Tina Turner

October 27, 2003
This serviceable look at rock diva Turner is the latest in more than 40 celebrity bios ranging from the sublime (Madonna: Blonde Ambition
) to the ridiculous (Ice Ice Ice: The Extraordinary Vanilla Ice Story
) written by Bego over the last 20 years. What he offers that many seemingly glossy bios don't is a sincere enthusiasm for his subject and a willingness to go beyond summarizing news clips to provide uncritical fans with something more for their money, even if he sometimes gets too enthusiastic ("It is impossible not to notice that everything about Tina Turner exudes class and refinement"). Bego covers much of the same ground as the singer's autobiography I, Tina
, the definitive look at the star's stormy career with abusive husband Ike up to and through her 1980s comeback. But Bego offers some good historical and musical detail not found in Turner's book: he injects key quotes from Ike Turner, adding another layer to his clearly horrible treatment of Tina, and analyzes the Turners' various record deals with small labels like Kent Records in the 1960s to show the extent to which Tina was overworked and underpaid. He brings the same level of attention to Turner's post-comeback work in the '90s, although he doesn't go much beyond listing impressive box-office records and quoting the singer's own professions of happiness. What makes the book stand out is an impressive discography—more than 30 pages that make sense of Turner's recording career in the '60s, when Ike Turner "would accept overlapping advances from other labels."