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Etta James RIP

UnherdUnherd 1,880 Posts
edited January 2012 in Strut Central




Hearing 'Pushover' in Tower Records when I was 14 really kick-started my love affair with soul music. RIP to one of the best to ever do it.

  Comments

  • bassiebassie 11,710 Posts
    Oh man. I knew it was coming, but it's hard when someone with so much fight in them goes down.
    It will be a sad sad weekend with plenty of her music.
  • minimini 880 Posts
    RIP
    One of my all time favorite singer.

  • batmonbatmon 27,574 Posts
    damn
  • DORDOR Two Ron Toe 9,903 Posts
    RIP

  • fishmongerfunkfishmongerfunk 4,154 Posts
    RIP

    can anyone reccomend a good biography on her?
  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
    She was so great.
    Saw her first about '82 or so in an exhibit hall at the Seattle Center. She had a pick up band with Kenny Grolenik, Leo Nocentelli, Mark Dalton, Leslie Milton and I forget who. She was mind melting great and destroyed the room with Blind Girl.

    Saw her a few years later open for James Brown, and numerous more times in the 80s and 90s in clubs. Always great.

    Got her start with Johnny Otis who we also just lost, so:
  • holmesholmes 3,532 Posts
    oh man, sad sad news, one of the absolute greatest, RIP Etta.
  • strataspherestratasphere Blastin' the Nasty 1,035 Posts
    R.I.P. Miss James. These threads have been popping up with regular frequency as of late.
  • minimini 880 Posts
  • The_Hook_UpThe_Hook_Up 8,182 Posts
    dang.
  • indyindy 58 Posts
    RIP Etta.

    At least she can jam with Mr. Otis again.

    Both will be deeply missed.
  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
    Poking around on yt today I found a 6+min clip of Etta, Grateful Dead, Tower of Power Horns doing Too Hot Too Handle. "I know lets do an Otis song with Etta but we wont play a back beat and we will play some country guitar licks that have nothing to do with the song, that will be cool."
  • pickwick33pickwick33 8,946 Posts
    crabmongerfunk said:
    RIP

    can anyone reccomend a good biography on her?

    Seek out her autobiography, Rage To Survive.
  • batmonbatmon 27,574 Posts
    how is Blue Gardenia her jazz covers joint?
  • AlmondAlmond 1,427 Posts
    RIP

    One of the greatest voices.
  • AlmondAlmond 1,427 Posts
    RIP

    One of the greatest voices.
  • KineticKinetic 3,739 Posts
    This was always my favourite song of hers - it's just sooo heavy.

  • neil_somethingneil_something 993 Posts


  • DocMcCoyDocMcCoy "Go and laugh in your own country!" 5,917 Posts
    I don't know where this sits in the pantheon of Etta tunes (it's actually a cover of a song from the Bee Gees' Odessa album), but the whole "doomed lover destined to walk the earth alone" atmosphere is tremendous, and it's been a favourite of mine for some time. It's a mark of the truly great singers that they're able to imbue material that might sometimes be less than top-drawer with qualities that can elevate it to new heights, and Etta was certainly one of those. RIP.

  • pickwick33pickwick33 8,946 Posts
    It's a mark of the truly great singers that they're able to imbue material that might sometimes be less than top-drawer with qualities that can elevate it to new heights, and Etta was certainly one of those.

    "All I Could Do Was Cry."

    With all due respect to Etta, the song is rather schlocky. The weepy background singers are a major reason why. But in real life, she'd just gotten dumped or rejected by Harvey Fuqua from the Moonglows. She didn't have to fake getting hurt; she knew the feeling first-hand that day. This song would have sounded flaky as hell coming from someone else (Lesley Gore?), but Etta made it mean something.
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