BREAKING NEWS: Deputy Coroner IDs fatalities in Wednesday morning wreck on Brushy Creek Road
1/18/2012
By DAVID BRELAND
Herald Staff
Three Greene County High students were killed in a Wednesday morning car accident on Brushy Creek Road, deputy coroner Johnny Coaker reports.
Codi Henderson, Dillard Craig Reed, and Christopher Brent Nicholson were pronounced dead at the scene, Coaker said. Also injured in the accident were Jojo Lister and R.T. Green, who were transported by air to University of South Alabama Medical Center, Mississippi Highway Patrolman Corporal Todd Miller said.
The five boys were driving in a late model Chevrolet pickup truck traveling southbound on Brushy Creek Road, near Dueitt Road. The truck left the roadway approaching a curve, where the driver apparently lost control of the vehicle. The truck rolled several times, striking an electrical pole before coming to rest back on the roadway. Several of the occupants were thrown from the vehicle, it is not known at this time which occupants, if any, were wearing seatbelts
A nearby resident came upon the wreck and called emergency officials. MHP troopers, along with the Greene County Sheriff’s Office and volunteer firefighters, responded to the scene and began assessing and treating the vehicle passengers.
A full report on the accident and the individuals involved will be featured in next week's issue of the Greene County Herald.
first,sorry I did not report my brother james's birtday,he is now 2 yrs older than me for 7 days, we are 1yr. 7 days apart.he is not only my brother,but best friend,had a great childhood together growing up.take a bullet for him in a minute.
bill had a very good report yesterday,love it.thinking about a fb newspaper,tersa a nd elwin could do the farm report,brenda and david,antiques,netta and mike entertainment in houston,kathy WORLD news,jonell la.today,cindy colorado inside report,diane food and animal report,mack music interest,byron jr.big amy, timmie,terry,tailgate report bill sports world,julie,famous quotes.debbie and I on how to have 3 conversation going at once on fb.have a good wednesday!!!
VIDEO SHOOT THIS SATURDAY WITH ME LOCO Eklass Manrique Thierry Mambaye Rizzy Reem and Mikey Moolah DIRECTED BY David Uttam Lawlor #PROVIDENCEFRIARS ARE YOULL READY
Don't forget the going away party in the Cove Bar tomorrow night for the lads heading to Australia... Christopher Lawlor, David Kiely, Brian Fitzgerald and Tone Hogan.
Caigalen al Delorean con David Herrero este 17 de Febrero a las 10pm se va a poner boom ya!. Buena musica para la banda. Saturday, February 18 at 6:00am at D E L O R E A N | santuario sonoro
Watching our pal Tom Lawlor on the clip below reminded us of one of the funniest moments ever on "TUF" KO EDIT: Took out the long, drawn out intro and credits for you guys!
Crush My Boyyfranndd Ethan Jamess Chandlerrr
Favorite ex? uhmm nonee
Most hated ex? DAVID ANTHONYYY
Booy of my dreams? ETHANNN JAMESS CHANDLERR
The Boy I value most? Ethann
Best Friends?ALEXISS,CECE
Birthdays today; Empress Pulcheria of Byzantine 399, philosopher Dogen Kigen 1200, composer Jacques Huyn 1613, historian Noel Alexandre 1639, composers John Weldon 1676 & Girolamo Chiti 1679, philosopher Hakuin Ekaku 1686, inventor James Watt & politician Laurens Pieter van de Spiegel 1736, writer Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre 1737, architect Joseph Bonomi the elder 1739, composer Melchor Lopez Jimenez 1760, politician Pavel Kiselyov 1788, poet Per Daniel Amadeus Atterbom 1790, philosopher Auguste Comte 1798, politician Sylvain van de Weyer 1802, composer Vaclav Jindrich Veit 1806, educator Robert E Lee 1807, philosopher Lysander Spooner 1808, poet Edgar Allan Poe 1809, engineer Henry Bessemer 1813, politician Henry Gray 1816, poet Carlos Guido y Spano 1827, composers Ferdinnd Laub & Salvador Giner Vidal 1832, surgeon William Williams Keen 1837, painter Paul Cezanne & composer Bohumal Pazdirek 1839, politician John Fitzwilliam Stairs 1848, educator David Starr Jordan & astronomer Johannes C Kapteyn 1851, playwright Eugene Brieux 1858, botanist Alice Eastwood 1859, actor Harry Davenport 1866, writer Gustav Meyrink 1868, politician Alfred R Zimmerman 1869, writer Hans E Blaich 1873, writers Marie Koenen & Boris Savinkov 1879, conductor Hermann Abendroth 1883, composer Louis Wolff 1884, critic Alexander Woollcott 1887, politician Olafur Thors 1892, designer Natacha Rambova 1897, composer Herbert Sumsion 1899, writer Heinrich Schmidt-Barrien 1902, politrician Alfred Beit 1903, neurosurgeon James W Watts 1904, producer Anne Schumacher Hummer & publisher Oveta Culp Hobbyt 1905, singer Lanny Ross & actor Lilian Harvey 1906, comedian Ish Kabbible & mathematician Aleksandr Gennadievich Kurosh 1908, bass-baritone Hans Hotter 1909, mathematician Leonid Kantorovich & politician Sjeng Tans 1912, poet Rex Ingamells, writer Phyllis Flowerdew & actor Tony Dexter 1913, bluegrassman Lester Flatt 1914, composer Rudolf Maros 1917, publisher John H Johnson 1918, politician Javier Perez de Cuellar 92, writer Patricia Highsmith 1921, director Ken Hughes & actors Guy Madison 1922 & Jean Stapleton 89, spy Markus Wolf 1923, writer Jean-Francois Revel & actor Nicholas Colasanto 1924, writers Nina Bawden 87 & Libera Carlier & actor Fritz Weaver 86, composer Edward Gerard Schurmann 84, actor Tippi Hedren 82, newscaster Robert MacNeil & politician Ron Packard 81, director Richard Lester & NFLer Joe Schmidt 80, composer Elliott Schwartz 76, politician Denny Smith 74, composer Eskil Hemberg 1938, singer Phil Everly 73, politician Barend J Du Plessis 72, comedian Mike Reid & judge Paolo Borsellino 1940, actors Tony Anholt 1941 & Michael Crawford 1942, actor Petchara Chaowarat 69, singers Janis Joplin 1943 & Laurie London & actor Shelly Fabares 68, composer Per Henrik Nordgren & 1944, composer Paul Amirkhanian, singer Rod Evans & director Vedim Abdrashitov 67, writer Julian Barnes, cosmonaut Aleksandr V Shchukin & singer Dolly Parton 66, journalist Ann Compton, director Alessandro Haber & chef Paula Deen 65, rocker Harvey Hinsley 64, singer Robert Palmer 1949, actor Sebastien Dhavernas & politician Grant Nordman 62, rocker Dewey Bunnell 60, actors Desi Arnaz Jr & Linda Hayden & politician Richard Legendre 59, photographer Cindy Sherman & actors Katharina Thalbach & Katey Sagal 58, comedian Paul Rodriguez & conductor Simon Rattle 57, singer Carman 56, rocker Mickey Virtue & politician Kenneth McClintock 55, actors William Ragsdale, Paul McCrane 51 & Anthony Edwards 50, singer Caron Wheeler & journalist Martin Bashir 49, artist Janine Antoni & singers Ricardo Arjona 48 & Lena Philipsson & tennis star Stefan Edberg 46, actors Javier Camara & Christine Tucci 45, rocker Whitfield Crane 44, writer Edwidge Danticat 43, comedian Udo Suzuki 42, singer John Wozniak & actors Shawn Wayans 41, Drea de Mateo & Joana Benedek 40, comedian Aaron Yonda & cellist Antero Manninen 39, comedian Frank Caliendo 38, producer Noah Georgeson 37, director Taliesin Jaffe & singers Nicole & Cocco 35, gymnast Svetlana Khorkina & rapper Wiley 33, singers Kotoko 32 & Angela Chang & actor Jodie Sweetin 30, singers Hikaru Utada 29 & Rika Ishikawa 27, actors Erin Sanders 21 & Logan Lerman 20
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlTodFRpJhc Absolute beauty of a latino banger for the summer 2011. Listen for yourself!!! Available NOW on CABALLERO RECORDS. I do not own the copyright, I aim to promo...
