Today’s Memory – Amintirea zilei

”Nu poți falsifica această muzică. Ai putea fi un mare cântăreț sau un mare muzician, dar, la nevoie, n-are nimic de-a face cu asta. Este modul în care te conectezi la melodii și la istoria din spatele lor”

Etta James

Jamesetta Hawkins; 25 ianuarie 1938, Los Angeles – 20 ianuarie 2012, Riverside, California

 

Etta James a fost o cântăreață americană de blues, rock and roll, soul, jazz, gospel și R&B. Cunoscută pentru vocea sa gravă, caracteristică contraltelor, James și-a făcut debutul discografic în anul 1954, iar cele mai cunoscute cântece ale sale sunt At Last, Tell Mama, Something’s Got a Hold on Me, și I’d Rather Go Blind pentru care a scris și versurile.

A primit inițierea vocală la vârsta de cinci ani de la James Earl Hines, director muzical al corului Echoes of Eden al Bisericii Baptiste Sf. Paul din Los Angeles, devenind rapid atracția publicului.

Something’s Got A Hold On Me

În 1952 a format grupul de fete The Creolettes, l-a cunoscut pe muzicianul Johnny Otis, care a luat grupul sub aripa sa, ajutându-le să semneze un contract cu Modern Records și le-a schimbat titulatura în The Peaches. Totodată, a schimbat numele de scenă al Jamesettei în Etta James. Cântecul grupului, Dance with Me, Henry (âcris de James și pus pe muzica lui Hank Ballard) a fost un succes instantaneu în 1954.

În 1960, când contractul cu Modern a ajuns la final, a decis să semneze cu firma lui Leonard Chess, Chess Records și, la scurt timp, a început o relație cu Harvey Fuqua, fondatorul grupului doo-wop The Moonglows. Primele ei succese cu Fuqua au fost If I Can’t Have You și Spoonful. Primul ei hit individual a fost All I Could Do Was Cry, piesă care a atins locul al doilea în clasamentele R&B.

All I Could Do Is Cry

Albumul ei de debut, At Last!, a fost lansat la sfârșitul anului 1960 și a fost vestit pentru varietatea opțiunilor muzicale de la standard de jazz, ritmuri de blues până la doo-wop și R&B. Albumul conține și viitoarele piese devenite clasice I Just Want to Make Love to You și A Sunday Kind of Love.

A Sunday Kind of Love

Bob Murray (zis Taters) a făcut turnee cu Etta James timp de 20 de ani. A scris că James a scos primul single la 15 ani și că ieșea cu B.B. King când avea 16 ani. Etta credea că piesa de succes a lui King, Sweet Sixteen era despre ea.

Mai mult: https://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etta_James

 

Etta James – How Strong Is A Woman (Live At Montreux 1993)

 

***** [In English] *****

”You can’t fake this music. You might be a great singer or a great musician but, in the need, that’s got nothing to do with it. It’s how you connect to the songs and to the history behind them”

Etta James

Jamesetta Hawkins; January 25, 1938, Los Angeles, California – January 20, 2012

 

Etta James was a popular American rhythm-and-blues entertainer who in time became a successful ballad singer. Her style spanned a variety of music genres including blues, R&B, soul, rock and roll, jazz and gospel.

James was reared by foster parents until her mother (who was 14 when James was born) took her 12-year-old daughter to San Francisco. There Jamesetta formed a girl doo-wop trio called The Creolettes and Johnny Otis discovered them when she was 14. He helped them to singn with Modern Records, the were renamed The Peaches and changed the stage name of Jamesetta Hawkins in Etta James. The group’s song Dance with Me, Henry (cowritten by James and set to the music of Hank Ballard) was an instant success in 1954.

Etta James – Dance With Me Henry (1958 Version)

After signing (1960) with Chess Records, James became its first major female star, with such songs as All I Could Do Was Cry, Trust in Me, At Last, and Something’s Got a Hold on Me.

Etta James – At Last (Dancing with the Stars, 2009)

In 1967 she hit the charts again with the searing soul song Tell Mama. James left Chess in 1976 and began recording for other labels and touring. She was the opening act for the Rolling Stones in the late 1970s and early ’80s.

Etta James – Tell Mama (1967-68)

An addiction to heroin, which began in the 1960s, contributed to James’s up-and-down career, and even as she kicked that habit in the 1970s, she turned to cocaine.

Etta James – I’d Rather Be Blind (Live at Montreux 1975)

After a seven-year silence, in 1988 she recorded the album Seven Year Itch; she followed that with Stickin’ to My Guns (1990), 12 Songs of Christmas (1998), Let’s Roll (2003), and her last, The Dreamer (2011). Over the years James’s voice changed – growing rougher and deeper and losing its little-girl quality – and she became one of the first women to sing in the style that became soul. She continued to perform into the early 21st century.

James’s artistry was recognized with four Grammy Awards, including one in 2003 for lifetime achievement, as well as induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1993), the Blues Hall of Fame (2001), and the Grammy Hall of Fame (1999 and 2008). Her autobiography, Rage to Survive (cowritten with David Ritz), was published in 1995

More on: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etta_James

*****

 

Etta James does her version of Kiki Dee’s Sugar On The Floor

 

#todaysmemory #todayspersonality #EttaJames

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