A sonic exploration and tonal analysis of contemporary creative music in a myriad of improvisational/composed settings, textures, and expressions.
Welcome to Sound Projections
I'm your host Kofi Natambu. This online magazine features the very best in contemporary creative music in this creative timezone NOW (the one we're living in) as well as that of the historical past. The purpose is to openly explore, examine, investigate, reflect on, studiously critique, and take opulent pleasure in the sonic and aural dimensions of human experience known and identified to us as MUSIC. I'm also interested in critically examining the wide range of ideas and opinions that govern our commodified notions of the production, consumption, marketing, and commercial exchange of organized sound(s) which largely define and thereby (over)determine our present relationships to music in the general political economy and culture.
Thus this magazine will strive to critically question and go beyond the conventional imposed notions
and categories of what constitutes the generic and stylistic definitions of ‘Jazz’, ‘classical music’, ‘Blues.’
'Rhythm and Blues’, ‘Rock and Roll’, ‘Pop’, ‘Funk’, ‘Hip Hop’, etc. in order to search for what individual
artists and ensembles do cretively to challenge and transform our ingrained ideas and attitudes of what
music is and could be.
So please join me in this ongoing visceral, investigative, and cerebral quest to explore, enjoy, and pay
homage to the endlessly creative and uniquely magisterial dimensions of MUSIC in all of its guises and expressive identities.
Saturday, January 9, 2016
ETTA JAMES (1938-2012): Legendary, iconic, and innovative singer, songwriter, composer, arranger, producer, ensemble leader and teacher
“A lot of people think the blues is depressing,” she told The Los Angeles Times in 1992, “but that’s not the blues I’m singing. When I’m singing blues, I’m singing life. People that can’t stand to listen to the blues, they’ve got to be phonies.”
--Etta James
ETTA JAMES
1938-2012
All,
This woman was the absolute greatest blues singer of the past half century and one of the most profound, mesmerizing and enduring artists in U.S. history. It's hard to know where to properly begin with such an iconic and legendary figure whose work is as inspiring, influential, and significant to any true understanding and appreciation of 20th century popular song as Etta James. A pure and towering musical force of nature, Ms. James's extraordinary and endlessly expressive voice, profound depth of feeling and emotion, and an enormous musical and vocal range encompassed every single major creative tradition in African American culture from blues and Gospel to R & B, Rock and Roll, and Jazz. As one of the immortal titans of our music and songcraft Etta, like so many other legendary black female GIANTS who happened to be Ms. James's contemporaries and elders (Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Betty Carter, Abbey Lincoln, Nina Simone, Dinah Washington, Aretha Franklin, Mavis Staples, Clara Ward, Mahalia Jackson, Alberta Hunter, Bessie Smith, Victoria Spivey, et al ) completely revolutionized the genre of vernacular and popular song and made it into one of the greatest, inspiring, and most beloved artforms of our epoch.
So thank you Ms. Etta James for sending any and everyone who was fortunate enough to hear your incredibly moving and arresting voice into sheer ectasy. Like so many other couples throughout the globe my wife and I was blessed to have your ever enduring classic song "At Last" grace our wedding. And while Beyonce did an adequate job covering what was indisputably your song at the inauguration of President and First Lady Barack and Michelle Obama in 2009, EVERYBODY with ears to hear in the world KNOWS that your eternally captivating version of that song could never possibly be approached let alone duplicated by ANYONE on this planet. Rest in Peace sister. You changed the world with your voice and spirit and we who hyave been privileged to hear and embrace it will always be eternally grateful that you came along to show us what great art and great singing was REALLY all about. The following outpouring of words, sounds, and video is a humble tribute to that beautiful, very powerful, and haunting legacy that you've left us and will never be eclipsed. You were a national treasure Etta. Thank You...
Kofi
Etta James Dies at 73; Voice Behind ‘At Last
By PETER KEEPNEWS
January 20, 2012
New York Times
Etta James in the studio in Chicago with the Chess Records founder Phil Chess, left, and the producer Ralph Bass in 1960.Credit
via Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Etta James, whose powerful, versatile and emotionally direct voice could enliven the raunchiest blues as well as the subtlest love songs, most indelibly in her signature hit, “At Last,” died on Friday morning in Riverside, Calif. She was 73.
Her manager, Lupe De Leon, said that the cause was complications of leukemia. Ms. James, who died at Riverside Community Hospital, had been undergoing treatment for some time for a number of conditions, including leukemia and dementia. She also lived in Riverside.
Ms. James was not easy to pigeonhole. She is most often referred to as a rhythm and blues singer, and that is how she made her name in the 1950s with records like “Good Rockin’ Daddy.” She is in both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Blues Hall of Fame.
She was also comfortable, and convincing, singing pop standards, as she did in 1961 with “At Last,” which was written in 1941 and originally recorded by Glenn Miller’s orchestra. And among her four Grammy Awards (including a lifetime-achievement honor in 2003) was one for best jazz vocal performance, which she won in 1995 for the album “Mystery Lady: Songs of Billie Holiday.”
Regardless of how she was categorized, she was admired. Expressing a common sentiment, Jon Pareles of The New York Times wrote in 1990 that she had “one of the great voices in American popular music, with a huge range, a multiplicity of tones and vast reserves of volume.”
For all her accomplishments, Ms. James had an up-and-down career, partly because of changing audience tastes but largely because of drug problems. She developed a heroin habit in the 1960s; after she overcame it in the 1970s, she began using cocaine. She candidly described her struggles with addiction and her many trips to rehab in her autobiography, “Rage to Survive,” written with David Ritz (1995).
Etta James was born Jamesetta Hawkins in Los Angeles on Jan. 25, 1938. Her mother, Dorothy Hawkins, was 14 at the time; her father was long gone, and Ms. James never knew for sure who he was, although she recalled her mother telling her that he was the celebrated pool player Rudolf Wanderone, better known as Minnesota Fats. She was reared by foster parents and moved to San Francisco with her mother when she was 12.
She began singing at the St. Paul Baptist Church in Los Angeles at 5 and turned to secular music as a teenager, forming a vocal group with two friends. She was 15 when she made her first record, “Roll With Me Henry,” which set her own lyrics to the tune of Hank Ballard and the Midnighters’ recent hit “Work With Me Annie.” When some disc jockeys complained that the title was too suggestive, it was changed to “The Wallflower,” although the record itself was not.
“The Wallflower” rose to No. 2 on the rhythm-and-blues charts in 1954. As was often the case in those days with records by black performers, a toned-down version was soon recorded by a white singer and found a wider audience: Georgia Gibbs’s version, with the title and lyric changed to “Dance With Me, Henry,” was a No. 1 pop hit in 1955. (Its success was not entirely bad news for Ms. James. She shared the songwriting royalties with Mr. Ballard and the bandleader and talent scout Johnny Otis, who had arranged for her recording session. Mr. Otis died on Tuesday.)
In 1960 Ms. James was signed by Chess Records, the Chicago label that was home to Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters and other leading lights of black music. She quickly had a string of hits, including “All I Could Do Was Cry,” “Trust in Me” and “At Last,” which established her as Chess’s first major female star.
She remained with Chess well into the 1970s, reappearing on the charts after a long absence in 1967 with the funky and high-spirited “Tell Mama.” In the late ’70s and early ’80s she was an opening act for the Rolling Stones.
After decades of touring, recording for various labels and drifting in and out of the public eye, Ms. James found herself in the news in 2009 after Beyoncé Knowles recorded a version of “At Last” closely modeled on hers. (Ms. Knowles played Ms. James in the 2008 movie “Cadillac Records,” a fictionalized account of the rise and fall of Chess.) Ms. Knowles also performed “At Last” at an inaugural ball for President Obama in Washington.
When the movie was released, Ms. James had kind words for Ms. Knowles’s portrayal. But in February 2009, referring specifically to the Washington performance, she told an audience, “I can’t stand Beyoncé,” and threatened to “whip” the younger singer for doing “At Last.” She later said she had been joking, but she did add that she wished she had been invited to sing the song herself for the new president.
