Biography
by Mark Deming
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.
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/etta-james-mn0000806542/biography
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Biografía
por Mark Deming
Pocas estrellas femeninas del R&B gozaron del tipo de aclamación constante que Etta James recibió a lo largo de una carrera que abarcó seis décadas; el célebre productor Jerry Wexler la llamó en una ocasión "la más grande de todas las cantantes de blues modernas", y grabó una serie de éxitos perdurables, entre ellos "At Last", "Tell Mama", "I'd Rather Go Blind" y "All I Could Do Was Cry". Al mismo tiempo, a pesar de poseer una de las voces más potentes de la música, James tardó en ganarse la atención del gran público, apareciendo raramente en las listas de éxitos de pop a pesar de haber conseguido 30 éxitos de R&B, y vivió una vida agitada que podría haber inspirado una docena de telenovelas, luchando contra la drogadicción y las malas relaciones mientras sorteaba diversos problemas legales y de salud.
Etta James nació como Jamesetta Hawkins en Los Ángeles, California, el 25 de enero de 1938; su madre sólo tenía 14 años por aquel entonces y ella nunca conoció a su padre, aunque más tarde diría que tenía motivos para creer que era el conocido timador de billar Minnesota Fats. James fue criada por amigos y parientes en lugar de por su madre durante la mayor parte de su infancia, y fue mientras vivía con sus abuelos cuando empezó a asistir regularmente a una iglesia baptista. La voz de James la hizo natural para el coro y, a pesar de su corta edad, se convirtió en solista del grupo y apareció con ellos en emisiones de radio locales. A los 12 años, tras la muerte de su madre de acogida, James se encontró viviendo con su madre en San Francisco y, con la escasa supervisión de un adulto, empezó a caer en la delincuencia juvenil. Pero el amor de James por la música también iba en aumento, y con un par de amigas formó un grupo de canto llamado las Creolettes. Las chicas llamaron la atención del famoso director de orquesta Johnny Otis, y cuando éste escuchó su canción "Roll with Me Henry" -una respuesta picante a la infame "Work with Me Annie" de Hank Ballard-, consiguió que firmaran con Modern Records, y las Creolettes grabaron el tema bajo el nombre de The Peaches (el nuevo nombre procedía del apodo que Etta había recibido siempre). "Roll with Me Henry", rebautizada "The Wallflower", se convirtió en un éxito en 1955, aunque Georgia Gibbs lograría un éxito mayor con su versión, para consternación de Etta. Tras un segundo éxito de R&B, "Good Rockin' Daddy", las Peaches se separaron y James se independizó.
La carrera en solitario de James fue lenta y pasó varios años grabando sencillos de escaso éxito para Modern y haciendo giras por pequeños clubes hasta 1960, cuando Leonard Chess firmó con ella un nuevo contrato discográfico. James grabaría para Chess Records y sus sellos subsidiarios Argo y Checker hasta finales de los años 70 y, trabajando con los productores Ralph Bass y Harvey Fuqua, adoptó un estilo que fusionaba la pasión del R&B con la elegancia del jazz, y consiguió varios éxitos para el sello, como "All I Could Do Was Cry", "My Dearest Darling" y "Trust in Me". Mientras James disfrutaba del resurgimiento de su carrera, su vida personal no iba tan bien. Empezó a experimentar con las drogas cuando era adolescente y a los 21 años ya era heroinómana. A medida que avanzaban los años 60, le resultaba cada vez más difícil compaginar su adicción con su carrera, sobre todo porque se enfrentaba a sus productores en Chess, luchaba para que le pagaran los derechos de autor y se enfrentaba a una serie de relaciones sentimentales abusivas. La carrera de James cayó en picado a mediados de los 60, pero en 1967 empezó a grabar con el productor Rick Hall en los estudios FAME de Muscle Shoals (Alabama) y, adoptando un estilo más duro y descarnado, regresó a las listas de R&B con los temas "Tell Mama" y "I'd Rather Go Blind".
A principios de los 70, James había vuelto a caer de las listas de éxitos, su adicción hacía estragos y recurrió a la pequeña delincuencia para mantener su hábito. Ingresó en rehabilitación por orden judicial en 1973, el mismo año en que grabó un álbum orientado al rock, Only a Fool, con el productor Gabriel Mekler. Durante la mayor parte de los años 70, una sobria James se las apañó haciendo giras por pequeños clubes y tocando ocasionalmente en festivales de blues, y grabó para Chess con un éxito limitado, a pesar de la gran calidad de su trabajo. En 1978, los Rolling Stones, sus fans de toda la vida, rindieron homenaje a James invitándola a abrir algunos conciertos de su gira, y James firmó un contrato con Warner Bros. y grabó el álbum Deep in the Night con el productor Jerry Wexler. Aunque el álbum no se vendió bien, recibió críticas entusiastas y recordó a los fans serios del blues y el R&B que James seguía siendo una fuerza a tener en cuenta. Según cuenta ella misma, James volvió a caer en la adicción a las drogas tras involucrarse con un hombre adicto, y volvió a tocar en clubes cuando y donde podía hasta que volvió a recaer gracias a una estancia en el centro Betty Ford en 1988. Ese mismo año, James firmó con Island Records y grabó un potente álbum de regreso, Seven Year Itch, producido por Barry Beckett, de Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section. El álbum tuvo unas ventas respetables y James estaba decidida a mantener su carrera, actuando con frecuencia en directo y grabando con regularidad, publicando Stickin' to My Guns en 1990 y The Right Time en 1992.
