River Deep – Mountain High

Phil Spector had seen the Ike & Tina Turner Revue perform at a club on the Sunset Strip and invited them to appear on The Big T.N.T. Show.{{Cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1985-03-01-8501120240-story.html|title=Tina Turner Stages a Rock-Solid Comeback|last=Loder|first=Kurt|date=March 1, 1985|website=Chicago Tribune}} Spector was impressed by Tina Turner and wanted to use her voice with the Wrecking Crew, and his "Wall of Sound" production technique. He went to the Turners' house, and struck a deal with Ike Turner to produce Tina. Ike agreed, but wanted the recordings to be credited to Ike & Tina Turner.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AtGGsfW10d0C&pg=PA209 |title=Tearing Down The Wall of Sound: The Rise And Fall of Phil Spector|author=Mick Brown |page=209 |publisher=A&C Black |date= October 17, 2012 |isbn=9781408819500}} At the time, they were signed to Loma Records (a subsidiary of Warner Bros.). Spector negotiated a deal with Ike & Tina Turner's manager Bob Krasnow, who was also head of Loma.{{Cite journal|date=April 23, 1966|title=Philips Signs Ike & Tina Turner|url=https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/60s/1966/CB|journal=Cash Box|pages=45}} He offered $20,000 (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|20000|1966|r=-3}} }} in {{Inflation/year|US}}) to have them released from their contract. After Mike Maitland (then president at Warner Bros.) gave them their release, they signed with Spector's Philles Records.{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/tales-of-ike-and-tina-turner-237489/|title=Tales of Ike and Tina Turner|last=Fong-Torres|first=Ben|date=October 14, 1971|magazine=Rolling Stone}}{{Cite journal|date=April 30, 1966|title=Ike & Tina To Philles|url=https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/60s/1966/CB-1966-04-30.pdf|journal=Cash Box|pages=56}}

"River Deep – Mountain High" was the first recording that Tina Turner did for Philles at Gold Star Studios. It was written by Phil Spector, Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich. The track cost a then unheard-of $22,000{{cite book|first=Mark |last=Bego|title=Tina Turner: Break Every Rule|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=egQHNLQqiBYC&pg=PA82|year=2005|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-1-58979-253-1|pages=82ff}} (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|22000|1966|r=-3}} }} in {{Inflation/year|US}}), and required 21 session musicians.

After several rehearsals, and two sessions for the musicians to lay down a backing track, Spector got Tina Turner into the studio on March 7, but she was unable to provide what he wanted. The following week she returned to the studio with Ike Turner.{{cite book|first=Mick |last=Brown|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AtGGsfW10d0C&pg=PA211|title=Tearing Down The Wall of Sound: The Rise And Fall of Phil Spector|date=17 October 2012|publisher=A&C Black|isbn=9781408819500|pages=211–212}} Due to Spector's perfectionism and tendency to abuse workers in the studio, he made her sing the song over and over for several hours until he felt he had the perfect vocal take for the song. She recalled, "I must have sung that 500,000 times. I was drenched with sweat. I had to take my shirt off and stand there in my bra to sing."{{cite web|url= https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/the-500-greatest-songs-of-all-time-20110407/ike-and-tina-turner-river-deep-mountain-high-20110525 |title= 500 Greatest Songs of All Time |work= Rolling Stone |date= 11 December 2003 |access-date= August 12, 2014}}

It was reported that the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson attended the session, where he sat "transfixed" and "did not say a word".{{cite journal|last=Kubernick|first=Harvey|title=Phil Spector, the musical legacy: Part three|journal=Goldmine|date=March 10, 2011|url=http://www.goldminemag.com/article/phil-spector-the-musical-legacy-part-three}}

When Spector inducted Ike & Tina Turner into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991, he revealed in his speech that he had invited Ike Turner to play guitar in the session for "River Deep – Mountain High", but Turner did not show up.{{Cite web|title=Phil Spector Inducts and Accepts for Ike & Tina Turner at the 1991 Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XnUhB9rgeM |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/_XnUhB9rgeM |archive-date=2021-12-21|url-status=live|website=YouTube| date=15 June 2020 }}{{cbignore}}{{better source needed|reason=user-generated content, YouTube is generally not reliable|date=March 2023}}

The recording of the song was later dramatized for Tina Turner's 1993 biographical film, What's Love Got to Do with It.