RIP ETTA JAMES>>>>>Etta James (born Jamesetta Hawkins on January 25, 1938) is an American blues, soul, R&B, rock & roll, gospel and jazz singer and songwriter. James is the winner of four Grammys and seventeen Blues Music Awards. She was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1993, the Blues Hall of Fame in 2001, and the Grammy Hall of Fame in both 1999 and 2008. In the 1950s and '60s, she had her biggest success as a blues and R&B singer. She is best known for performing "At Last", which has been featured in many movies, television shows, commercials, and web-streaming services since its release. James has a contralto vocal range.
Early life
Jamesetta Hawkins was born in Los Angeles, California, to an unmarried 14-year-old African-American, Dorothy Hawkins. She claimed that her mother told her that her father was a pool player Rudolf "Minnesota Fats" Wanderone, who was Caucasian.
She received her first professional vocal training at the age of five, from James Earle Hines, musical director of the Echoes of Eden choir, at the St. Paul Baptist Church in Los Angeles.
James's family moved to San Francisco in 1950, and James soon teamed up with two other girls to form a doo-wop singing group. When the girls were 14 years old, band leader Johnny Otis had them audition; they sang an answer to Hank Ballard's "Work With Me, Annie," called "Roll With Me Henry." Otis particularly liked the song and, without her mother's permission, James and the duo went to Los Angeles to record it, in 1954. The song was recorded under the Modern Records label. By this time, the trio had renamed the song "The Wallflower (Dance with Me, Henry)." It was released in 1955. James named her vocal group "The Peaches." Richard Berry, a Los Angeles doo-wop luminary, is featured on some of the group's records.
James married Artis Mills. She has two sons, Donto and Sametto James, and several grandchildren.
Discovery
There are at least two versions of how Johnny Otis discovered Etta James. Otis's version is that she came to his hotel room after one of his performances in San Francisco and persuaded him to audition her (this is the version that Johnny tells to this day). Another frequently told story is that Otis spotted her performing in an L.A. nightclub with The Peaches and, having conceived of the answer song to Hank Ballard's "Work With Me, Annie," arranged with the Bihari brothers for Modern Records to record "The Wallflower" with James. "The Wallflower" reached #2 on the rhythm and blues charts in February 1955, but was undercut in the wider market by a rushed-out cover version by Georgia Gibbs, on Mercury Records. In fact, the very first time she was recorded in studio, they used the first take she recorded and it became #1 on the "Top 100" songs in the nation. "The Wallflower"'s royalties were divided between Ballard, James and Otis, and its huge success attracted the attention of the R&B world, resulting in James going on tour with Little Richard. On the tour, according to James, she witnessed and experienced situations to which minors are not usually privy.
Music career
Early success: 1955 ? 1959
"The Wallflower" was a #1 hit on the R&B charts of 1955. The song was later a hit in the white market for Georgia Gibbs, written as "Dance with Me, Henry" and rewritten as "The Wallflower" according to her book "Etta James". The song was featured in the 1985 movie Back To The Future in one of the diner scenes. Soon after the song's success, The Peaches and Etta parted company, but this did not halt her career. She continued to record and release albums throughout much of the decade, and enjoyed more success. Her follow-up, "Good Rockin' Daddy" was released and became another hit in the fifties. Other songs however, such as "Tough Lover" and "W-O-M-A-N" failed to gain any significant success at all. James toured with Johnny "Guitar" Watson and Otis Redding in the fifties and has cited Watson as the most significant influence on her style.
Breakthrough and the Chess years: 1960 ? 1978
In 1960, James signed a recording contract with Chess Records, signing with their subsidiary label, Argo Records (she later also recorded for their other subsidiary label, Cadet). James began to have major hits off the label, first with a pair of duets with her then husband and singer, Harvey Fuqua; "If I Can't Have You" and "Spoonful." She had her first major solo hit with the R&B-styled tune, "All I Could Do Was Cry." The song quickly went up the Billboard R&B Chart, peaking at #2 in 1960. This was followed by the Top 5 R&B hit, "My Dearest Darling" the same year. Around the same time, James also sang background vocals on Chuck Berry's hit, "Back in the USA." That same year, James released her debut album off Chess entitled, At Last!. It featured all of James' hits between 1960 and 1961, and also included a few standards, such as Lena Horne's "Stormy Weather", "I Just Want to Make Love to You," and "A Sunday Kind of Love." The album showed James' choices of a large varieties of music.
Chess Records head producer, Leonard Chess imagined James as a classic ballad stylist who had potential to cross over onto the Pop charts. Chess began backing James up on her recording sessions with violins and other string instruments, which was first seen on her 1961 hit, "At Last." The song went to #2 on the Billboard R&B chart in 1961, and also peaked at #47 on the Billboard Pop Chart, ultimately becoming her signature song. Although it wasn't as successful as expected on the Pop charts, it did become the most remembered version of the song. In 1961, James had another major hit with "Trust in Me," which also featured string instruments. Also in 1961, James released a second studio album, The Second Time Around, an album inspired by Soul music. The album took the same direction as her previous album, covering many Pop standards, and using strings on many of the songs. The album spawned a Top 15 hit, "The Fool That I Am" and a minor hit on the Pop chart, "Don't Cry Baby."
In 1962, James had three major hits, beginning with the Gospel-inspired, "Something's Got a Hold on Me," which peaked at #4 on the R&B chart, and also reached the Pop Top 40. Another single, "Stop the Wedding" followed and reached #6. In 1963, James cut and released her first live album, Etta James Rocks the House, which was cut in Nashville, Tennessee at the New Era Club. In 1963, James had a another Top 10 R&B hit with, "Pushover," which also made the Pop Top 25, and was ultimately one of Etta's two biggest Billboard hits on the Hot 100. "Pushover" also hit #11 on influential pop music station WMCA in New York during May, 1963. It was followed by two other singles that year that were minor hits on the Pop chart, "Pay Back" and "Two Sides (To Every Story)." That year she released her third album, Etta James Top Ten. Within the next year, James scored another Top 10 hit with "Loving You More Each Day" (which also reached #65 on the Pop chart) and had a Top 40 hit with "Baby What You Want Me to Do."
In the mid-1960s, James began to battle a heroin addiction, which would last up until 1974. For years, James would spend much time in and out of Los Angeles' Tarzana Psychiatric Hospital. However, James began recording again in 1967 and achieved her biggest hit in years, "Tell Mama," which reached the R&B Top 10 and #23 on the Hot 100. An album of the same name, produced by Rick Hall at his then-hot Fame studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, also featured a rendition of Otis Redding's song, "Security" which peaked at #11 on the R&B chart. Although she wasn't as successful as she had been, James remained a large concert attraction. She continued to have R&B Top 40 hits up until the mid 1970s, with "Loser Weepers" (an album of the same name was released in 1971) and then with "I Found a Love" in 1972.
James released a new album in 1973 that was self-titled and spawned two minor hits. Produced by Gabriel Mekler, who had previously worked with Steppenwolf and Janis Joplin, the album musically was an ambitious mix of soul, blues, jazz and rock and it was nominated for a Grammy award the following year.. Mekler produced a follow-up album called "Out On The Street Again" in 1974. Again critically acclaimed, this also produced only minor hits. Despite the death of Leonard Chess, James recorded for the label up until 1978, and began using more Rock based songs in her albums. She released her final two albums for Chess in 1978, Etta Is Betta Than Evah and Deep in the Night. That year, James also opened tour dates in the United States for The Rolling Stones and also played at the Montreaux Jazz Festival.
