ETTA JAMES
JANICE'S BLUES ALLEY PRESENTS
ETTA JAMES
 Etta James Background | 1996 San Francisco Blues Festival Photos |
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: Etta James |
| Etta James Background | 1996 San Francisco Blues Festival Photos |
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: Etta James |
Etta James (born Jamesetta Hawkins; January 25, 1938 – January 20, 2012)
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. -- by Mark Deming, All Music Guide
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01. Don't Cry Baby 02. Fool That I Am 03. One for My Baby 04. In My Diary 05. Seven Day Fool |
06. It's Too Soon to Know 07. Dream 08. I'll Dry My Tears 09. Plum Nuts 10. Don't Get Around Much Anymore |
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01. Anything to Say You're Mine 02. My Dearest Darling 03. Trust in Me 04. Sunday Kind of Love 05. Tough Mary 06. I Just Want to Make Love to You 07. At Last |
08. All I Could Do Was Cry 09. Stormy Weather 10. Girl of My Dreams 11. My Heart Cries ["Duet with Harvery Fuqua"] 12. Spoonful 13. It's a Crying Shame 14. If I Can't Have You |
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01. Something's Got a Hold on Me 02. Baby, What You Want Me to Do 03. What'd I Say 04. Money (That's What I Want) 05. Seven Day Fool 06. Sweet Little Angel |
07. Ooh Poo Pah Doo 08. Woke up This Morning 09. Ain't That Lovin' You Baby 10. All I Could Do Is Cry 11. I Just Want to Make Love to You |
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01. Leave Your Hat On 02. Sail Away 03. Yesterday's Music 04. Lay Back Daddy 05. Just One More Day |
06. All The Way Down 07. God's Song 08. Only A Fool 09. Down So Low |
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01. Out on the Street Again 02. Mama Told Me 03. You Give Me What I Want 04. Come a Little Closer 05. Let's Burn Down the Cornfield 06. Power Play |
07. Feeling Uneasy 08. St. Louis Blues 09. Gonna Have Some Fun Tonight 10. Sookie, Sookie 11. Lovin' Arms 12. Out on the Street Again |
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01. Laying Beside You 02. Piece of My Heart 03. Only Women Bleed 04. Take It to the Limit 05. Deep in the Night |
06. Lovesick Blues 07. Strange Man 08. Sugar on the Floor 09. Sweet Touch of Love 10. Blind Girl |
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01. Tell Mama 02. Something's Got A Hold On Me 03. Pushover 04. Only Time Will Tell 05. Stop The Wedding 06. Security 07. I'd Rather Go Blind |
08. Trust In Me 09. Sunday Kind Of Love 10. My Dearest Darling 11. At Last 12. Waiting For Charlie To Come Home 13. All I Could Do Was Cry 14. Fool That I Am |
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01. Kidney Stew 02. When My Baby Left Me 03. Railroad Porter Blues 04. Something's Got a Hold on Me 05. Medley: At Last/Trust Me/Sunday Kind of Love |
06. I Just Wanna Make Love to You 07. Please Send Me Someone to Love 08. Lover Man (Oh, Where Can You Be?) 09. Misty |
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01. Old Maid Boogie 02. Home Boy 03. Baby 04. Baby, What You Want Me to Do 05. Sweet Little Angel 06. I'd Rather Go Blind |
07. Teach Me Tonight 08. Only Women Bleed 09. He's Got the Whole World in His Hands 10. Cleanhead Blues 11. Cherry Red |
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01. W-O-M-A-N 02. Number One 03. I'm A Fool 04. Strange Things Happening 05. Hey Henry 06. I Hope You're satisfied 07. Good Rockin' Daddy 08. Sunshine Of Love 09. That's All 10. How Big A Fool |
11. Market Place 12. Tough Lover 13. Do Something Crazy 14. Be My Lovey Dovey 15. Nobody Loves You (Like Me) 16. Hickory Dickory Dock 17. You Know What I Mean 18. Roll With Me Henry 19. Baby, Baby Every Night 20. We're In Love |