Ms. James’s survivors include her husband of 42 years, Artis Mills; two sons, Donto and Sametto James; and four grandchildren.
Though her life had its share of troubles to the end — her husband and sons were locked in a long-running battle over control of her estate, which was resolved in her husband’s favor only weeks before her death — Ms. James said she wanted her music to transcend unhappiness rather than reflect it.
“A lot of people think the blues is depressing,” she told The Los Angeles Times in 1992, “but that’s not the blues I’m singing. When I’m singing blues, I’m singing life. People that can’t stand to listen to the blues, they’ve got to be phonies.”
https://rockhall.com/inductees/etta-james/bio/ ETTA JAMES: 1938-2012 ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME Jerry Wexler, Atlantic Records’ legendary producer, describes Etta James as “the greatest of all modern blues singers...the undisputed Earth Mother.” Her raw, unharnessed vocals and hot-blooded eroticism has made disciples of singers ranging from Janis Joplin to Bonnie Raitt. James’ pioneering 1950s hits - “The Wallflower” and “Good Rockin’ Daddy” - assure her place in the early history of rock and roll alongside Little Richard, Chuck Berry and Ray Charles. In the Sixties, as a soulful singer of pop and blues diva compared with the likes of Dinah Washington and Billie Holiday, James truly found her musical direction and made a lasting mark.
James was born Jamesetta Hawkins in Los Angeles in 1938. Though brought up in the church, she was drawn to rhythm & blues and rock and roll, and by her midteens had formed a vocal trio that worked up an answer song to Hank Ballard’s “Work With Me Annie” entitled “Roll With Me Henry.” The trio caught the attention of bandleader Johnny Otis, who recorded “Roll With Me Henry,” which was retitled “The Wallflower” and topped the R&B chart for four weeks in 1955. James toured the R&B circuit with Otis and other artists and recorded for Modern Records until 1958.
It was at the Chicago-based Chess label (where she recorded for Chess and its Argo and Cadet subsidiaries) that she molded her identity as a singer of both modern blues and pop-R&B ballads. She was signed by Leonard Chess in 1960 and had her talent nurtured by producer Ralph Bass and mentor Harvey Fuqua (of the Moonglows). James crossed over to the pop market as an interpreter of soulful, jazz-tinged ballads such as “All I Could Do Was Cry,” “My Dearest Darling,” “Trust in Me” and “Don’t Cry, Baby,” which she sang without sacrificing her bluesy and churchy vocal mannerisms. In the late Sixties, she adapted a grittier Southern-soul edge, cutting “Tell Mama” and “I’d Rather Go Blind,” which remain among the most incendiary vocal performances of the era. All totaled, James launched thirty singles onto the R&B singles chart and placed a respectable nine of them in the pop Top Forty as well.
For much of her career James battled heroin addiction, which has added to her aura as a survivor. A cleaned-up James made a successful comeback in the Seventies, re-signing with Chess in 1973 and opening for the Rolling Stones in 1978. In 1984, James sang “When the Saints Go Marching In” at the opening of the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, and through the late Eighties and Nineties remained active on the touring and recording fronts, cutting the Grammy-nominated albums Seven Year Itch in 1988 and Stickin’ to My Guns in 1990, and reuniting with Jerry Wexler to record 1992’s The Right Time with the simpatico Southern-soul musicians at Muscle Shoals Recording Studios. In 1993, James was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and a year later she recorded Mystery Lady: Songs of Billie Holiday for the Private Music label. The tribute album earned James a Grammy Award, and she recorded more than half a dozen albums for Private through 2003, including Love's Been Rough on Me, Matriarch of the Blues and Let's Roll. The Dreamer appeared in November 2011. James passed away on January 20, 2012 at age 73.
Few female R&B stars enjoyed the kind of consistent acclaim Etta James received throughout a career that spanned six decades; the celebrated producer Jerry Wexler once called her "the greatest of all modern blues singers," and she recorded a number of enduring hits, including "At Last," "Tell Mama," "I'd Rather Go Blind," and "All I Could Do Was Cry." At the same time, despite possessing one of the most powerful voices in music, James only belatedly gained the attention of the mainstream audience, appearing rarely on the pop charts despite scoring 30 R&B hits, and she lived a rough-and-tumble life that could have inspired a dozen soap operas, battling drug addiction and bad relationships while outrunning a variety of health and legal problems.
Etta James was born Jamesetta Hawkins in Los Angeles, California on January 25, 1938; her mother was just 14 years old at the time, and she never knew her father, though she would later say she had reason to believe he was the well-known pool hustler Minnesota Fats. James was raised by friends and relatives instead of her mother through most of her childhood, and it was while she was living with her grandparents that she began regularly attending a Baptist church. James' voice made her a natural for the choir, and despite her young age she became a soloist with the group, and appeared with them on local radio broadcasts. At the age of 12, after the death of her foster mother, James found herself living with her mother in San Francisco, and with little adult supervision, she began to slide into juvenile delinquency. But James' love of music was also growing stronger, and with a pair of friends she formed a singing group called the Creolettes. The girls attracted the attention of famed bandleader Johnny Otis, and when he heard their song "Roll with Me Henry" -- a racy answer song to Hank Ballard's infamous "Work with Me Annie" -- he arranged for them to sign with Modern Records, and the Creolettes cut the tune under the name the Peaches (the new handle coming from Etta's longtime nickname). "Roll with Me Henry," renamed "The Wallflower," became a hit in 1955, though Georgia Gibbs would score a bigger success with her cover version, much to Etta's dismay. After charting with a second R&B hit, "Good Rockin' Daddy," the Peaches broke up and James stepped out on her own.
James' solo career was a slow starter, and she spent several years cutting low-selling singles for Modern and touring small clubs until 1960, when Leonard Chess signed her to a new record deal. James would record for Chess Records and its subsidiary labels Argo and Checker into the late '70s and, working with producers Ralph Bass and Harvey Fuqua, she embraced a style that fused the passion of R&B with the polish of jazz, and scored a number of hits for the label, including "All I Could Do Was Cry," "My Dearest Darling," and "Trust in Me." While James was enjoying a career resurgence, her personal life was not faring as well; she began experimenting with drugs as a teenager, and by the time she was 21 she was a heroin addict, and as the '60s wore on she found it increasingly difficult to balance her habit with her career, especially as she clashed with her producers at Chess, fought to be paid her royalties, and dealt with a number of abusive romantic relationships. James' career went into a slump in the mid-'60s, but in 1967 she began recording with producer Rick Hall at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama and, adopting a tougher, grittier style, she bounced back onto the R&B charts with the tunes "Tell Mama" and "I'd Rather Go Blind."
In the early '70s, James had fallen off the charts again, her addiction was raging, and she turned to petty crime to support her habit. She entered rehab on a court order in 1973, the same year she recorded a rock-oriented album, Only a Fool, with producer Gabriel Mekler. Through most of the '70s, a sober James got by touring small clubs and playing occasional blues festivals, and she recorded for Chess with limited success, despite the high quality of her work. In 1978, longtime fans the Rolling Stones paid homage to James by inviting her to open some shows for them on tour, and she signed with Warner Bros., cutting the album Deep in the Night with producer Jerry Wexler. While the album didn't sell well, it received enthusiastic reviews and reminded serious blues and R&B fans that James was still a force to be reckoned with. By her own account, James fell back into drug addiction after becoming involved with a man with a habit, and she went back to playing club dates when and where she could until she kicked again thanks to a stay at the Betty Ford Center in 1988. That same year, James signed with Island Records and cut a powerful comeback album, Seven Year Itch, produced by Barry Beckett of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section. The album sold respectably and James was determined to keep her career on track, playing frequent live shows and recording regularly, issuing Stickin' to My Guns in 1990 and The Right Time in 1992.
