CLICK HERE FOR BLOGGER TEMPLATES AND MYSPACE LAYOUTS »
The excitement of the stage is unlike anything else. There's the lights, and the crowds of fans. The traveling to new places, and meeting new people. Autographs that let you know you've finally hit the big time.

What about back stage? Are they anything like the public image they portray?If you've ever wondered what your favorite star is like behind the scenes, this is the site for you. Now you can learn secrets about your favorite entertainers, and learn about new ones too.

It is with great joy and happiness, that I bring you
'Off Stage Secrets.'

Monday, December 28, 2009

Black Angel Secrets



By: J.C. Martin

After being in bands for a number of years, and passing age 30, I decided to start a band with a young, female, lead singer. (as I thought that it would be easier to get a record deal this way). I had always been the lead singer and guitar player before, in my previous bands. I put the following advertisement in the Los Angeles Recycler......WANTED Janis Joplin, Tina Turner, Mick Jagger style, female, lead singer, for Santa Barbara based, Rolling Stones style, rock band. The ad came out on a Tuesday, and I received a call on a Wednesday.


The woman said that her name was Audrey Madison and, she thought that she could fit the bill perfectly. She told me that she was the lead singer in, Ike Turner and the Kings of Rhythm, and that they had just gotten off a tour of both Europe, and Japan, and that she wouldn't be touring again for at least a year. She told me to send her a tape, which I did the next day.


On Friday of the same week Audrey called and said that she loved the tape, and wanted to set a time to meet. I told her that Black Angel was going in the studio on the following Sunday. She said that her current boyfriend, a Nigerian attorney named Monday, went to the University of California at Santa Barbara, and he knew his way around Santa Barbara. I told her that we were recording at twelve noon.


At noon that Sunday Audrey and Monday showed up. I was going to record some guitar parts, but Audrey asked if she could sing instead. I had some extra vocal tracks so I said, "Yes". Audrey immediately laid down lead and back-up vocal tracks, on three songs, and she blew us all away. She could sing with a voice that was somewhere between that of Tina Turner, and Aretha Franklin.
 
We started rehearsing with Audrey, and she soon decided that she didn't like our temporary bass player, who was not only a mediocre player, but a pain in the ass. She asked if she could bring her own bass player.
 
The following week she showed up with a handsome, black guy, about six feet one, who was a real sharp dresser. She introduced him as Ronnie Turner. Before they left to go back to Los Angeles, after our rehearsal, Audrey told us that Ronnie was the son of Ike and Tina Turner...the only child that they had together (Tina had a son and Ike had two other sons with other partners).
 
Ronnie ended up being a great bass player and a really fun, unpretentious person. We played about fifteen shows together, and recorded on extended play album, before Audrey and Ronnie went back on the road with Ike. Audrey later married Ike Turner and was his wife when he died a couple of years ago.
 
In getting to know the Turners, we learned that Ike was not as bad as he was made out to be, and Tina was quite the angel that everyone, including Oprah Winfrey, thought she was. We found that Ike was a much better grandparent to Ronnie's two children, Randy and Raquel, than Tina was.
 
Ike also treated Ronnie's wife, Terana, a lot better than Tina did. Ike and Tina Turner had one of the greatest live acts in the history of rock 'n' roll. B. B. King says that Ike Turner was the best band leader that he ever saw. I have a lot more very specific stories that back up the fact that Ike Turner wasn't quite the monster that he is now viewed as being......When Ike was on drugs.....he WAS a monster. This is why Audrey left him about six months before he died. Anyway....that is ONE Black Angel war story. Have a fun New Years.


J. C. Martin

Black Angel

To learn more about Black Angel, and listen to their music
visit their Myspace Profile.