En 1994, un año después de su ingreso en el Salón de la Fama del Rock and Roll, James firmó con el sello Private Music y grabó Mystery Lady: Songs of Billie Holiday, un homenaje a la gran vocalista a la que había citado durante mucho tiempo como una influencia clave; el álbum le valió a Etta su primer premio Grammy. La relación con Private Music resultó simpática, y entre 1995 y 2003 James grabó ocho álbumes para el sello, al tiempo que mantenía una apretada agenda de giras. En 2003, James publicó una autobiografía, Rage to Survive: The Etta James Story, y en 2008 fue interpretada en la pantalla por la moderna diva del R&B Beyoncé Knowles en Cadillac Records, una película vagamente basada en la historia de Chess Records. Knowles grabó una versión fiel de "At Last" para la banda sonora de la película, y más tarde interpretó la canción en el baile de investidura de Barack Obama en 2009; varios días después, James saltó a los titulares cuando durante un concierto dijo: "No soporto a Beyoncé, no tenía nada que hacer ahí arriba cantando mi canción que llevo cantando desde siempre". (Más tarde, esa misma semana, James declaró a The New York Times que la declaración pretendía ser una broma - "en realidad no quería decir nada... incluso de pequeña, siempre he tenido esa actitud de comediante"-, pero que le entristecía que no la hubieran invitado a interpretar la canción).
En 2010, James fue hospitalizada por infecciones relacionadas con el SARM, y se reveló que había recibido tratamiento por su dependencia de los analgésicos y que se le había diagnosticado la enfermedad de Alzheimer, que según su hijo era la causa probable de sus arrebatos con respecto a Knowles. James lanzó The Dreamer, para Verve Forecast en 2011. Afirmó que era su último álbum de material nuevo. Etta James fue diagnosticada con leucemia terminal a finales de ese año, y murió el 20 de enero de 2012 en Riverside, California, a la edad de 73 años.
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/etta-james-mn0000806542/biography
CD1
01. All I Could Do Is Cry
02. My Dearest Darling
03. If I Can't Have You
04. I Just Want to Make Love To You
05. Anything to Say You're Mine
06. In My Diary
07. Spoonful
08. A Sunday Kind of Love
09. At Last
10. Stormy Weather
11. Trust In Me
12. Don't Cry Baby
13. Fool That I Am
14. One For My Baby (And One More For the Road)
15. Waiting for Charlie (to Come Home)
16. Don't Get Around Much Anymore
17. Next Door to the Blues
18. I Don't Want It
19. Something's Got a Hold On Me
20. Stop the Wedding
21. These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You)
22. You Got Me Where You Want Me
23. I Want to Be Loved (But Only By You)
24. Prisoner of Love
25. Pushover
26. Be Honest With Me
CD2
01. Would It Make Any Difference to You
02. Look Who's Blue
03. Payback
04. Two Sides (To Every Story)
05. At Last (Live)
06. Baby What You Want Me To Do (Live)
07. Lovin' You More Every Day
08. I Wish Someone Would Care
09. Bobby Is His Name
10. Only Time Will Tell
11. (I Don't Need Nobody To Tell Me) How To Treat My Baby
12. In the Basement, Part 1
13. Lover Man (Oh, Where Can He Be?)
14. Do I Make Myself Clear
15. I Prefer You
16. It Must Be Your Love
17. 842-3089 (Call My Name)
18. I'd Rather Go Blind
19. Tell Mama
20. Do Right Woman, Do Right Man
21. Security
22. I Worship the Ground You Walk On
23. You Took It
24. Almost Persuaded
25. You Got It
26. Light My Fire
CD3
01. Slow and Easy
02. Soul of a Man
03. Miss Pitiful
04. Finders Keepers, Losers Weepers
05. I Found A Love
06. W.O.M.A.N.
07. Never My Love
08. I Never Meant to Love Him
09. You Lost That Lovin' Feelin'
10. Sail Away
11. Down So Low
12. All the Way Down
13. God's Song (That's Why I Love Mankind)
14. Feelin' Uneasy
15. St. Louis Blues
16. Gonna Have Some Fun Tonight
17. Let's Burn Down the Cornfield
18. Sookie Sookie
19. Out On the Street Again
20. Lovin' Arms
2000
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