In 1994, a year after she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, James signed to the Private Music label, and recorded Mystery Lady: Songs of Billie Holiday, a tribute to the great vocalist she had long cited as a key influence; the album earned Etta her first Grammy Award. The relationship with Private Music proved simpatico, and between 1995 and 2003 James cut eight albums for the label, while also maintaining a busy touring schedule. In 2003, James published an autobiography, Rage to Survive: The Etta James Story, and in 2008 she was played onscreen by modern R&B diva Beyoncé Knowles in Cadillac Records, a film loosely based on the history of Chess Records. Knowles recorded a faithful cover of "At Last" for the film's soundtrack, and later performed the song at Barack Obama's 2009 inaugural ball; several days later, James made headlines when during a concert she said "I can't stand Beyoncé, she had no business up there singing my song that I've been singing forever." (Later the same week, James told The New York Times that the statement was meant to be a joke -- "I didn't really mean anything...even as a little child, I've always had that comedian kind of attitude" -- but she was saddened that she hadn't been invited to perform the song.)
In 2010, James was hospitalized with MRSA-related infections, and it was revealed that she had received treatment for dependence on painkillers and was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, which her son claimed was the likely cause of her outbursts regarding Knowles. James released The Dreamer, for Verve Forecast in 2011. She claimed it was her final album of new material. Etta James was diagnosed with terminal leukemia later that year, and died on January 20, 2012 in Riverside, California at the age of 73.
She was so much more than “At Last.’’ And yet for most people, Etta James is forever linked entirely to that incredible song.
I
was reminded of this when the R&B singer, who also sang blues,
rock, and jazz, died Friday at 73 of leukemia, in Riverside, Calif. An
informal office poll revealed what I suspected: The casual fan could
sing a refrain from “At Last’’ but failed to name another hit associated
with James.
Of course, if you’re going to get saddled with a signature song, “At
Last’’ is a pretty great one, a tender ballad tailor-made for slow
dances, wedding receptions, and other Kodak moments.
Dig a little
deeper, though, and you realize that Etta James in full splendor was
simply breathtaking. She could stop your heart with the way she turned a
phrase or set your feet in motion with her rhythm. Dialed down or at
full throttle, James always made you wonder how she channeled that vast
well of emotion. To see and hear what I’m talking about, go to YouTube and find the
video of James singing “I’d Rather Go Blind’’ in 1987 in a duet with Dr.
John. (You want the 5:54 clip; the quality is better.) The original
version appeared as a simmering ballad on 1968’s “Tell Mama,’’ but
nearly 20 years later, James was still feeling her way around it.
The live performance is brutal, a storm of laidback blues and
thunderous notes, and as raw as if the song’s betrayal had happened just
earlier that evening. James punishes that microphone until you pity it.
At one point she begins to pounce on the word “baby,’’ booming its
syllables like they’re meant to sound like gunfire.
Dr. John
eventually saunters over from his piano, looking like a dog that’s just
peed on the rug. He’s supposed to appease James for stepping out on her -
“It wasn’t nothin’ serious / I guess I was just a little delirious’’ -
but even he knows it’s in vain. Hell hath no fury like this particular
woman scorned.
At the end of the performance, James embraces Dr. John, her head
resting on his shoulder, and I like to imagine James is thinking what
I’m thinking: Where the hell did that just come from?
In just six
minutes, that, to me, is the essence of Etta James. I’ve never seen
anything like it before or since. You didn’t need to read her harrowing
1995 autobiography, “Rage to Survive,’’ to know she struggled through a
troubled childhood, abusive men, stints in jail, and addictions to
heroin and cocaine. All that turmoil was right there in the grooves of
her records, in that great big voice that could howl like a feral
animal.
She had that intensity from the start, and her influence
on other singers was immediate, with everyone from Aretha Franklin to
Janis Joplin professing their admiration. More recently her fans have
included Adele, Christina Aguilera, and Beyoncé.
They have all
carried her torch, and James was indeed acclaimed in her lifetime, but I
suspect her legacy will only grow in the wake of her passing. Her
catalog - which is dense with detours into sweet pop songs, blistering
R&B, Southern soul, gritty funk, and dusky jazz - is ripe for
rediscovery. Every year I pick up an album I haven’t heard. As recently
as two weeks ago, I bought “Losers Weepers,’’ a soul classic from 1970
that’s the most gripping thing I’ve heard so far this year.
James
was the rare artist who, long after her commercial peak in the ’60s,
still made terrific albums that are overlooked today. Like Nina Simone
and Johnny Cash, James turned out at least one masterpiece every decade,
right until the end.
She steeped herself in the blues starting in
the ’90s and then began interpreting pop and rock songs on later
releases. (The novelty of James singing Prince’s “Purple Rain’’ is
better than you might expect.)
Aside from maybe “At Last,’’ you
don’t hear James on the radio anymore. But you do hear her legacy on
pretty much every station. Our culture still values her brand of singing
from not just the heart, but the gut.
It’s become the standard
for our pop stars, in particular. When Adele goes in for those big money
notes on “Rolling in the Deep,’’ you know the British singer grew up
idolizing James. When an “American Idol’’ hopeful belts a ballad to the
balcony (sometimes “At Last,’’ by the way), Etta is in the details.
Aguilera,
though, has been the most exemplary disciple of James’s
burn-the-house-down singing style. Aguilera once called James her
“all-time favorite singer’’ and routinely cited her as a major
influence. That devotion came full circle in the 2010 film “Burlesque,’’
in which Aguilera’s character has her first showstopper with a brassy
rendition of “Something’s Got a Hold on Me,’’ an early hit for James. Even
when she was releasing new music, in recent years you tended to hear
about James for the wrong reasons. Initially she played nice with
Beyoncé, who clearly adores James and portrayed her lovingly in the 2008
movie “Cadillac Records.’’ But when Beyoncé performed “At Last’’ at
President Obama’s inaugural ball, James was incensed that someone else
would cover her song. Her sniping spilled over into her concerts around
that time, too.
I regret that I never saw James perform live, but I
heard that her last show in Boston, in 2009 at the House of Blues, was
James at her finest, which is to say N-A-S-T-Y. Even at 71 and in
diminished health, she was grinding on stage, rubbing herself when a coy
lyric called for it, and generally not acting her age.
That was
Etta - invested in the song, in what it meant to her, and in how she
could express that to the audience. If she charmed you with “At Last,’’
she could just as easily make you blush or stagger with awe with
everything in its wake.
Etta James onstage at the 2009 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. Rick Diamond/Getty Images
Etta James, the legendary vocalist who is perhaps best known for her version of the song "At Last," has died. She was 73.
In 1994, James joined Fresh Air's Terry Gross for a conversation about her life and her lengthy career in the music business. James explained that she got her big break at 16 when her doo-wop group auditioned for the late Johnny Otis one night in San Francisco. Otis liked their singing and invited James and her two friends to Los Angeles to make a record.
"But I knew my mother wasn't going to let me go," James said. "And he said, 'Can I speak with your mother?' I said, 'No, I can't find her right now. She's working.' And he said, 'Well, can you go home and get permission from your mother, get something in writing stating that you can travel and have her sign it and date it.' I said, 'Oh yeah, I can do that.' So, sure enough, that's what I did. I went home, I wrote the note."
James went to Los Angeles, where she recorded "Roll With Me, Henry" and began performing in Otis' traveling R&B revue. In 1960, she began recording with Chess. Her hits there included "All I Can Do Is Cry," "Trust in Me," Something's Got a Hold on Me" and "At Last."
During the mid-1960s, James began battling a drug addiction that would last for more than a decade. She drifted in and out of rehabilitation centers in Los Angeles.
"While I was in that program, they would take me out to kind of do little gigs here and there," James said. "We went to Africa to do the Black Festival there. We went to the American Song Festival. And so my therapist was taking me around, trying to just, you know, dip me in a little bit to let me know, you know, this is the business here that you've been in all your life."
When she left rehab, James recorded several more albums and opened for the 1978 Rolling Stones World Tour. She says the band had initially approached her several years earlier.
"When I was in rehab at the same rehab center in the '70s, '74, '75, I got a letter from Keith Richards that had said that they were getting ready to do a tour," James said. "And the letter said, 'We would like to have you on tour with us. We love your music, but what you're doing right now is more important than what we could ever do with you, [and] we will be sure to come back and get you when you're ready. And that was really cool. That was when they came back in '78 and kept their word."
