A Back Man’s Soul is an instrumental funk and soul album, released with a b/w and colored cover. It contains songs written by Ike Turner, his St. Louis colleague Oliver Sain and some others. All tracks were recorded at various studios in the U.S. between tour dates. In addition to Ike on piano and guitar, also Billy Preston played piano. The album received a 4 star rating from Billboard in their issue from May 3, 1969 and earned Ike his first solo Grammy nomination in 1970. The album was originally released in 1969 from Pompeii Records in America. In England, it was first issued in 1975 under the different title Funky Mule and in Germany as Ike Turner & His Kings of Rhythm. In 2003, it was reissued on compact disc with four bonus tracks, including three with vocals from Tina. It's also part of the 3 CD box set The Complete Pompeii Recordings. The track Funky Mule was released as a single in 2015.
Producer: Ike Turner
Release: 1969 (USA) / 1975 (Europe) / Various (Reissue)
Label: Pompeii (USA) / DJM (UK) / Bellaphone (Germany) / Various (Reissue)
Format: Vinyl / Cartridge / CD
Grammy: Best R&B Instrumental Performance (Nomination 1970)
Tracks
- Thinking Black 2:41
- Black Beauty 2:28
- Ghetto Funk 2:31
- Black’s Alley 2:44
- Black Angel 3:13
- Getting Nasty 3:08
- Funky Mule 3:23
- Philly Dog 2:24
- Scotty Souling 2:59
- Up Hard 2:41
- Nuttin’ Up 2:27
- Freedom Sound 2:38
Thinking Black
was the only single from the album in 1969. It was reissued in 2020 as a limited edition Japanese vinyl single, including the original version and a more playful and funky remix from 'Conomark' on the flip side. The reissue includes a paper insert sheet that mimics the album cover.
- Thinking Black (Instrumental) 2:33
- Black Angel (Instrumental) 3:14
- Thinking Black (Original) 2:40
- Thinking Black (Conomark & Hong Kong Edit) 4:28
Writer: Ike Turner
Producer: Ike Turner
Release: 1969 / August 2020 (Reissue)
Remix: Conomark
Format: 7“ Vinyl