Ike Turner was a master of a variety of things that while useful in life ostensibly relegated him to being considered a bad guy. There’s not too much arguing to do on his part after the abuse – physical and mental – that he lavished upon Tina. But in addition to that problematic relationship, Ike was something of a manipulative business manager and band wrangler.

Being necessitated to maintain a backing group for Tina, his touring and recording dates, the Ikettes became something of an institution themselves. While the group was comprised of a never ending slew of female singers, the Ikettes, whoever they were, never received anything akin to proper financial compensation. Of course, in hindsight, Ike’s treatment of his singing group isn’t too surprising. And while that might be the case, it’s still a shame that these women never got too much scratch.

Since Ike wrote the lyrics and music for not just Tina and himself, but the solo recordings that the Ikettes would go in on, he owned the rights to the work in perpetuity. So even today when songs from the ‘60s by any of these young ladies are used or repressed for sale, Ike’s estate is the benefactor, not the vocalists.

While members of the Ikettes would come and go, a few eventually made inroads into the industry and wound up with some hits, but none as major and even memorable as the Ike and Tina Revue. That being said, a number of tunes credited to the Ikettes impacted the charts and made the female vocal group minor stars for a bit.

Collected on Soul The Hits are the chart topers as well as the lesser known tracks relegated to ‘bonus’ status tacked on to the end of the album.

The all too familiar “I’m So Thankful” leads the disc off. And while the traditional and sappy lyrics make up the majority of the album, there are some interesting production qualities here. The backing track actually comes off as something akin to the Beach Boys (or vice versa). But the persistent wood block clapping which functions to announce the 1234 of the song is a bit peculiar. And while the inclusion seems odd now, it fits perfectly into the Mowtown and Phil Spector styled stuffs that were popular at the time.

Even more memorable that that aforementioned track is the rave up on “Camel Walk.” At this late date, it’s probably a bit difficult to figure out where the title came from, but sets out some sort of intended dance craze. There’s no blatant explanation of the dance, but Ike’s guitar is all that’s needed to make the track work. Of course, the ladies’ voices are all beautifully arranged and recorded – the brief solos Ike reels off, though, are what made the track so popular in the first place and keeps it sounding as crisp today as fifty or so years back.

Soul the Hits has more than what’s just been recounted here. It’s not all perfect, but the top tier tracks are on par with anything that Tina’s worked out since splitting with good ole Ike.