Etta James was elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993 and received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003. She is also the recipient of an NAACP Image Award and multiple honors from the Blues Foundation.
Interview Highlights On her mother, who gave birth to Etta at age 14
"She was a kid, and I had feelings about all that kind of stuff for years, and I went to therapy and all about it. But then, as I got older, I realized that she really — she really did the best for me. She put me in a lovely [foster] home. The people were, you know, lovely to me. They never said that they were my real parents, I mean, I always knew I had this good-looking, you know, high-stepping mom, and she was like only 14 years older than me. And so she did the best for me, because if she had tried to take me with her, she was just a child. What would she have done with me? Would I have been singing today? Would I have been anything, you know?"
On her famous platinum blond hair in the 1960s "I had a real nice figure and I was tall. And I remember this singer Joyce Bryant. ... She wore fishtail gowns, sequined fishtail gowns, and she was black, and she had the nerve to wear platinum hair. And then I also loved Jayne Mansfield, because Jayne Mansfield had the blond hair and had like the poochie lips and the mole and all this. So I think what I did, it was kind of combine [them]. ... I wanted to look grown, you know; I wanted to wear tall high-heeled shoes, and fishtail gowns, and big, long rhinestone earrings."
On giving up drugs "I had given it up many a time. You know, I had kicked — I'd kicked my habits many a time. But when I went in 1974, I gave heroin up. I was on methadone for maybe three or four years before that. So I had a couple of things to give up."
Etta James is a Grammy Award-winning singer known for hit songs like "I'd Rather Go Blind" and "At Last.”
“My mother always told me, even if a song has been done a thousand times, you can still bring something of your own to it. I'd like to think I did that.”
—Etta James
Synopsis
Born in Los Angeles, California, on January 25, 1938, Etta James was a gospel prodigy. In 1954, she moved to Los Angeles to record "The Wallflower." Her career had begun to soar by 1960, due in no small part to songs like "I'd Rather Go Blind" and "At Last." Despite her continued drug problems, she earned a Grammy Award nomination for her 1973 eponymous album. In 2006, she released the album All the Way. James died in Riverside, California, on January 20, 2012, and continues to be is considered one of the most dynamic singers in music.
Early Life
Etta James was born Jamesetta Hawkins on January 25, 1938, in Los Angeles, California, to a 14-year-old mother, Dorothy Hawkins, who encouraged her daughter's singing career. James would later say, "My mother always told me, even if a song has been done a thousand times, you can still bring something of your own to it. I'd like to think I did that." James never knew her father.
By the age of 5, James was known as a gospel prodigy, gaining fame by singing in her church choir and on the radio. At age 12, she moved north to San Francisco, where she formed a trio and was soon working for bandleader Johnny Otis. Four years later, in 1954, she moved to Los Angeles to record "The Wallflower" (a tamer title for the then-risqué "Roll with Me Henry") with the Otis band. It was that year that the young singer became Etta James (an shortened version of her first name) and her vocal group was dubbed "the Peaches" (also Etta's nickname). Soon after, James launched her solo career with such hits as "Good Rockin' Daddy" in 1955.
Mid-career
After signing with Chicago's Chess Records in 1960, James's career began to soar. Chart toppers included duets with then-boyfriend Harvey Fuqua, the heart-breaking ballad "All I Could Do Was Cry," "At Last" and "Trust in Me." But James's talents weren't reserved for powerful ballads. She knew how to rock a house, and did so with such gospel-charged tunes as "Something's Got a Hold On Me" in 1962, "In The Basement" in 1966 and "I'd Rather Go Blind" in 1968.
James continued to work with Chess throughout the 1960s and early '70s. Sadly, heroin addiction affected both her personal and professional life, but despite her continued drug problems she persisted in making new albums. In 1967, James recorded with the Muscle Shoals house band in the Fame studios, and the collaboration resulted in the triumphant Tell Mama album.
James's work gained positive attention from critics as well as fans, and her 1973 album Etta James earned a Grammy nomination, in part for its creative combination of rock and funk sounds. After completing her contract with Chess in 1977, James signed on with Warner Brothers Records. A renewed public profile followed her appearance at the opening ceremony of the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984. Subsequent albums, including Deep In The Night and Seven Year Itch, received high critical acclaim.
Etta James was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 1993, prior to her signing a new recording contract with Private Records.
Later Career
With suggestive stage antics and a sassy attitude, James continued to perform and record well into the 1990s. Always soulful, her extraordinary voice was showcased to great effect on her recent private releases, including Blue Gardenia, which rose to the top of the Billboard jazz chart. In 2003, James underwent gastric bypass surgery and lost over 200 pounds. The dramatic weight loss had an impact on her voice, as she told Ebony magazine that year. "I can sing lower, higher and louder," James explained.
That same year, Etta James released Let's Roll, which won the Grammy Award for best contemporary blues album. Her sons, Donto and Sametto James, served as producers on the recording, along with Josh Sklair. This team regrouped for her next effort, Blues to the Bone (2004), which brought James her third Grammy Award—this time for best traditional blues album.
In 2006, James released the album All the Way, which featured cover versions of songs by Prince, Marvin Gaye and James Brown. She participated in a tribute album the following year for jazz great Ella Fitzgerald, called We Love Ella.
Controversy with Beyoncé
The story of the early days of Chess Records was brought to the big screen as Cadillac Records in 2008, with singer Beyoncè Knowles playing Etta James in the film. Beyoncè also recorded her own version of James's signature song, "At Last" for the soundtrack.
While James publicly supported the film, she was reportedly miffed when Beyoncè sang the song at President Barack Obama's inaugural ball in January 2009. James allegedly told concert-goers in Seattle in February that Beyoncè "had no business ... singing my song that I been singing forever." Despite some media attention over her comments, James was unfazed by the incident, and pressed on with her busy performing schedule.
Recent Years
As she entered her 70s, Etta James began struggling with health issues. She was hospitalized in 2010 for a blood infection, along with other ailments. It was later revealed that the legendary singer suffered from dementia, and was receiving treatment for leukemia. Her medical problems came to light in court papers filed by her husband, Artis Mills. Mills sought to gain control over $1 million of James's money, but he was challenged by James's two sons, Donto and Sametto. The two parties later worked out an agreement.
James released her latest studio album, The Dreamer, in November 2011, which received warm reviews. A few weeks later, James's doctor announced that the singer was terminally ill. "She's in the final stages of leukemia. She has also been diagnosed with dementia and Hepatitis C," Dr. Elaine James (not related to the singer) told a local newspaper. James's sons also acknowledged that Etta's health was declining and was receiving care at her Riverside, California, home.
Etta James died at her home in Riverside, California, on January 20, 2012. Today, she continues to be considered one of music's most dynamic singers.
Remembering Etta James, Stunning Singer May 23, 2012
The "Matriarch of the Blues" has died. Music legend Etta James died Friday morning at Riverside Community Hospital in California of complications from leukemia. She was 73.
She was born Jamesetta Hawkins in Los Angeles in 1938. Her first manager and promoter cut up Jamesetta's name and reversed it: Etta James.
Her talent was discovered when she was 14 — the same age her mother was when James was born. Within three years, the foster-home runaway had her first hit, with the girl group The Peaches. Back then, "Roll With Me Henry" was deemed too racy for radio, "roll" being a sexual euphemism.
Etta James was still a minor when she toured with Little Richard. Then, she signed with leading blues label Chess Records and bleached her hair platinum blond.
"What I was doing was trying to be a glamour girl," she told NPR's Fresh Air in 1994. "Because I'd been a tomboy, and I wanted to look grown and wanted to wear high-heeled shoes and fishtail gowns and big, long rhinestone earrings."
Darkness Beneath The Joy
James had grit in her voice that could melt like sugar or rub like salt in a wound. Between 1960 and 1963, she had 10 records on the R&B charts, including "Something's Got a Hold on Me."