Later career: 1988 ? 1999
For seven years during the 1980s James' career stalled, however by 1989 she made her comeback with an album, Seven Year Itch, released by Island Records; her first recording contract in that span of time. James found a way to bring back her older raw sound she had used on previous albums. The album was produced by keyboardist, Barry Beckett and was recorded at Alabama's famous Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, where James had recorded previous major hits, such as "I'd Rather Go Blind." The album also helped James reunite with producer Jerry Wexler, who worked with James on her 1978 release, Deep in the Night, and also produced many of Aretha Franklin's records. James released a subsequent album in 1989 off of Island records entitled, Stickin' to My Guns, where she once again recorded at the Muscle Shoals recording studio.
Etta James in 1990
The same year, James also collaborated with Delicious Vinyl rap artist Def Jef for the song and Hip Hop Dance classic "Droppin Rhymes on Drums" This record not only bridged the gap between the jazz musician and hip hop artist but also triggered the Hip Hop style of dance made popular by The Soul Brothers Dance Group during the Golden Era of Hip Hop from 1988-1994.
In 1992, James released her next album, The Right Time off of Elektra Records, where she again worked with Jerry Wexler. James then released a tribute album in 1993, Mystery Lady: Songs of Billie Holiday dedicated to one of her musical inspirations, Billie Holiday. The album was her first album for the Private Music label and also set the trend for a few albums James would release within the decade that would go in a Jazz direction. James was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in 1993. The album earned James her first Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Performance in 1994. The following year, James published her autbiography co-written with David Ritz titled, A Rage to Survive. The same year, James released a Soul-inspired studio album, Time After Time also produced with Jerry Wexler. In 1998, she released her first Holiday album, Etta James Christmas, off of Private Music.
To a younger generation, Etta is known for the Muddy Waters song "I Just Wanna Make Love to You", used in television commercials for Coca-Cola and for John Smith's bitter (beer). The Rolling Stones, Chuck Berry and Foghat have also recorded the song. Etta's version was a surprise Top 10 UK hit in 1996.
The Modern era: 2000 ? present
James continued to record for Private music into the new millennium, finding her next release to be Matriarch of the Blues. It was given much praise from music articles and magazines, such as Rolling Stone Magazine, which said, "A solid return to roots, Matriarch of the Blues finds Etta James reclaiming her throne---and defying anyone to knock her off it." In 2001, she was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame and also was inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. In 2003, she received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Her next album the following year, Blue Gardenia was another return to a Jazz music style. That same year, she also released her third live album, Burnin' Down the House: Live at the House of Blues, which was recorded at the House of Blues in West Hollywood, California. Two years later, she released her final album for Private Music, Let's Roll, which won James another Grammy in 2005 for Best Contemporary Blues Album.
In 2004, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked her #62 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. Etta James performs at the top world jazz festivals in the world, such as the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1977, 1989, 1990 and 1993, performed nine times at the legendary Monterey Jazz Festival, and the San Francisco Jazz Festival five times. She also performs often at free city outdoor summer arts festivals throughout the US.
James was portrayed by R&B singer and actress Beyonc? Knowles in the film Cadillac Records, which was released to theatres on December 5, 2008. The film is loosely based on the rise and fall of James' record label, Chess Records, and how producer Leonard Chess helped the career of James and her other counterparts at the label, although the film fails to reflect the fact that James was already a successful hit-recording artist before she joined Chess, and was not discovered by Leonard Chess as portrayed. In fact, James's songs performed worse on the charts after she joined Chess. Also, contrary to the impression created in the film, it is doubtful that James and Chess were lovers. Others portrayed in Cadillac Records include Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter and Willie Dixon.
On April 7, 2009, Etta James appeared on Dancing with the Stars as a guest performer, singing her classic hit from 1961 "At Last" at age 71.
In Memphis Tennessee on May 7, 2009, the Blues Foundation awarded Etta James the 2009 Soul/Blues Female Artist of the Year - making Etta a nine times winner of this prestigious award.
James lives today in Riverside, California.
Musicianship
Musical style
James' musical style has changed in various ways during the course of her career. When beginning her recording career in the mid-50s, James was marketed as an R&B and doo wop singer. After signing with Chess Records in 1960, James broke through as a traditional pop-styled singer, covering jazz and pop music standards on her debut album, At Last. However during the late 60s, her style took a different musical approach with her 1968 Tell Mama, with upbeat soul-inspired songs, including covers of Otis Redding's "Security" and Jimmy Hughes' "Don't Lose Your Good Thing". James' voice has deepened and coarsened in the past ten years, moving her musical style in these later years into the genres of soul and jazz.
Influence
Etta James had once been considered one of the most overlooked Blues and R&B musicians in American music history. It wasn't until the early 1990s when James began receiving major industry awards from the Grammys and the Blues Foundation that she began to receive wide recognition. In recent years, she has been seen as bridging the gap between rhythm and blues and rock and roll. James has influenced a wide variety of American musicians including Janis Joplin, Diana Ross, Shemekia Copeland, Alex Mills, Rod Stewart,Christina Aguilera and even Hayley Williams of Paramore as well as British artists The Rolling Stones and Adele.
Personal life
Substance abuse
James encountered a string of legal problems during the early '70s due to her heroin addiction. James was continuously in and out of rehabilitation centers, including the Tarzana Rehabilitation Center, in Los Angeles, California. Her husband Artis Mills, whom she married in 1969, took the fall when they were both arrested for heroin possession and served a 10 year prison sentence. He was released from prison in 1982 and the couple is still married today. James was also arrested around the same time for her drug addiction, accused of passing bad checks, forgery and drug possession of heroin. In 1974, James was sentenced to drug treatment instead of serving time in prison. James was in the Tarzana Psychiatric Hospital for 17 months, at age 35, and went through much struggle in the beginning of treatment. James later stated in her autobiography that the time she spent in the hospital changed her life. However after leaving treatment, James' substance abuse continued into the 1980s, after she developed a relationship with a man who was also using drugs. It wasn't until 1988, at age 50, when James entered the Betty Ford Center, in Palm Springs, California, for treatment that James conquered her drug problem. She claims to have been sober ever since, though she has been known to drink wine onstage at concerts.
Awards
Grammy history
Etta James Grammy Award History
Year
Category
Title
Genre
Label
Result
2008
Grammy Hall of Fame
"The Wallflower" (aka "Roll With Me Henry")
R&B
Argo (1961)
Inducted
2004
Best Traditional Blues Album
Blues To The Bone
Blues
RCA Victor
Winner
2003
Best Contemporary Blues Album
Let's Roll
Blues
Private Music
Winner
2002
Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award
Winner
1999
Grammy Hall of Fame
"At Last"
R&B
Argo (1961)
Inducted
1994
Best Jazz Vocal Performance
Mystery Lady (Songs of Billie Holiday)
Jazz
Private Music
Winner
The Blues Foundation Awards
Etta James: Blues Music Awards
Year
Category
Title
Result
2009
Soul/Blues-Female Artist of the Year
Winner
2007
Traditional Blues Female Artist of the Year
Winner
2006
Traditional Blues Female Artist of the Year
Winner
2004
Soul/Blues Album of the Year
Let's Roll
Winner
Soul/Blues-Female Artist of the Year
Winner
2003
Soul/Blues Album of the Year
Burnin' Down The House
Winner
Soul/Blues-Female Artist of the Year
Winner
2002
Soul/Blues-Female Artist of the Year
Winner
2001
Blues Hall of Fame
Inducted
Soul/Blues-Female Artist of the Year
Winner
2000
Soul/Blues Female Artist of the Year
Winner
1999
Soul/Blues Album of the Year
Life, Love, & The Blues
Winner
Soul/Blues Female Artist of the Year
Winner
1996
Soul/Blues - Female Artist of the Year
Winner
1995
Contemporary Blues-Female Artist of the Year
Winner
1994
Female Blues Vocalist of the Year
Winner
Soul/Blues Female Artist of the Year
Winner
1992
Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year
Winner
1989
Contemporary Blues Female Artist
Winner
Other awards
Etta James Award History
Year
Company
Category
Result
2006
Billboard
R&B Founders Award
Winner
2003
Hollywood Chamber of Commerce
Hollywood Walk of Fame
Star at 7080 Hollywood Blvd.
Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI)
Lifetime Achievement Award
Winner
1993
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame & Museum
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Inducted
1990
NAACP
NAACP Image Award
Winner
1989
Rhythm and Blues Foundation
Pioneer Award
Winner
"Sunday Kind Of Love" performed by Etta James.
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Jamesetta Hawkins was born on January 25, 1938, in Los Angeles to Dorothy Hawkins, who was only 14 at the time. Her father has never been identified, but was rumored possibly to be white (Caucasian).[6] James speculated that her father was the pool player, Rudolf "Minnesota Fats" Wanderone, and met him briefly in 1987.[7] Due to her mother being often absent carrying on relationships with various men, James lived with a series of caregivers, most notably "Sarge" and "Mama" Lu. James called her mother "the Mystery Lady".[6]
James received her first professional vocal training at the age of five from James Earle Hines, musical director of the Echoes of Eden choir, at the St. Paul Baptist Church in Los Angeles. She became a popular singing attraction at the church, and Sarge tried to pressure the church into paying him money for her singing, but they refused. During drunken poker games at home, he would wake James up in the early hours of the morning and force her through beatings to sing for his friends. As she was a bed-wetter, and often soaked with her own urine on these occasions, the trauma of being forced to sing meant she had a life-long reluctance to sing on demand.[8]
In 1950 Mama Lu died, and James' real mother took her to the Fillmore district in San Francisco.[9] Within a couple of years, James began listening to doo-wop and was inspired to form a girl group, called the Creolettes (due to the members' light skinned complexions). The 14-year-old girls met musician Johnny Otis. Stories on how they met vary including Otis' version in which James had come to his hotel after one of his performances in the city and persuaded him to audition her. Another story came that Otis spotted the group performing at a Los Angeles nightclub and sought them to record his "answer song" to Hank Ballard's "Work With Me, Annie". Nonetheless, Otis took the group under his wing, helping them sign to Modern Records and changing their name from the Creolettes to the Peaches and gave the singer her stage name reversing Jamesetta into Etta James. James recorded the version, which she was allowed to co-author, in 1954, and the song was released in early 1955 as "Dance with Me, Henry". Originally the name of the song was "Roll With Me, Henry" but was changed to avoid censorship due to the subtle title. In February of that year, the song reached number one on the Hot Rhythm & Blues Tracks chart.[10] Its success gave the group an opening spot on Little Richard's national tour.[11]
While on tour with Richard, pop singer Georgia Gibbs recorded her version of James' song, which was released under the title "The Wallflower", and became a crossover hit, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100, which angered James. After leaving the Peaches, James had another R&B hit with "Good Rockin' Daddy", but struggled with follow-ups. When her contract with Modern came up in 1960, she decided to sign with Leonard Chess' namesake label, Chess Records, and shortly afterwards got involved in a relationship with singer Harvey Fuqua, founder of the doo-wop group, The Moonglows.
Bobby Murray aka "Taters" toured with Etta James for 20 years. He wrote that James had her first hit single when she was 15 years of age and went steady with B.B. King when she was 16. Etta James believed the hit single "Sweet Sixteen" by B.B. King was about her.[12]
Chess years: 1960–1978
James was put on the Chess subsidiary label Argo (and later recorded with another subsidiary, Cadet) and had her first hit singles under duets with Fuqua including "If I Can't Have You" and "Spoonful". Her first solo hit was the doo-wop styled rhythm and blues number, "All I Could Do Was Cry", becoming a number two R&B hit.[13] Leonard Chess had envisioned James as a classic ballad stylist who had potential to cross over to the pop charts and soon surrounded the singer with violins and other string instruments.[13] The first string-laden ballad James recorded was "My Dearest Darling", which peaked in the top five of the R&B chart. James was notable singing background vocals on label mate Chuck Berry's "Back in the USA".[14]
Vinyl recording of "At Last"/"I Just Want to Make Love"
Her debut album, At Last!, was released in late 1960 and was noted for its varied choice in music from jazz standards to blues numbers to doo-wop and R&B.[15] The album also included James' future classic, "I Just Want to Make Love to You" and "A Sunday Kind of Love". In early 1961, James released what has become her signature song, "At Last", which reached number two on the R&B chart and number 47 on the Billboard Hot 100. Though the song wasn't as successful as expected, it has become the most remembered version of the song.[14] James followed that up with "Trust in Me", which also included string instruments.[13] Later that same year, James released a second studio album, The Second Time Around. The album took the same direction as her previous album, covering many jazz and pop standards, and using strings on many of the songs spawning two hit singles, "The Fool That I Am" and "Don't Cry Baby".[16]
James started adding gospel elements in her music the following year releasing "Something's Got a Hold on Me", which peaked at number four on the R&B chart and was also a top 40 pop hit.[17] That success was quickly followed by "Stop the Wedding", which reached number six on the R&B charts and also had gospel elements.[14] In 1963, she had another major hit with "Pushover" and released the live album, Etta James Rocks the House, which was recorded at the New Era Club in Nashville, Tennessee.[13] After a couple years scoring minor hits, James' career started to suffer after 1965. After a period of isolation, James returned to recording in 1967 and reemerged with more ballsy R&B numbers thanks to her recording at the legendary Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama releasing her comeback hit "Tell Mama", which was co-written by Clarence Carter and reached number ten R&B and number twenty three pop. An album of the same name was also released that year and included her take of Otis Redding's "Security".[18] The B-side of "Tell Mama" was "I'd Rather Go Blind", which became a blues classic in its own right and was recorded by many other artists. She wrote in her autobiography Rage To Survive that she heard the song outlined by her friend Ellington "Fugi" Jordan when she visited him in prison.[19] According to her account, she wrote the rest of the song with Jordan, but for tax reasons gave her songwriting credit to her partner at the time, Billy Foster.
Following this success, James became an on-demand concert performer though she never again reached the heyday of her early-to-mid 1960s success. She continued to chart in the R&B Top 40 in the early 1970s with singles such as "Losers Weepers" (1970) and "I Found a Love" (1972). Though James continued to record for Chess, she was devastated by the death of Chess founder Leonard Chess in 1969. James ventured into rock and funk with the release of her self-titled album in 1973 with production from famed rock producer Gabriel Mekler, who had worked with Steppenwolf and Janis Joplin, who had admired James and had covered "Tell Mama" in concert. The album, known for its mixtures of musical styles, was nominated for a Grammy Award.[18] The album didn't produce any major hits, neither did the follow-up, Out On the Street Again, in 1974, though like Etta James before it, the album was also critically acclaimed. James continued to record for Chess releasing two more albums in 1978, Etta Is Betta Than Evah and Deep in the Night, which saw the singer incorporating more rock-based music in her repertoire.[13] That same year, James was the opening act for The Rolling Stones and also performed at the Montreal Jazz Festival. Following this brief success, however, she left Chess Records and didn't record for another ten years as she struggled with drug addiction and alcoholism for the better part of a decade.