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01. I Got the Will 02. Jump into My Fire 03. Shakey Ground 04. Come to Mama 05. Damn Your Eyes |
06. Breakin' up Somebody's Home 07. Jealous Kind 08. How Strong Is a Woman 09. One Night |
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01. Whatever Gets You Through the Night 02. Love to Burn 03. Blues Don't Care 04. Your Good Thing (Is About to End) 05. Get Funky |
06. Beware 07. Out of the Rain 08. Stolen Affection 09. Fool in Love 10. I've Got Dreams to Remember |
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01. I Sing the Blues 02. Love and Happiness 03. Evening of Love 04. Wet Match 05. You're Taking up Another Man's Place 06. Give It Up |
07. Let It Rock 08. Ninety-Nine and a Half (Won't Do) 09. You've Got Me 10. Night Time Is the Right Time 11. Down Home Blues |
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01. Don't Explain 02. You've Changed 03. Man I Love 04. I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance with You 05. Lover Man (Oh, Where Can You Be?) 06. Embraceable You |
07. How Deep Is the Ocean? 08. (I'm Afraid) The Masquerade Is Over 09. Body and Soul 10. The Very Thought of You 11. I'll Be Seeing You |
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01. I Just Want to Make Love to You 02. Take It to the Limit 03. Baby, What You Want Me to Do 04. Sugar on the Floor |
05. Tell Mama 06. I'd Rather Go Blind 07. Otis Redding Medley 08. Born Blue |
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01. Don't Go to Strangers 02. Teach Me Tonight 03. Love Is Here to Stay 04. Nearness of You 05. Time After Time 06. My Funny Valentine |
07. Ev'rybody's Somebody's Fool 08. Fool That I Am 09. Willow Weep for Me 10. Imagination 11. Night and Day 12. Someone to Watch over Me |
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01. Rock 02. Cry Like a Rainy Day 03. Love's Been Rough on Me 04. Love It or Leave It Alone 05. Don't Touch Me |
06. Hold Me (Just a Little Longer Tonight) 07. If I Had Any Pride Left at All 08. I Can Give You Everything 09. I've Been Loving You Too Long 10. Done in the Dark |
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01. Hickory Dickory Dock 02. W-O-M-A-N 03. My One and Only 04. I'm a Fool 05. Strange Things Happening 06. Hey Henry 07. I Hope You're Satisfied 08. Good Rockin' Daddy 09. Sunshine of Love 10. That's All 11. Call Me a Fool |
12. Tears of Joy 13. Pick-Up 14. Market Place 15. Tough Lover 16. Doin' Something Crazy 17. Be My Lovey Dovey 18. Nobody Loves You (Like Me) 19. You Know What I Mean 20. Wallflower (Dance With Me Henry) 21. Every Night 22. We're in Love |
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01. Born Under a Bad Sign 02. I Want to Ta-Ta You Baby 03. Here I Am (Come and Take Me) 04. Running Out of Lies 05. Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler) 06. Spoonful |
07. Life, Love and the Blues 08. Hoochie Coochie Gal 09. Cheating in the Next Room 10. If You Want Me to Stay 11. Love You Save (May Be Your Own) 12. I'll Take Care of You |
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01. Winter Wonderland 02. Jingle Bells 03. This Time of Year 04. Merry Christmas, Baby 05. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas 06. Santa Claus Is Coming to Town |
07. White Christmas 08. Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire) 09. Little Drummer Boy ["Carol of the Drum"] 10. Silent Night 11. Joy to the World 12. O Holy Night |
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01. You Don't Know What Love Is 02. Good Morning Heartache 03. My Old Flame 04. Say It Isn't So 05. At Last 06. Tenderly |
07. I Only Have Eyes for You 08. I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good) 09. You Go to My Head 10. Sunday Kind of Love 11. If It's the Last Thing I Do 12. Only Women Bleed |
