Etta James – Original Album Classics [5gd] (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. 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.
Tracklist:
CD1
01 Somebody to Love
02 The Blues is My Business
03 Leap of Faith
04 Strongest Weakness
05 Wayward Saints of Memphis
06 Lie No Better
07 Trust Yourself
08 A Change is Gonna Do Me Good
09 Old Weakness
10 Stacked Deck
11 On the 7th Day
12 Please, No More
CD2
01 This Bitter Earth
02 Hes Funny that Way
03 In My Solitude
04 There is No Greater Love
05 Dont Let the Sun Catch You Crying
06 Love Letters
07 These Foolish Things
08 Come Rain or Come Shine
09 Dont Worry bout Me
10 Cry Me A River
11 Dont Blame Me
12 My Man
13 Blue Gardenia
CD3
01 Gotta Serve Somebody
02 Dont Let My Baby Ride
03 Rhymes
04 Try A Little Tenderness
05 Miss You
06 Hawg for Ya
07 Youre Gonna Make Me Cry
08 Walking the Back Streets
09 Lets Straighten it Out
10 Born on the Bayou
11 Come Back Baby
12 Hound Dog
CD4
01 You Dont Know What Love is
02 Good Morning Heartache
03 My Old Flame
04 Say it Isnt So
05 At Last
06 Tenderly
07 I Only Have Eyes for You
08 I Got it Bad and that Aint Good
09 You Go to My Head
10 Sunday Kind of Love
11 If Its the Last Thing I Do
12 Only Women Bleed
CD5
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 & the Blues
08 Hoochie Coochie Gal
09 Cheating in the Next Room
10 If You Want Me to Stay
11 The Love You Save (May Be Your Own)
12 Ill Take Care of You
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