Later career: 1988–2012
Etta James in 1990
Though she continued to perform, little was heard of Etta James until 1987 when she was seen performing "Rock & Roll Music" with Chuck Berry on his "Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll" documentary. In 1989, James signed with Island Records and released the album, The Seven Year Itch, which was noted for bringing back the older raw sound of previous records.[17] The album was produced by Jerry Wexler, who had worked on Deep in the Night.[14] She released a second album in 1989 titled Stickin' to My Guns. Both albums were recorded at FAME Studios.[18] James participated in rap singer Def Jef for the song "Droppin' Rhymes on Drums", which mixed James' jazz vocals with hip-hop. In 1992, James released The Right Time on Elektra Records and the following year, James was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.[10] James signed with Private Music Records in 1993 and recorded the Billie Holiday tribute album, Mystery Lady: Songs of Billie Holiday.[17] The album later set a trend for James' music to incorporate more jazz elements.[13] The album won James her first Grammy Awards for best jazz vocal performance in 1994. In 1995, she released the David Ritz-co authored autobiography, A Rage to Survive, and recorded the album, Time After Time. Three years later she issued the Christmas album, Etta James Christmas, in 1998.[13]
By the mid-1990s, James' earlier classic music was included in commercials including, most notably, "I Just Wanna Make Love to You". Due to exposure of the song in a UK commercial, the song reached the top ten of the UK charts in 1996.[10] Continuing to record for Private Music, she released the blues album, Matriarch of the Blues, in 2000, which had James returning to her R&B roots with Rolling Stone hailing it as a "solid return to roots", further stating that the album found the singer "reclaiming her throne - and defying anyone to knock her off it."[17] In 2001, she was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame and the Rockabilly Hall of Fame, the latter for her contributions to the developments of both rock and roll music and rockabilly. In 2003, she received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Her 2004 release, Blue Gardenia, returned James to a jazz music style. James' final album for Private Music, Let's Roll, was released in 2005 and won James a Grammy for best contemporary blues album.[20]
Etta James performing in San Jose, California in 2000
In 2004, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked her #62 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.[21] James has performed at the top world jazz festivals in the world, such as the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1977, 1989, 1990 and 1993,[22] performed nine times at the legendary Monterey Jazz Festival, and the San Francisco Jazz Festival five times. She also performs often at free city outdoor summer arts festivals throughout the US.
In 2008, James was portrayed by Beyoncé Knowles in the film, Cadillac Records, loosely based on the rise and fall of James' label of 18 years, Chess Records, and how label founder and producer Leonard Chess helped the career of James and other label mates, though it was noted that James was successful prior to her signing with Chess Records.[23] In the film, Etta James' character is in constant search to seek the recognition as well as love from an infamous pool shark named Minnesota Fats, whom she believed to be her white biological father.[24] The film also portrayed "At Last" as a huge pop hit, but the single only charted briefly when it was initially released and James had bigger hits. It also indicated that James and Chess, who were 21 years apart in age, were lovers but that was also inaccurate. Though James and Knowles were later seen at a red carpet event following the film's release embracing each other, James expressed her displeasure with Knowles at a Seattle concert in January 2009, a few days after Knowles sang her song, "At Last", at the first inaugural ball for Barack Obama. James claimed she "can't stand Beyoncé" and that Knowles would "get her ass whipped".[25] James later said that her remarks about Knowles were a joke but admitted she was hurt that she was not invited to sing her song and that she could've performed it better.[26]
In April 2009, the 71-year-old James made her final television appearance performing "At Last" during an appearance on Dancing with the Stars. In May 2009, James was awarded as the Soul/Blues Female Artist of the Year by the Blues Foundation, the ninth time James had won the award. James carried on touring but by 2010 had to cancel concert dates to her gradually failing health after it was revealed that she was suffering from dementia and leukemia. In November 2011, James released her final album, The Dreamer, which was critically acclaimed upon its release. James announced via her manager's statement that this would be her final album. On 8th January 2012 her continuing relevance was affirmed when Avicii reached number 1 on Beatport with the song "Le7els" that samples her song "Something's Got a Hold on Me".
Style and influence
James's musical style changed during the course of her career. When beginning her recording career in the mid-50s, James was marketed as an R&B and doo wop singer.[13] After signing with Chess Records in 1960, James broke through as a traditional pop-styled singer, covering jazz and pop music standards on her debut album, At Last![27] James's voice has deepened and coarsened in the past ten years, moving her musical style in these later years into the genres of soul and jazz.[13]
Etta James had once been considered one of the most overlooked blues and R&B musicians in American music history. It wasn't until the early 1990s when James began receiving major industry awards from the Grammys and the Blues Foundation that she began to receive wide recognition. In 2011 James was voted one the Best Singers On Earth by viewers to Btoe the multimedia website founded by Colin Larkin creator of the Encyclopedia of Popular Music. In recent years, she has been seen as bridging the gap between rhythm and blues and rock and roll. James has influenced a wide variety of American musicians including Diana Ross, Christina Aguilera, Janis Joplin, Bonnie Raitt, Shemekia Copeland,[17] and Hayley Williams of Paramore[citation needed] as well as British artists The Rolling Stones,[citation needed] Rod Stewart, Elkie Brooks,[28] Amy Winehouse, Paloma Faith,[29] Joss Stone[30] and Adele.[31]
Personal life
James encountered a string of legal problems during the early 1970s due to her heroin addiction. She was continuously in and out of rehabilitation centers, including the Tarzana Rehabilitation Center, in Los Angeles, California. Her husband Artis Mills, whom she married in 1969, accepted responsibility when they were both arrested for heroin possession and served a 10-year prison sentence.[32] He was released from prison in 1982 and was still married to James at her death.[17] She was also arrested around the same time for her drug addiction, accused of cashing bad checks, forgery and possession of heroin.[33] In 1974, James was sentenced to drug treatment instead of serving time in prison. She was in the Tarzana Psychiatric Hospital for 17 months, at age 36, and went through a great struggle at the start of treatment. She later stated in her autobiography that the time she spent in the hospital changed her life. However, after leaving treatment, her substance abuse continued into the 1980s, after she developed a relationship with a man who was also using drugs. In 1988, at the age of 50, she entered the Betty Ford Center, in Palm Springs, California, for treatment.[17] In 2010, she received treatment for a dependency on painkillers.[34]
James had two sons, Donto and Sametto. Both started performing with their mother in 2003 – Donto on drums and Sametto on bass guitar.[35]
Illness and death
James was hospitalized in January 2010 to treat an infection caused by MRSA. During her hospitalization, her son Donto revealed that James had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2008, and attributed her previous comments about Beyoncé Knowles to "drug induced dementia".[36]
She was diagnosed with leukemia in early 2011. The illness became terminal and she died on January 20, 2012, just five days before her 74th birthday, at Riverside Community Hospital in Riverside, California.[37]
Farewell Etta... And many many thanks.... etta james song I dont want you to be no slave; I dont want you to work all day; But I want you to be true, And I just wanna make love to you. Love to you Lo...
Etta James (born Jamesetta Hawkins; January 25, 1938 – January 20, 2012) was an American singer whose style spanned a variety of music genres including blues, rhythm and blues, rock and roll, soul, gospel and jazz. Starting her career in the mid 1950s, she gained fame with hits such as "Dance With Me, Henry", "At Last", "Tell Mama", and "I'd Rather Go Blind" for which she claimed she wrote the lyrics. She faced a number of personal problems including drug addiction before making a musical resurgence in the late 1980s with the album, The Seven Year Itch.
She is regarded as having bridged the gap between rhythm and blues and rock and roll, and is the winner of six Grammys and 17 Blues Music Awards. She was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1993, the Blues Hall of Fame in 2001, and the Grammy Hall of Fame in both 1999 and 2008. Rolling Stone ranked James number 22 on their list of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time and number 62 on the list of the 100 Greatest Artists.
Jamesetta Hawkins was born on January 25, 1938, in Los Angeles to Dorothy Hawkins, who was only 14 at the time. Her father has never been identified, but was rumored possibly to be white (Caucasian). James speculated that her father was the pool player, Rudolf "Minnesota Fats" Wanderone, and met him briefly in 1987. Due to her mother being often absent carrying on relationships with various men, James lived with a series of caregivers, most notably "Sarge" and "Mama" Lu. James called her mother "the Mystery Lady".