• Lead vocals: Tina Turner
• Background vocals: Darlene Love, Fanita James, Jean King, Gracia Nitzsche, Clydie King{{Cite book|last=Love|first=Darlene|url=https://archive.org/details/mynameislovedarl00love/page/100/mode/2up?q=grazia|title=My name is Love|date=1998|publisher=William Morrow and Co.|others=Internet Archive|isbn=978-0-688-15657-2|pages=100}}
• Composer lyricists: Phil Spector, Jeff Barry, and Ellie Greenwich
• Producer: Phil Spector
• Arranger: Jack Nitzsche
• Musicians: Leon Russell (keyboards), Michel Rubini (piano), Jim Horn (saxophone), Barney Kessel (guitar), Glen Campbell (guitar), Earl Palmer (drums), Carol Kaye (bass guitar), Frank Capp (percussion)

{{Music ratings|rev1=Record World|rev1Score={{Rating|4|4}}}}

Reviewing the single, Billboard wrote: "Exciting dance beat production backs a wailin' Tina vocal on a solid rock tune penned by Barry and Greenwich."{{Cite magazine|date=May 21, 1966|title=Spotlight Singles|url=https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Billboard/60s/1966/Billboard%201966-05-21.pdf|magazine=Billboard|pages=18}} Record World predicted that "this will be known as the classic Phil Spector record," stating that "everything goes on while Tina screams her love lyric."{{cite magazine|title=Single Picks of the Week|magazine=Record World|date=May 14, 1966|page=1|accessdate=2023-07-17|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Record-World/60s/66/RW-1966-05-14.pdf}} It entered the lower end of the Billboard Hot 100 and stopped at No. 88 on the pop chart. The disappointing chart performance resulted in the album being shelved in the US. Spector was so disillusioned that he ceased involvement in the recording industry totally for two years, and only intermittently returned to the studio after that. He effectively became a recluse and began to self-destruct.{{cite book |first=Michael |last=Billig |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yQHJC4F6zeUC&pg=PA110 |title=Rock 'n' roll Jews |page=110 |publisher=Syracuse University Press |access-date=2009-10-24 |isbn=9780815607052 |year=2001 }}

Ike Turner remarked that "if Phil had released the record and put anybody else's name on it, it would have been a huge hit. But because Tina Turner's name was on it, the white stations classified it an R&B record and wouldn't play it. The white stations say it was too black, and the black stations say it was too white, so that record didn't have a home."

Writer Michael Billig speculated that although earlier records which had mixed black singers with a white pop sound had sold well, by 1966 the black political movement was encouraging African Americans to take pride in their own culture, and "River Deep – Mountain High" was out of step with that movement.

The single, released on London Records in Europe, was a hit overseas. It peaked at No. 3 in the UK, No. 9 in the Netherlands, and it reached No. 1 in Spain.{{Cite web|url=https://los40.com/lista40/cuando_naciste/19661217|title=Cuando nací era número 1 de los 40: (1966-12-17) Ike & Tina Turner–River deep - Mountain high|last=LOS40|website=LOS40|language=es}}

George Harrison praised the record,{{cite web|url=https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc19772/m1/ |title=Show 21 – Forty Miles of Bad Road: Some of the best from rock 'n' roll's dark agesb|at=Part 2 |website=UNT Digital Library |access-date=2016-09-29}} declaring it "a perfect record from start to finish. You couldn't improve on it."{{cite book |last=Williams |first=Richard |title=Phil Spector: Out of His Head |pages=137–38 |publisher=Omnibus Press|location=London |isbn=9780711998643 |year=2003 }}{{cite book|last=Ribowsky|first=Mark|title=He's a Rebel: Phil Spector – Rock and Roll's Legendary Producer|year=2006|publisher=Da Capo Press|location=Cambridge, Massachusetts|isbn=978-0-306-81471-6 |page=250}}

After "River Deep – Mountain High" was revived by other bands, Ike & Tina Turner's original version was reissued by A&M Records in 1969.{{Cite magazine|date=October 4, 1969|title=Spotlight Singles: Top 60 Pop Spotlight|url=https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Billboard/60s/1969/BB-1969-10-04.pdf|magazine=Billboard|pages=88}} It has since gained the recognition Spector wanted for the record. Reviewing the single, Record World called it a "classic, perhaps the greatest single of all time."{{Cite journal|date=October 11, 1969|title=Singles Reviews|url=https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Record-World/60s/69/Record-World-1969-10-11.pdf|journal=Record World|pages=8}}

Ike & Tina Turner recorded different renditions of the song without Spector's "Wall of Sound" production style. A version on the 1973 album Nutbush City Limits was released as a single titled "River Deep, Mountain High 1974" on United Artists Records in France. Another version from an undetermined year was released on the 1991 compilation Proud Mary: The Best of Ike & Tina Turner.

Tina Turner recorded a few solo versions, in 1986, 1991 and 1993.{{citation needed|date=November 2014}} Tina included live performances on her albums, Tina Live in Europe and Tina Live.

