Think of it as rock 'n' roll's original spoiler alert.
Sermonizing in her low, throaty croon as her husband Ike Turner strums an electric guitar, Tina Turner famously introduces the couple's indelible 1971 recording of "Proud Mary" by informing the listener, "Every now and then, I think you might like to hear something from us, nice and easy. There's just one thing," she adds. "You see, we never, ever" — in her telling, the words are more like "nevah, evah" — "do nothing nice and easy. We always do it nice and rough." Pause for effect. "But we're gonna take the beginning of this song and do it easy." Another beat.
"But then we're gonna do the finish … rough."