James received her first professional vocal training at the age of five from James Earle Hines, musical director of the Echoes of Eden choir, at the St. Paul Baptist Church in Los Angeles. She became a popular singing attraction at the church, and Sarge tried to pressure the church into paying him money for her singing, but they refused. During drunken poker games at home, he would wake James up in the early hours of the morning and force her through beatings to sing for his friends. As she was a bed-wetter, and often soaked with her own urine on these occasions, the trauma of being forced to sing meant she had a life-long reluctance to sing on demand.
In 1950 Mama Lu died, and James' real mother took her to the Fillmore district in San Francisco. Within a couple of years, James began listening to doo-wop and was inspired to form a girl group, called the Creolettes (due to the members' light skinned complexions). The 14-year-old girls met musician Johnny Otis. Stories on how they met vary including Otis' version in which James had come to his hotel after one of his performances in the city and persuaded him to audition her. Another story came that Otis spotted the group performing at a Los Angeles nightclub and sought them to record his "answer song" to Hank Ballard's "Work With Me, Annie". Nonetheless, Otis took the group under his wing, helping them sign to Modern Records and changing their name from the Creolettes to the Peaches and gave the singer her stage name reversing Jamesetta into Etta James. James recorded the version, which she was allowed to co-author, in 1954, and the song was released in early 1955 as "Dance with Me, Henry". Originally the name of the song was "Roll With Me, Henry" but was changed to avoid censorship due to the subtle title. In February of that year, the song reached number one on the Hot Rhythm & Blues Tracks chart. Its success gave the group an opening spot on Little Richard's national tour.
While on tour with Richard, pop singer Georgia Gibbs recorded her version of James' song, which was released under the title "The Wallflower", and became a crossover hit, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100, which angered James. After leaving the Peaches, James had another R&B hit with "Good Rockin' Daddy", but struggled with follow-ups. When her contract with Modern came up in 1960, she decided to sign with Leonard Chess' namesake label, Chess Records, and shortly afterwards got involved in a relationship with singer Harvey Fuqua, founder of the doo-wop group, The Moonglows.
Bobby Murray aka "Taters" toured with Etta James for 20 years. He wrote that James had her first hit single when she was 15 years of age and went steady with B.B. King when she was 16. Etta James believed the hit single "Sweet Sixteen" by B.B. King was about her.
Chess years: 1960–1978
James was put on the Chess subsidiary label Argo (and later recorded with another subsidiary, Cadet) and had her first hit singles under duets with Fuqua including "If I Can't Have You" and "Spoonful". Her first solo hit was the doo-wop styled rhythm and blues number, "All I Could Do Was Cry", becoming a number two R&B hit. Leonard Chess had envisioned James as a classic ballad stylist who had potential to cross over to the pop charts and soon surrounded the singer with violins and other string instruments.The first string-laden ballad James recorded was "My Dearest Darling", which peaked in the top five of the R&B chart. James was notable singing background vocals on label mate Chuck Berry's "Back in the USA".
Vinyl recording of "At Last"/"I Just Want to Make Love"
Her debut album, At Last!, was released in late 1960 and was noted for its varied choice in music from jazz standards to blues numbers to doo-wop and R&B. The album also included James' future classic, "I Just Want to Make Love to You" and "A Sunday Kind of Love". In early 1961, James released what has become her signature song, "At Last", which reached number two on the R&B chart and number 47 on the Billboard Hot 100. Though the song wasn't as successful as expected, it has become the most remembered version of the song. James followed that up with "Trust in Me", which also included string instruments. Later that same year, James released a second studio album, The Second Time Around. The album took the same direction as her previous album, covering many jazz and pop standards, and using strings on many of the songs spawning two hit singles, "The Fool That I Am" and "Don't Cry Baby".
James started adding gospel elements in her music the following year releasing "Something's Got a Hold on Me", which peaked at number four on the R&B chart and was also a top 40 pop hit. That success was quickly followed by "Stop the Wedding", which reached number six on the R&B charts and also had gospel elements.In 1963, she had another major hit with "Pushover" and released the live album, Etta James Rocks the House, which was recorded at the New Era Club in Nashville, Tennessee. After a couple years scoring minor hits, James' career started to suffer after 1965. After a period of isolation, James returned to recording in 1967 and reemerged with more ballsy R&B numbers thanks to her recording at the legendary Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama releasing her comeback hit "Tell Mama", which was co-written by Clarence Carter and reached number ten R&B and number twenty three pop. An album of the same name was also released that year and included her take of Otis Redding's "Security". The B-side of "Tell Mama" was "I'd Rather Go Blind", which became a blues classic in its own right and was recorded by many other artists. She wrote in her autobiography Rage To Survive that she heard the song outlined by her friend Ellington "Fugi" Jordan when she visited him in prison. According to her account, she wrote the rest of the song with Jordan, but for tax reasons gave her songwriting credit to her partner at the time, Billy Foster.
Following this success, James became an on-demand concert performer though she never again reached the heyday of her early-to-mid 1960s success. She continued to chart in the R&B Top 40 in the early 1970s with singles such as "Losers Weepers" (1970) and "I Found a Love" (1972). Though James continued to record for Chess, she was devastated by the death of Chess founder Leonard Chess in 1969. James ventured into rock and funk with the release of her self-titled album in 1973 with production from famed rock producer Gabriel Mekler, who had worked with Steppenwolf and Janis Joplin, who had admired James and had covered "Tell Mama" in concert. The album, known for its mixtures of musical styles, was nominated for a Grammy Award. The album didn't produce any major hits, neither did the follow-up, Out On the Street Again, in 1974, though like Etta James before it, the album was also critically acclaimed. James continued to record for Chess releasing two more albums in 1978, Etta Is Betta Than Evah and Deep in the Night, which saw the singer incorporating more rock-based music in her repertoire. That same year, James was the opening act for The Rolling Stones and also performed at the Montreal Jazz Festival. Following this brief success, however, she left Chess Records and didn't record for another ten years as she struggled with drug addiction and alcoholism for the better part of a decade.
Though she continued to perform, little was heard of Etta James until 1987 when she was seen performing "Rock & Roll Music" with Chuck Berry on his "Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll" documentary. In 1989, James signed with Island Records and released the album, The Seven Year Itch, which was noted for bringing back the older raw sound of previous records. The album was produced by Jerry Wexler, who had worked on Deep in the Night.She released a second album in 1989 titled Stickin' to My Guns. Both albums were recorded at FAME Studios. James participated in rap singer Def Jef for the song "Droppin' Rhymes on Drums", which mixed James' jazz vocals with hip-hop. In 1992, James released The Right Time on Elektra Records and the following year, James was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.James signed with Private Music Records in 1993 and recorded the Billie Holiday tribute album, Mystery Lady: Songs of Billie Holiday. The album later set a trend for James' music to incorporate more jazz elements. The album won James her first Grammy Awards for best jazz vocal performance in 1994. In 1995, she released the David Ritz-co authored autobiography, A Rage to Survive, and recorded the album, Time After Time. Three years later she issued the Christmas album, Etta James Christmas, in 1998.
By the mid-1990s, James' earlier classic music was included in commercials including, most notably, "I Just Wanna Make Love to You". Due to exposure of the song in a UK commercial, the song reached the top ten of the UK charts in 1996 Continuing to record for Private Music, she released the blues album, Matriarch of the Blues, in 2000, which had James returning to her R&B roots with Rolling Stone hailing it as a "solid return to roots", further stating that the album found the singer "reclaiming her throne - and defying anyone to knock her off it." In 2001, she was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame and the Rockabilly Hall of Fame, the latter for her contributions to the developments of both rock and roll music and rockabilly. In 2003, she received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Her 2004 release, Blue Gardenia, returned James to a jazz music style. James' final album for Private Music, Let's Roll, was released in 2005 and won James a Grammy for best contemporary blues album.