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{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|type=single|artist=Ike & Tina Turner|title=River Deep Mountain High|award=Gold|relyear=2004|certyear=2023|id=16147-5162-1|access-date=August 17, 2023}}

{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true|noshipments=true|streaming=true}}

{{Infobox song

| name = River Deep – Mountain High

| cover = The Supremes & The Four Tops - River Deep, Mountain High.png

| alt =

| caption = 1970 Dutch single

| type = single

| artist = the Supremes and the Four Tops

| album = The Magnificent 7

| B-side = Together We Can Make Such Sweet Music

| released = 1970

| recorded =

| studio =

| genre = *Soul

• pop

| length = 3:13 (single version) 4:50 (album version)

| label = Motown Records

| writer = *Phil Spector

• Jeff Barry
• Ellie Greenwich

| producer = Ashford & Simpson

| chronology = The Supremes

| prev_title = Stoned Love

| prev_year = 1970

| next_title = Nathan Jones

| next_year = 1971

| misc = {{Extra chronology

| artist = The Four Tops

| type = Single

| prev_title = It's All in the Game

| prev_year = 1970

| title = River Deep – Mountain High

| year = 1970

| next_title = Just Seven Numbers (Can Straighten Out My Life)

| next_year = 1971

}}

}}

In 1970, their post-Diana Ross era, the Supremes and the Four Tops released a version. Produced by Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson, the single was one of several recordings that paired the two Motown groups. The Supremes and Four Tops cover, included on the 1970 LP The Magnificent 7, with its soaring vocals and string section, peaked at No. 7 on the soul chart and No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1971,{{cite book|title=Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004|last=Whitburn|first=Joel|publisher=Record Research|year=2004|page=558|author-link=Joel Whitburn}} making it the highest-charting version of the song in the United States. Their version also peaked No. 11 on the UK Singles Chart, No. 23 in Belgium, and No. 25 on Netherlands' MegaCharts.{{Cite web|title=The Supremes & The Four Tops - River Deep - Mountain High|url=https://dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?interpret=The+Supremes+%26+The+Four+Tops&titel=River+Deep+%2D+Mountain+High&cat=s|website=Dutch Charts}}

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A ten-minute version was recorded by Deep Purple for their 1968 album, The Book of Taliesyn. An edited version was released as a single in the United States and reached number 53 in early 1969 and number 42 on the Canadian RPM charts.{{citation needed|date=November 2014}} It had a progressive rock sound to it, as Deep Purple had not yet adopted the hard rock sound for which they are most famous.

Bob Seger put a live cover version of the song on his third album Mongrel (the last credited to the Bob Seger System).

Celine Dion covered the song on her 1996 album Falling Into You.{{cite web|first=Stephen Thomas |last=Erlewine |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/falling-into-you-mw0000647077 |title=Falling into You - Céline Dion | Songs, Reviews, Credits |website=AllMusic |access-date=2016-09-29|author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine }} At first, Phil Spector showed interest in producing the album track, but left the project; Jim Steinman took over as producer. Spector was unimpressed by Steinman's efforts, calling Steinman a "bad clone" of himself.{{Cite book|title=Phil Spector : sound of the Sixties|page=153 | last=MacLeod|first=Sean|isbn=9781442267053|location=Lanham, Maryland|oclc=982465319|year = 2018}} Dion had previously performed the song in some of her concerts, as included in her live album Live à Paris, recorded in 1995.{{cite web|first=Jose F. |last=Promis |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/live-%C3%A0-paris-mw0000528950 |title=Live à Paris - Céline Dion | Songs, Reviews, Credits |website=AllMusic |access-date=2016-09-29}}

Amber Riley and Naya Rivera covered the song on episode four ("Duets") of the second season of Fox television show Glee. Their version peaked at number 41 on the Billboard Hot 100.{{Cite magazine |last=tolsen |date=2013-01-02 |title=Billboard Hot 100 |url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100/2010-10-30/ |access-date=2023-02-20 |magazine=Billboard |language=en-US}}

Christina Aguilera performed the song at the 2021 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in tribute to Tina Turner.{{cite web |last=Bloom |first=Madison |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/watch-her-and-mickey-guyton-play-tina-turner-hits-at-rock-hall-2021/ |title=Watch H.E.R. and Mickey Guyton Play Tina Turner Hits at Rock Hall 2021 |publisher=Pitchfork |date=October 30, 2021}}

{{Reflist}}

64 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Innocents_(Erasure_album)

• [https://secondhandsongs.com/work/2138/versions#nav-entity List of cover versions of song]
• [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/soldonsong/songlibrary/riverdeep.shtml BBC.co.uk: Sold on Song - "River Deep - Mountain High"]
• [http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/music/story_behind/riverdeep.shtml Ralph MacLean]

{{Ike & Tina Turner}}

{{Phil Spector}}

{{Deep Purple}}

{{The Supremes}}

{{Four Tops}}

{{Four Tops singles}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:River Deep - Mountain High}}

Category:1966 songs

Category:1966 singles

Category:1968 singles

Category:1969 singles

Category:1970 singles

Category:1971 singles

Category:Ike & Tina Turner songs

Category:Songs written by Ellie Greenwich

Category:Songs written by Jeff Barry

Category:Songs written by Phil Spector

Category:Song recordings with Wall of Sound arrangements

Category:Song recordings produced by Phil Spector

Category:The Supremes songs

Category:Four Tops songs

Category:Tina Turner songs

Category:The Animals songs

Category:Deep Purple songs

Category:Song recordings produced by Tom Wilson (record producer)

Category:MGM Records singles

Category:Motown singles

Category:Philles Records singles

Category:A&M Records singles

Category:London Records singles

Category:Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients

Category:Number-one singles in Spain

Category:Songs about rivers

Category:Songs about mountains