Darkness runs beneath that joy — as does anger, says David Ritz, who wrote a biography of James.
"It isn't like she sings that song," Ritz says. "Sometimes, you feel she was going to war with the song."
By the mid-1960s, James was into hard drugs, and her career hit the skids. She bounced checks, forged prescriptions and stole from her friends. A judge finally gave her a choice: prison or rehabilitation. In 1974, she spent months in recovery at a psychiatric hospital.
"I was around nothing but a lot of white kids," James told Fresh Air. "They were all younger than I was. I remember on Saturdays, they would play rock 'n' roll records and I would say, 'That music is really happening.' My song, 'I'd Rather Go Blind' — they had a version by Rod Stewart, and they kept saying, 'This is the song you wrote!' And I'd say, 'All right!' "
Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones sent James a letter while she was in rehab and invited her to tour with the band if she stayed clean. In 1978, she joined the Stones on tour. By the '90s, she'd reached a new generation of fans and won a Grammy. The next challenge was jazz.
"[Jazz] was too disciplined and too confining," James said on Fresh Air. "I thought you had to be bourgeois to do that. I was a sloppy kid, wanted to be just wild. I think it took me maturing."
James said making her tribute to Billie Holiday, 1994's Mystery Lady, also honored her mother, who loved both Holiday and jazz. She said it helped make peace with the woman she idolized, and who had abandoned her.
It's often said of Etta James that you could hear her whole life in her voice. James told NPR in 1989 that that made sense, though she mostly sang for herself.
"When I sing for myself, I probably sing for anyone who has any kind of hurt, any kind of bad feelings, good feelings, ups and downs, highs and lows, that kind of thing," she said.
Etta James went to extremes, and owned them in her life, and in her music.
Soul singer Etta James, who died aged 73, influenced a raft of musicians
including Janis Joplin and the Rolling Stones
Muhammad Ali plays a few notes on the piano as singer Etta James looks on in a picture taken in 1974.
Three-time Grammy winner singer Etta James, a pioneer of 1950s rhythm-and-blues and rock music known for her show-stopping hit At Last, died on Friday 20 January at the age of 73.
Here are some keys facts about James:
• Her hit songs included The Wallflower, which originally was titled Roll With Me Henry, At Last, All I Could Do Was Cry, Something's Got a Hold on Me, Tell Mama, I'd Rather Go Blind and Stop the Wedding
• James
was born Jan. 25, 1938, to a 14-year-old girl in Los Angeles. Over the
years, her mother mentioned several different men as her father,
including Rudolph Wanderone, the legendary pool hustler best known as
Minnesota Fats. James came to think of Wanderone as her father and
sought him out at a Nashville, Tennessee, hotel in 1987. She was unable
to confirm he was her father but told an interviewer, "When he passed,
he sent me a beautiful golden watch that hung on his clothes that had
his name on it. And he sent me a letter and told me that he wanted me to
write a song about him and stuff."
• James was an influence on
performers such as Tina Turner, Bonnie Raitt, Diana Ross and Janis
Joplin. She also toured as an opening act with the Rolling Stones and
performed with the Grateful Dead.
• James fought a long battle with heroin addiction. In her autobiography, Rage to Survive,
she wrote that at one point she and an accomplice stole the musical
instruments of her own band and pawned them in order to buy drug money.
After stints in rehabilitation programs, she broke the habit at age 50.
• James'
weight reached an estimated 400 pounds at one point and she often had
to perform sitting down. She lost some 200 pounds after gastric bypass
surgery about 10 years ago.
• James was survived by her husband, Artis Mills, two sons Donto and Sametto and four grandchildren.
• Describing
her career, Etta James once said: "My mother always told me, even if a
song has been done a thousand times, you can still bring something of
your own to it. I'd like to think I did that."
Few
singers proved more pliable over the past 50 years than Etta James. Pop,
blues, rock 'n' roll, soul, jazz — she sang them all with aplomb. But
it was her string of stunning singles during the 1960s that cemented
James as one of the great female vocalists of all time.
James
died Friday in a Los Angeles hospital after a battle with leukemia. She
was 73. In this edition of "Songs We Love," we asked five NPR stations
to celebrate her memory by selecting their favorite Miss Peaches jam.
Not surprisingly, all of the picks date back to her '60s heyday.
Hear 5 Etta James Recordings
Jazz24's Nick Morrison on "At Last"
Etta James' version of "At Last" might be the strongest
testament to her greatness as singer. With this song, she took a rather
saccharine Tin Pan Alley melody and transformed it into one of the most
soulful ballads in the history of rhythm and blues. The song (by Mack
Gordon and Harry Warren) was written for a 1942 musical film called Orchestra Wives
and was originally recorded by the Glenn Miller Orchestra. As
performed by Miller and a few others over the years, it was a good
song, but not a great one — until James got her hands on it in 1960.
For her version, she dug deep into the song, pulled out every ounce of
soul it contained, and then added a whole lot of her own. The result
was a classic. Gordon and Warren wrote it, but Etta James owns it, now and forever.
KEXP's Johnny Horn on "Tell Mama"
It was a natural move in 1967 to take the Johnny Otis
protege from California south to capture the down-home soul sound that
was so hot at the time. Etta James shined with the heartfelt backing
band and horns in Muscle Shoals, while Rick Hall's tough production set
the tone. "Tell Mama" is an uptempo soul cut with words that play on
classic imagery: Mama Etta is gonna take the hurt away and make it all
better.
WXPN's David Dye on "I'd Rather Go Blind"
Whenever I happen upon a jukebox stocked with "I'd
Rather Go Blind," it always gets my quarter. It's a perfect song. The
intro, with its B-3 pad set off by the locked-in pattern of rhythm
guitar and drums, gives way to the defeated sadness of James' voice.
The rising swell of her performance captures you for all two and a
half minutes, but give James double credit as co-author of a powerful
lyric: "When the reflection in the glass that I held to my lips, now
baby / Revealed the tears that was on my face." I recognized the utter
power of the song itself when Fleetwood Mac's Christine McVie covered
it in 1969, a year after James' single. But then I graduated from
McVie's affectless alto — no doubt a gorgeous instrument — to James'
visceral pain. I do wonder what it took out of her to sing such a sad
song all her career.
WBGO's Bob Porter on "Something's Got A Hold On Me"
The Hideaway was as close to a roadhouse as you could
find in 1963 Los Angeles. It featured a revue format: separate sets by
emcee, band and headliner. I was there to see the band, The Hideaway
All-Stars, sitting so that I was looking down on the bar but had a great
view of the bandstand. When the band finished its set, the emcee
brought on the singer, the band hit the entrance music and the singer
took the mic — and she screamed. The rack of glasses above the
bartender's head shook. This was a Memorex moment years before the Ella
Fitzgerald commercial. Hello, Etta James!
It was the first time I
had heard her live, and when she broke into "Something's Got a Hold on
Me," it sent chills up my spine. A couple of months after the
performance, she was recorded live in Nashville for the Argo album, Etta James Rocks The House.
The album contains a cover photo of her which is exactly the way I
remember her. In the years since, I've seen her perhaps 20 times and
heard her sing all manner of material. But if someone asks me about Etta
James, I don't think of more recent times. I think of hearing that
scream at The Hideaway many years ago.
KCRW's Gary Calamar on "In The Basement"
"In the Basement" is a 1966 single on Chess Records.
It's one of the great tracks by the fabulous Etta James, written by and
performed with her childhood friend, Sugar Pie Desanto. The excitement
and raw energy in her vocals tells me this is a party I can't miss. You
can practically smell the funk in this basement. I first heard the
song on the soundtrack to the 1999 film The Hurricane, and it
grabbed me as soon as I heard Etta James' amazing growl. I love the
raw, gritty soul of this recording — a rare groove indeed.