Etta James performing in San Jose, California in 2000
In 2004, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked her #62 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.James has performed at the top world jazz festivals in the world, such as the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1977, 1989, 1990 and 1993, performed nine times at the legendary Monterey Jazz Festival, and the San Francisco Jazz Festival five times. She also performs often at free city outdoor summer arts festivals throughout the US.
In 2008, James was portrayed by Beyoncé Knowles in the film, Cadillac Records, loosely based on the rise and fall of James' label of 18 years, Chess Records, and how label founder and producer Leonard Chess helped the career of James and other label mates, though it was noted that James was successful prior to her signing with Chess Records. In the film, Etta James' character is in constant search to seek the recognition as well as love from an infamous pool shark named Minnesota Fats, whom she believed to be her white biological father. The film also portrayed "At Last" as a huge pop hit, but the single only charted briefly when it was initially released and James had bigger hits. It also indicated that James and Chess, who were 21 years apart in age, were lovers but that was also inaccurate. Though James and Knowles were later seen at a red carpet event following the film's release embracing each other, James expressed her displeasure with Knowles at a Seattle concert in January 2009, a few days after Knowles sang her song, "At Last", at the first inaugural ball for Barack Obama. James claimed she "can't stand Beyoncé" and that Knowles would "get her ass whipped". James later said that her remarks about Knowles were a joke but admitted she was hurt that she was not invited to sing her song and that she could've performed it better.
In April 2009, the 71-year-old James made her final television appearance performing "At Last" during an appearance on Dancing with the Stars. In May 2009, James was awarded as the Soul/Blues Female Artist of the Year by the Blues Foundation, the ninth time James had won the award. James carried on touring but by 2010 had to cancel concert dates to her gradually failing health after it was revealed that she was suffering from dementia and leukemia. In November 2011, James released her final album, The Dreamer, which was critically acclaimed upon its release. James announced via her manager's statement that this would be her final album. On 8th January 2012 her continuing relevance was affirmed when Avicii reached number 1 on Beatport with the song "Le7els" that samples her song "Something's Got a Hold on Me".
Style and influence
James's musical style changed during the course of her career. When beginning her recording career in the mid-50s, James was marketed as an R&B and doo wop singer.After signing with Chess Records in 1960, James broke through as a traditional pop-styled singer, covering jazz and pop music standards on her debut album, At Last! James's voice has deepened and coarsened in the past ten years, moving her musical style in these later years into the genres of soul and jazz.
Etta James had once been considered one of the most overlooked blues and R&B musicians in American music history. It wasn't until the early 1990s when James began receiving major industry awards from the Grammys and the Blues Foundation that she began to receive wide recognition. In 2011 James was voted one the Best Singers On Earth by viewers to Btoe the multimedia website founded by Colin Larkin creator of the Encyclopedia of Popular Music. In recent years, she has been seen as bridging the gap between rhythm and blues and rock and roll. James has influenced a wide variety of American musicians including Diana Ross, Christina Aguilera, Janis Joplin, Bonnie Raitt, Shemekia Copeland and Hayley Williams of Paramore[citation needed] as well as British artists The Rolling Stones,Rod Stewart, Elkie Brooks, Amy Winehouse, Paloma Faith,Joss Stone and Adele.
James encountered a string of legal problems during the early 1970s due to her heroin addiction. She was continuously in and out of rehabilitation centers, including the Tarzana Rehabilitation Center, in Los Angeles, California. Her husband Artis Mills, whom she married in 1969, accepted responsibility when they were both arrested for heroin possession and served a 10-year prison sentence. He was released from prison in 1982 and was still married to James at her death. She was also arrested around the same time for her drug addiction, accused of cashing bad checks, forgery and possession of heroin. In 1974, James was sentenced to drug treatment instead of serving time in prison. She was in the Tarzana Psychiatric Hospital for 17 months, at age 36, and went through a great struggle at the start of treatment. She later stated in her autobiography that the time she spent in the hospital changed her life. However, after leaving treatment, her substance abuse continued into the 1980s, after she developed a relationship with a man who was also using drugs. In 1988, at the age of 50, she entered the Betty Ford Center, in Palm Springs, California, for treatment. In 2010, she received treatment for a dependency on painkillers.
James had two sons, Donto and Sametto. Both started performing with their mother in 2003 – Donto on drums and Sametto on bass guitar.
Illness and death
James was hospitalized in January 2010 to treat an infection caused by MRSA. During her hospitalization, her son Donto revealed that James had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2008, and attributed her previous comments about Beyoncé Knowles to "drug induced dementia".
She was diagnosed with leukemia in early 2011. The illness became terminal and she died on January 20, 2012, just five days before her 74th birthday, at Riverside Community Hospital in Riverside, California Etta James All the Way Down
A TRUE SONGSTRESS: Etta James (born Jamesetta Hawkins; January 25, 1938 – January 20, 2012) was an American singer whose style spanned a variety of music genres including blues, rhythm and blues, rock and roll, soul, gospel and jazz. Starting her career in the mid 1950s, she gained fame with hits such as "Dance With Me, Henry", "At Last", "Tell Mama", and "I'd Rather Go Blind" for which she claimed she wrote the lyrics. She faced a number of personal problems, including drug addiction, before making a musical resurgence in the late 1980s with the album The Seven Year Itch.
She is regarded as having bridged the gap between rhythm and blues and rock and roll, and is the winner of six Grammys and 17 Blues Music Awards. She was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1993, the Blues Hall of Fame in 2001, and the Grammy Hall of Fame in both 1999 and 2008. Rolling Stone ranked James number 22 on their list of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time and number 62 on the list of the 100 Greatest Artist
Jamesetta Hawkins was born on January 25, 1938, in Los Angeles, California to Dorothy Hawkins, who was only 14 at the time. Her father has never been identified, but was rumored possibly to be white (Caucasian). James speculated that her father was the pool player, Rudolf "Minnesota Fats" Wanderone, and met him briefly in 1987. Due to her mother being often absent carrying on relationships with various men, James lived with a series of caregivers, most notably "Sarge" and "Mama" Lu. James called her mother "the Mystery Lady".
James received her first professional vocal training at the age of five from James Earle Hines, musical director of the Echoes of Eden choir, at the St. Paul Baptist Church in Los Angeles. She became a popular singing attraction at the church, and Sarge tried to pressure the church into paying him money for her singing, but they refused. During drunken poker games at home, he would wake James up in the early hours of the morning and force her through beatings to sing for his friends. As she was a bed-wetter, and often soaked with her own urine on these occasions, the trauma of being forced to sing meant she had a life-long reluctance to sing on demand.
In 1950 Mama Lu died, and James' real mother took her to the Fillmore district in San Francisco.Within a couple of years, James began listening to doo-wop and was inspired to form a girl group, called the Creolettes (due to the members' light skinned complexions). The 14-year-old girls met musician Johnny Otis. Stories on how they met vary including Otis' version in which James had come to his hotel after one of his performances in the city and persuaded him to audition her. Another story came that Otis spotted the group performing at a Los Angeles nightclub and sought them to record his "answer song" to Hank Ballard's "Work With Me, Annie". Nonetheless, Otis took the group under his wing, helping them sign to Modern Records and changing their name from the Creolettes to the Peaches and gave the singer her stage name reversing Jamesetta into Etta James. James recorded the version, which she was allowed to co-author, in 1954, and the song was released in early 1955 as "Dance with Me, Henry". Originally the name of the song was "Roll With Me, Henry" but was changed to avoid censorship due to the subtle title. In February of that year, the song reached number one on the Hot Rhythm & Blues Tracks chart. Its success gave the group an opening spot on Little Richard's national tour.
