)  - 4:29
08. "Fire Down Below"   (Bob Seger)  - 3:13
09. "Sometimes When We Touch"   (Dan Hill, Barry Mann)  - 3:54
10. "A Woman In a Man's World"   (Archie Jordan, Hal David)  - 2:41
11. "Night Time Is the Right Time"   (Leroy Carr)  - 6:21

Credits
Tina Turner - vocals
Rick Kellis - horn, saxophone
Ken Moore - piano, background vocals
Airto Moreira - percussion
Dennis Belfield, Billy Haynes - bass
Michael Boddicker - synthesizer
Peter Bunetta, Ed Greene - drums
Al Ciner - acoustic guitar
Dennis Farias, Jeff Deane - horn
Lenny Macaluso - electric guitar
Bill Oz - harmonica
Ron Stockert - synthesizer, clavinet
Mary Russell, Maxayn Lewis, Deborah Lindsey, Venetta Fields, Denise Echols, Julia Tillman Waters, Stephanie Spruill, Michael Stephenson, Tony Walthers , Marsha Thacker - background vocals
W.D. Smith - Hammond organ
Producer - Bob Monaco

Notes
Genre: Rock, folk rock, pop rock, country, soul, gospel, pop, R&B
Length: 41:37
Label: United Artists, EMI

© 1978