Blues, soul, jazz, R&B, and rock vocalist Etta
James forged a five-decade career with an alternately powerful and
poignant voice gracing over a dozen hit singles and earning her four
Grammys and a prominent place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Etta James was still in her early teens and singing with a vocal trio
called the Peaches when legendary R&B bandleader Johnny Otis
discovered her. At Otis' L.A. home, he and Etta co-wrote her first hit,
"Roll With Me, Henry," an answer to Hank Ballard and the Midnighters'
off-color "Work With Me, Annie." Under the title "The Wallflower,"
"Henry" became a Number Two R&B hit in 1955. That year Georgia Gibbs
had a Number One Pop hit with a mild cover of the tune, called "Dance
With Me, Henry." Later, James' version was retitled "Dance With Me,
Henry."
Through the mid-1950s James became a mainstay of Otis' revue and scored
another R&B hit with "Good Rockin' Daddy" (Number 12, 1955). In 1960
she moved from Modern to Chess Records' Argo subsidiary, and the
R&B hits began coming again: "All I Could Do Was Cry" (Number Two
R&B), "My Dearest Darling" (Number Five R&B), and a duet as Etta
and Harvey (with Harvey Fuqua of Harvey and the Moonglows) entitled "If
I Can't Have You" (Number 52 pop, Number Six R&B). She also sang
background vocals on Chuck Berry's "Almost Grown" and "Back in the
U.S.A."
James continued making R&B hits through the early 1960s. In 1961 she
had more Top Ten R&B hits with "At Last" (Number Two R&B) and
"Trust in Me" (Number Four R&B), and in 1962 with "Something's Got a
Hold on Me" (Number Four R&B) and "Stop the Wedding" (Number Six
R&B). In 1963 she hit the pop chart with "Pushover" (Number 25 pop,
Number Seven R&B), as well as "Pay Back" (Number 78), "Two Sides to
Every Story" (Number 63), and "Would It Make Any Difference to You"
(Number 64); 1964 brought "Baby, What You Want Me to Do?" (Number 82)
and "Loving You More Every Day" (Number 65).
In the 1960s she developed a heroin addiction that lasted through 1974
and kept her much of the time in L.A.'s Tarzana Psychiatric Hospital.
Still, she hit big with "Tell Mama" (Number 23 pop, Number Ten R&B,
1967), "Losers Weepers" (Number 26 R&B, 1970), and "I've Found a
Love" (Number 31 R&B, 1972). Though she has not had any major hit
records since ending her heroin addiction, James has remained a popular
concert performer. She played the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1977 and
opened some dates for the Rolling Stones' 1978 U.S. tour.
Seven Year Itch was produced by keyboardist Barry Beckett,
house keyboardist at Alabama's legendary Muscle Shoals studio, where
James had recorded such 1960s R&B hits as "I'd Rather Go Blind." She
returned to Muscle Shoals to record The Right Time, which reunited her with Jerry Wexler (the longtime Aretha Franklin producer, who'd worked on James' Deep in the Night
album) and included a duet with Steve Winwood; shortly after the
album's release, James was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
She won her first Grammy for 1994's Mystery Lady: The Songs of Billie Holiday. In 1995 she published her autobiography (co-written with David Ritz), Rage to Survive.
In 2001 she was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame, and in 2003 she
received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and a star on the Hollywood
Walk of Fame. That year, having long struggled with problems associated
with obesity, she underwent gastric bypass surgery and lost more than
200 pounds. James has taken two more Grammys, one for 2003's Let's Roll and another for 2004's Blues to the Bone. In 2006 she released All the Way on RCA Records and won Billboard's R&B Founders award. James continues to tour.
Now, when Etta James sinks her teeth into Robert Johnson, you
know there's going to be genuine pain. And blood, and bone, and sinew
and sweat. It's been nearly a half-century since "At Last," and the
queen of the blues is still wiping the floor with anybody-male or
female-who dares contemplate ascension. Johnson's "Dust My Broom" (a
comparatively tepid version of which is included on Threadgill's disc)
is at the center of the righteous 66-year-old's latest, Blues to the
Bone (RCA). It is just one of a dozen nods from one blues giant to
another as James pays tribute to John Lee Hooker, James Cotton, Muddy
Waters, Elmore James and Howlin' Wolf and other seminal figures with
scorching renditions of such classics as "Got My Mojo Working," "Little
Red Rooster," "Don't Tear My Clothes" and "Crawlin' King Snake." Though
scheduling conflicts made it impossible for James to participate in
director Martin Scorsese's sensational blues history for PBS, she did
watch the seven-part series and was impressed enough to send Scorsese an
advance copy of Blues to the Bone. He responded by writing the liner
notes, wherein he accurately, articulately observes, "When you listen to
her sing the songs on this album-hard songs each and every one of
them-you understand that the voice belongs to someone who's passed
through the eye of a storm and come out standing. Tall."
THE MUSIC OF ETTA JAMES: AN EXTENSIVE VIDEO OVERVIEW, A CROSS SECTION OF RECORDINGS, MUSICAL ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARY, PLUS VARIOUS INTERVIEWS WITH MS. JAMES:
Etta James - The best of (full album):
Tracklist:
01-The blues is my business 02-If I had any pride left at all 03-It's a man's man's world 04-I've been lovin' you too long 05-Try a little tenderness 06-Night and day 07-Come rain or come shine 08-I'll be seeing you 09-The very thought of you 10-The man I love 11-Someone to watch over me 12-My Funny Valentine 13-Cry me a river 14-Strongest weakness 15-Crawlin' king snake 16-At last
Etta James Greatest Hits | Etta James Best Songs | Etta James Collection:
Etta James - "At Last":
Etta James - "Something's Got A Hold On Me”-- (Live):
Etta James - Rocks The House (Live Full Album) - 1964:
Tracklist: 01. Something's Got A Hold On Me 02. Baby What You Want Me To Do (5:01) 03. What'd I Say (9:16) 04. Money (That's What I Want) (12:31) 05. Seven Day Fool (15:54) 06. Sweet Little Angel (20:15) 07. Ohh Poo Pah Doo (24:30) 08. Woke Up This Morning (28:35) 09. Ain't That Lovin' You Baby (32:14) 10. All I Could Do Is Cry (35:05) 11. I Just Want To Make Love To You (38:27)
Etta James - Full Concert - 08/17/91 - Newport Jazz Festival, (OFFICIAL):
Setlist: 0:00:00 - Instrumental 0:03:41 - Instrumental 0:07:25 - Breakin' Up Somebody's Home 0:12:24 - I'd Rather Go Blind 0:19:21 - Damn Your Eyes 0:28:31 - Something's Got A Hold On Me 0:37:35 - Your Good Thing 0:45:54 - Baby What You Want Me To Do 0:54:08 - You Can Leave Your Hat On
ETTA JAMES - Greatest Hits Full Album | Best songs of Etta James:
Tracklist:
1. At Last - Etta James 2. I'd Rather Go Blind - Etta James 3. All I Could Do Was Cry - Etta James 4. Something's Got A Hold - Etta James 5. I Just Want To Make Love To You - Etta James 6. A Sunday Kind Of Love - Etta James 7. All I Could Do Is Cry - Etta James 8. Almost Presuaded - Etta James 9. Pushover - Etta James 10. Only Time Will Tell - Etta James 11. If I Can't Have You - Etta James 12. Tell Mama - Etta James 13. I Found A Love - Etta James 14. I'm Gonna Take What He's Got - Etta James 15. I Worship The Ground You Walk On - Etta James 16. In The Basement - Etta James 17. Lovin's Arms - Etta James 18. Losers Weepers - Etta James 19. Leave Your Hat On - Etta James 20. Stop The Wedding - Etta James 21. My Dearest Darling - Etta James 22. If I Can't Have You - Etta James 23. Anything To Say You're Mine - Etta James 24. In My Diary - Etta James 25. Spoonful - Etta James 26. Stormy Weather - Etta James 27. Trust In My - Etta James 28. Don't Cry Baby - Etta James 29. Fool That I Am - Etta James 30. One For My Baby - Etta James 31. Waiting For Charlie - Etta James 32. Don't Get Around Much Anymore - Etta James 33. Next Door To The Blues - Etta James 34. I Don't Want It - Etta James 35. These Foolish Things - Etta James 36. You Got Me Where You Want Me - Etta James
Etta James Performs "At Last" at the 1993 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction
Chuck Berry & Etta James - Rock and Roll Music (1986):
Keith Richards invited a roster of great musicians to honor Chuck Berry for an evening of music to commemorate Berry's 60th birthday. Taken from the "Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll" documentary film by Taylor Hackford about Chuck Berry's life and career.
James is regarded as having bridged the gap between rhythm and blues and rock and roll, and was the winner of six Grammys and 17 Blues Music Awards. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993, the Blues Hall of Fame in 2001, and the Grammy Hall of Fame in both 1999 and 2008.[3]Rolling Stone
ranked James number 22 on their list of the 100 Greatest Singers of All
Time and number 62 on the list of the 100 Greatest Artists.[4][5]
Jamesetta Hawkins was born on January 25, 1938, in Los Angeles, California, to Dorothy Hawkins, who was only 14 at the time. Her father has never been identified.[6] James speculated that he was the pool player Rudolf "Minnesota Fats" Wanderone, and met him briefly in 1987.[7] Due to her mother's frequent absences from their Watts
apartment conducting relationships with various men, James lived with a
series of foster parents, most notably "Sarge" and "Mama" Lu. James
referred to her mother as "the Mystery Lady".[6]
James received her first professional vocal training at the age of
five from James Earle Hines, musical director of the Echoes of Eden
choir, at the St. Paul Baptist Church in south central Los Angeles. She
became a popular singing attraction there, and Sarge tried to pressure
the church into paying him for her singing but they refused. During
drunken poker games at home, he would often wake James up in the early
hours of the morning and force her through beatings to sing for his
friends. As she was a bed-wetter, and often soaked with her own urine on
these occasions, the trauma of being forced to sing meant she had a
lifelong reluctance to sing on demand.[8]
In 1950, Mama Lu died, and James' biological mother took her to the Fillmore District, San Francisco.[9] Within a couple of years, James began listening to doo-wop and was inspired to form a girl group, called the Creolettes (due to the members' light-skinned complexions). The 14-year-old girl met musician Johnny Otis.
Stories on how they met vary including Otis' version in which James had
come to his hotel after one of his performances in the city and
persuaded him to audition her. Another story was that Otis spotted the
group performing at a Los Angeles nightclub and sought them to record
his "answer song" to Hank Ballard's "Work with Me, Annie". Nonetheless, Otis took the group under his wing, helping them sign to Modern Records
and changing their name from the Creolettes to the Peaches and gave the
singer her stage name reversing Jamesetta into "Etta James". James
recorded the version, which she was allowed to co-author, in 1954, and
the song was released in early 1955 as "Dance with Me, Henry".
Originally the name of the song was "Roll With Me, Henry" but was
changed to avoid censorship due to the off-color title ("roll" connoting
sexual activities). In February of that year, the song reached number
one on the Hot Rhythm & Blues Tracks chart.[10] Its success gave the group an opening spot on Little Richard's national tour.[11]
While on tour with Richard, pop singer Georgia Gibbs recorded her version of James' song, which was released under the title "The Wallflower", and became a crossover hit, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100,
which angered James. After leaving the Peaches, James had another
R&B hit with "Good Rockin' Daddy", but struggled with follow-ups.
When her contract with Modern came up in 1960, she decided to sign with Leonard Chess' namesake label, Chess Records, and shortly afterwards got involved in a relationship with singer Harvey Fuqua, founder of the doo-wop group The Moonglows.
Bobby Murray,
aka "Taters", toured with Etta James for 20 years. He wrote that James
had her first hit single when she was 15 years of age and went steady
with B.B. King when she was 16. Etta James believed the hit single "Sweet Sixteen" by King was about her.[12]
Chess and Warner Brothers years: 1960–78
Dueting with Harvey Fuqua, James recorded for the Chess label, Argo, (later Cadet), and her first hit singles with Fuqua were "If I Can't Have You" and "Spoonful". Her first solo hit was the doo-wop styled rhythm and blues number, "All I Could Do Was Cry", becoming a number two R&B hit.[13]Leonard Chess
had envisioned James as a classic ballad stylist who had potential to
cross over to the pop charts and soon surrounded the singer with violins
and other string instruments.[13]
The first string-laden ballad James recorded was "My Dearest Darling"
in May 1960, which peaked in the top five of the R&B chart. James
sang background vocals on label mate Chuck Berry's "Back in the U.S.A."[14][15]
Her debut album, At Last!, was released in late 1960 and was noted for its varied choice in music from jazz standards to blues numbers to doo-wop and rhythm and blues (R&B).[16] The album also included James' future classic, "I Just Want to Make Love to You" and "A Sunday Kind of Love". In early 1961, James released what was to become her signature song, "At Last", which reached number two on the R&B chart and number 47 on the Billboard Hot 100. Though the song was not as successful as expected, it has become the most remembered version of the song.[14] James followed that up with "Trust in Me", which also included string instruments.[13] Later that same year, James released a second studio album, The Second Time Around.
The album took the same direction as her previous album, covering many
jazz and pop standards, and using strings on many of the songs spawning
two hit singles, "Fool That I Am" and "Don't Cry Baby".[17]
James started adding gospel elements in her music the following year
releasing "Something's Got a Hold on Me", which peaked at number four on
the R&B chart and was also a top 40 pop hit.[18]
That success was quickly followed by "Stop the Wedding", which reached
number six on the R&B charts and also had gospel elements.[14] In 1963, she had another major hit with "Pushover" and released the live album Etta James Rocks the House, which was recorded at the New Era Club in Nashville, Tennessee.[13]
After a couple years scoring minor hits, James' career started to
suffer after 1965. After a period of isolation, James returned to
recording in 1967 and reemerged with more gutsy R&B numbers thanks
to her recording at the legendary Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama releasing her comeback hit "Tell Mama", which was co-written by Clarence Carter,
and reached number ten R&B and number twenty three pop. An album of
the same name was also released that year and included her take of Otis Redding's "Security".[19] The B-side of "Tell Mama" was "I'd Rather Go Blind", which became a blues classic in its own right and was recorded by many other artists. She wrote in her autobiography Rage To Survive that she heard the song outlined by her friend Ellington "Fugi" Jordan when she visited him in prison.[20]
According to her account, she wrote the rest of the song with Jordan,
but for tax reasons gave her songwriting credit to her partner at the
time, Billy Foster.
Following this success, James became an in-demand concert performer
though she never again reached the heyday of her early to mid-1960s
success. She continued to chart in the R&B Top 40 in the early 1970s
with singles such as "Losers Weepers" (1970) and "I Found a Love"
(1972). Though James continued to record for Chess, she was devastated
by the death of Chess founder Leonard Chess in 1969. James ventured into
rock and funk with the release of her self-titled album in 1973 with production from famed rock producer Gabriel Mekler, who had worked with Steppenwolf and Janis Joplin,
who had admired James and had covered "Tell Mama" in concert. The
album, known for its mixtures of musical styles, was nominated for a Grammy Award.[19] The album did not produce any major hits, neither did the follow-up, Come A Little Closer, in 1974, though like Etta James before it, the album was also critically acclaimed. James continued to record for Chess (now owned by All Platinum Records), releasing one more album in 1976, Etta Is Betta Than Evvah!, and her 1978 Warner Brothers album Deep in the Night, produced by Jerry Wexler, saw the singer incorporating more rock-based music in her repertoire.[13] That same year, James was the opening act for The Rolling Stones and also performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival.
Following this brief success, however, she left Chess Records and did
not record for another ten years as she struggled with drug addiction
and alcoholism.
Though she continued to perform, little was heard of Etta James until 1984 when she contacted David Wolper asking to perform in the 1984 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, where she sang When The Saints Go Marching In.[21] Then in 1987 she was seen performing "Rock & Roll Music" with Chuck Berry on his "Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll" documentary. In 1989, James signed with Island Records and released the album Seven Year Itch. The album was produced by Barry Beckett. She released a second album, also produced by Barry Beckett, in 1989 titled Stickin' to My Guns. Both albums were recorded at FAME Studios.[19] Also in 1989 James filmed a live concert from the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles with Joe Walsh and Albert Collins, "Jazzvisions: Jump The Blues Away". Backing musicians consisted of many top-flight players from LA: Rick Rosas (bass); Michael Huey
(drums); Ed Sanford (B3); Kip Noble (piano); and Etta's longtime guitar
player Josh Sklair (guitar). James participated with rap singer Def Jef on the song "Droppin' Rhymes on Drums", which mixed James' jazz vocals with hip-hop. In 1992, James released The Right Time produced by Jerry Wexler on Elektra Records and the following year, James was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.[10] James signed with Private Music Records in 1993 and recorded the Billie Holiday tribute album Mystery Lady: Songs of Billie Holiday.[18] The album later set a trend for James' music to incorporate more jazz elements.[13] The album won James her first Grammy Award for best jazz vocal performance in 1994. In 1995, she released the David Ritz-co authored autobiography, A Rage to Survive, and recorded the album Time After Time. Three years later she issued the Christmas album Etta James Christmas in 1998.[13]
By the mid-1990s, James' earlier classic music was included in commercials including, most notably, "I Just Wanna Make Love to You". Due to exposure of the song in a UK commercial, the song reached the top ten of the UK charts in 1996.[10] Continuing to record for Private Music, she released the blues album Matriarch of the Blues in 2000, which had James returning to her R&B roots with Rolling Stone
hailing it as a "solid return to roots", further stating that the album
found the singer "reclaiming her throne—and defying anyone to knock her
off it".[18] In 2001, she was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame and the Rockabilly Hall of Fame, the latter for her contributions to the developments of both rock and roll music and rockabilly. In 2003, she received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Her 2004 release, Blue Gardenia, returned James to a jazz music style. Her final album for Private Music, Let's Roll, was released in 2005 and won James a Grammy for best contemporary blues album.[22]
In 2008, James was portrayed by Beyoncé Knowles in the film Cadillac Records,
based on James' label of 18 years, Chess Records, and how label founder
and producer Leonard Chess helped the career of James and other label
mates.[25]
The film portrayed her pop hit "At Last", though James also had other
big hits. James and Knowles were seen at a red carpet event following
the film's release embracing each other. James later said that her
previous criticizing remarks about Knowles for having performed "At
Last" at the inauguration of Barack Obama were a joke stemming from how she felt hurt that she herself was not invited to sing her song.[26] It was later revealed that James' Alzheimer's disease and "drug induced dementia" contributed to her previous negative comments about Beyoncé Knowles.[27]
In April 2009, the 71-year-old James made her final television appearance performing "At Last" during an appearance on Dancing with the Stars. In May 2009, James received the Soul/Blues Female Artist of the Year award from the Blues Foundation,
the ninth time she had won the award. She carried on touring but by
2010 had to cancel concert dates due to her gradually failing health
after it was revealed that she was suffering from dementia and leukemia. In November 2011, James released her final album, The Dreamer,
which was critically acclaimed upon its release. She announced that
this would be her final album. Her continuing relevance was affirmed in
2011 when the Swedish DJ Avicii achieved substantial chart success with the song "Levels", which samples her 1962 song, "Something's Got a Hold On Me". The same sample was also used by rapper Flo Rida in his hit 2011 single "Good Feeling". Both artists issued statements of condolence on James's death.[28]
Style and influence
James possessed the vocal range of a contralto.[29]
James's musical style changed during the course of her career. When
beginning her recording career in the mid-50s, James was marketed as an
R&B and doo-wop singer.[13] After signing with Chess Records in 1960, James broke through as a traditional pop-styled singer, covering jazz and pop music standards on her debut album, At Last![30] James's voice deepened and coarsened, moving her musical style in her later years into the genres of soul and jazz.[13]
James encountered a string of legal problems during the early 1970s
due to her heroin addiction. She was continuously in and out of
rehabilitation centers, including the Tarzana Treatment Centers, in Los
Angeles, California. Her husband Artis Mills, whom she married in 1969,
accepted responsibility when they were both arrested for heroin
possession and served a 10-year prison sentence.[38] He was released from prison in 1981 and was still married to James at her death.[18]
In 1974, James was sentenced to drug treatment instead of serving
time in prison. She was in the Tarzana Psychiatric Hospital for 17
months, at the age of 36, and went through a great struggle at the start
of treatment. In her autobiography, she said that the time she spent in
the hospital changed her life. After leaving treatment, however, her
substance abuse continued after she developed a relationship with a man
who was also using drugs. In 1988, at the age of 50, she entered the Betty Ford Center, in Palm Springs, California, for treatment.[18] In 2010, she received treatment for a dependency on painkillers.[39]
James had two sons, Donto and Sametto. Both started performing with
their mother — Donto played drums at Montreux in 1993, and Sametto
played bass guitar circa 2003.[40]
Illness and death
James was hospitalized in January 2010 to treat an infection caused by MRSA,
a bacterium that is resistant to most antibiotic treatments. During her
hospitalization, her son Donto revealed that she had been diagnosed
with Alzheimer's disease in 2008.[27]
She was diagnosed with leukemia in early 2011. The illness became terminal and she died on January 20, 2012, just five days before her 74th birthday, at Riverside Community Hospital in Riverside, California.[41][42] Her death came three days after that of Johnny Otis, the man who had discovered her in the 1950s. Additionally, just 36 days after her death, her sideman Red Holloway also died.
In 1989, the newly formed Rhythm and Blues Foundation
included James in their first Pioneer Awards for artists whose
"lifelong contributions have been instrumental in the development of
Rhythm & Blues music".[45] The following year, 1990, she received an NAACP Image Award, which is given for "outstanding achievements and performances of people of color in the arts";[46] an award she cherished as it "was coming from my own people".[47]
April 18, 2003,[48] Hollywood Chamber of Commerce Hollywood Walk of Fame, star at 7080 Hollywood Blvd, and Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) Lifetime Achievement Award[49]
The members of the Blues Foundation, a non-profit organization set up in Memphis, Tennessee, to foster the blues and its heritage,[55] have nominated James for a Blues Music Award
nearly every year since its founding in 1980; and she received some
form of Blues Female Artist of the Year award 14 times since 1989,
continuously from 1999 to 2007.[56] In addition, the albums Life, Love, & The Blues (1999), Burnin' Down The House (2003), and Let's Roll (2004) were awarded Soul/Blues Album of the Year,[56] and in 2001 she was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame.[51]
Etta James; David Ritz (2003). Rage to Survive. p. 256. I felt less conflicted about the NAACP Image Award I won. That was coming from my own people, and I cherished the recognition.
Kofi Natambu, editor of and contributor to Sound Projections, is a writer, poet, cultural critic, and political journalist whose poetry, essays, criticism, reviews, and journalism have appeared in many literary magazines, journals, newspapers, and anthologies. He has written extensively about music as a critic and historian for many publications, including the Black Scholar, Downbeat, Solid Ground: A New World Journal, Detroit Metro Times, KONCH, the Panopticon Review,Black Renaissance Noire, the Village Voice, the City Sun (NYC), the Poetry Project Newsletter (NYC), and the African American Review. He is the author of a biography Malcolm X: His Life & Work (Alpha Books) and two books of poetry: The Melody Never Stops (Past Tents Press) and Intervals (Post Aesthetic Press). He was the founder and editor of Solid Ground: A New World Journal, a national quarterly magazine of the arts, culture, and politics and the editor of a literary anthology Nostalgia for the Present (Post Aesthetic Press). Natambu has read his work throughout the country and given many lectures and workshops at academic and arts institutions. He has taught American literature, literary theory and criticism, cultural history and criticism, film studies, political science, creative writing, philosophy, critical theory, and music history and criticism (Jazz, Blues, R&B, Hip Hop) at many universities and colleges. He was also a curator in the Education Department of Detroit’s Museum of African American History. Born in Detroit, Michigan, Natambu currently lives in Berkeley, California with his wife Chuleenan.