While on tour with Richard, pop singer Georgia Gibbs recorded her version of James' song, which was released under the title "The Wallflower", and became a crossover hit, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100, which angered James. After leaving the Peaches, James had another R&B hit with "Good Rockin' Daddy", but struggled with follow-ups. When her contract with Modern came up in 1960, she decided to sign with Leonard Chess' namesake label, Chess Records, and shortly afterwards got involved in a relationship with singer Harvey Fuqua, founder of the doo-wop group, The Moonglows.
Bobby Murray aka "Taters" toured with Etta James for 20 years. He wrote that James had her first hit single when she was 15 years of age and went steady with B.B. King when she was 16. Etta James believed the hit single "Sweet Sixteen" by B.B. King was about her
Chess years: 1960–1978
James was put on the Chess subsidiary label Argo (and later recorded with another subsidiary, Cadet) and had her first hit singles under duets with Fuqua including "If I Can't Have You" and "Spoonful". Her first solo hit was the doo-wop styled rhythm and blues number, "All I Could Do Was Cry", becoming a number two R&B hit. Leonard Chess had envisioned James as a classic ballad stylist who had potential to cross over to the pop charts and soon surrounded the singer with violins and other string instruments.The first string-laden ballad James recorded was "My Dearest Darling", which peaked in the top five of the R&B chart. James was notable singing background vocals on label mate Chuck Berry's "Back in the USA".
Vinyl recording of "At Last"/"I Just Want to Make Love"
Her debut album, At Last!, was released in late 1960 and was noted for its varied choice in music from jazz standards to blues numbers to doo-wop and rhythm and blues (R&B). The album also included James' future classic, "I Just Want to Make Love to You" and "A Sunday Kind of Love". In early 1961, James released what has become her signature song, "At Last", which reached number two on the R&B chart and number 47 on the Billboard Hot 100. Though the song wasn't as successful as expected, it has become the most remembered version of the song. James followed that up with "Trust in Me", which also included string instruments. Later that same year, James released a second studio album, The Second Time Around. The album took the same direction as her previous album, covering many jazz and pop standards, and using strings on many of the songs spawning two hit singles, "The Fool That I Am" and "Don't Cry Baby".
James started adding gospel elements in her music the following year releasing "Something's Got a Hold on Me", which peaked at number four on the R&B chart and was also a top 40 pop hit.[17] That success was quickly followed by "Stop the Wedding", which reached number six on the R&B charts and also had gospel elements. In 1963, she had another major hit with "Pushover" and released the live album Etta James Rocks the House, which was recorded at the New Era Club in Nashville, Tennessee. After a couple years scoring minor hits, James' career started to suffer after 1965. After a period of isolation, James returned to recording in 1967 and reemerged with more ballsy R&B numbers thanks to her recording at the legendary Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama releasing her comeback hit "Tell Mama", which was co-written by Clarence Carter and reached number ten R&B and number twenty three pop. An album of the same name was also released that year and included her take of Otis Redding's "Security". The B-side of "Tell Mama" was "I'd Rather Go Blind", which became a blues classic in its own right and was recorded by many other artists. She wrote in her autobiography Rage To Survive that she heard the song outlined by her friend Ellington "Fugi" Jordan when she visited him in prison. According to her account, she wrote the rest of the song with Jordan, but for tax reasons gave her songwriting credit to her partner at the time, Billy Foster.
Following this success, James became an on-demand concert performer though she never again reached the heyday of her early-to-mid 1960s success. She continued to chart in the R&B Top 40 in the early 1970s with singles such as "Losers Weepers" (1970) and "I Found a Love" (1972). Though James continued to record for Chess, she was devastated by the death of Chess founder Leonard Chess in 1969. James ventured into rock and funk with the release of her self-titled album in 1973 with production from famed rock producer Gabriel Mekler, who had worked with Steppenwolf and Janis Joplin, who had admired James and had covered "Tell Mama" in concert. The album, known for its mixtures of musical styles, was nominated for a Grammy Award. The album didn't produce any major hits, neither did the follow-up, Out On the Street Again, in 1974, though like Etta James before it, the album was also critically acclaimed. James continued to record for Chess releasing two more albums in 1978, Etta Is Betta Than Evah and Deep in the Night, which saw the singer incorporating more rock-based music in her repertoire. That same year, James was the opening act for The Rolling Stones and also performed at the Montreal Jazz Festival. Following this brief success, however, she left Chess Records and didn't record for another ten years as she struggled with drug addiction and alcoholism for the better part of a decade.
Later career: 1988–2012
Etta James in 1990
Though she continued to perform, little was heard of Etta James until 1987 when she was seen performing "Rock & Roll Music" with Chuck Berry on his "Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll" documentary. In 1989, James signed with Island Records and released the album Seven Year Itch. The album was produced by Barry Beckett. She released a second album, also produced by Barry Beckett, in 1989 titled Stickin' to My Guns. Both albums were recorded at FAME Studios. James participated in rap singer Def Jef for the song "Droppin' Rhymes on Drums", which mixed James' jazz vocals with hip-hop. In 1992, James released The Right Time produced by Jerry Wexler on Elektra Records and the following year, James was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. James signed with Private Music Records in 1993 and recorded the Billie Holiday tribute album Mystery Lady: Songs of Billie Holiday. The album later set a trend for James' music to incorporate more jazz elements. The album won James her first Grammy Awards for best jazz vocal performance in 1994. In 1995, she released the David Ritz-co authored autobiography, A Rage to Survive, and recorded the album Time After Time. Three years later she issued the Christmas album Etta James Christmas in 1998.
By the mid-1990s, James' earlier classic music was included in commercials including, most notably, "I Just Wanna Make Love to You". Due to exposure of the song in a UK commercial, the song reached the top ten of the UK charts in 1996. Continuing to record for Private Music, she released the blues album Matriarch of the Blues in 2000, which had James returning to her R&B roots with Rolling Stone hailing it as a "solid return to roots", further stating that the album found the singer "reclaiming her throne — and defying anyone to knock her off it." In 2001, she was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame and the Rockabilly Hall of Fame, the latter for her contributions to the developments of both rock and roll music and rockabilly. In 2003, she received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Her 2004 release, Blue Gardenia, returned James to a jazz music style. James' final album for Private Music, Let's Roll, was released in 2005 and won James a Grammy for best contemporary blues album.
Etta James performing in San Jose, California in 2000
In 2004, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked her #62 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. James has performed at the top world jazz festivals in the world, such as the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1977, 1989, 1990 and 1993, performed nine times at the legendary Monterey Jazz Festival, and the San Francisco Jazz Festival five times. She also performs often at free city outdoor summer arts festivals throughout the US.
In 2008, James was portrayed by Beyoncé Knowles in the film, Cadillac Records, loosely based on the rise and fall of James' label of 18 years, Chess Records, and how label founder and producer Leonard Chess helped the career of James and other label mates, though it was noted that James was successful prior to her signing with Chess Records. In the film, Etta James' character is in constant search to seek the recognition as well as love from an infamous pool shark named Minnesota Fats, whom she believed to be her white biological father. The film also portrayed "At Last" as a huge pop hit, but the single only charted briefly when it was initially released and James had bigger hits. It also indicated that James and Chess, who were 21 years apart in age, were lovers but that was also inaccurate. Though James and Knowles were later seen at a red carpet event following the film's release embracing each other, James expressed her displeasure with Knowles at a Seattle concert in January 2009, a few days after Knowles sang her song, "At Last", at the first inaugural ball for Barack Obama. James claimed she "can't stand Beyoncé" and that Knowles would "get her ass whipped". James later said that her remarks about Knowles were a joke but admitted she was hurt that she was not invited to sing her song and that she could've performed it better.
In April 2009, the 71-year-old James made her final television appearance performing "At Last" during an appearance on Dancing with the Stars. In May 2009, James received the Soul/Blues Female Artist of the Year award from the Blues Foundation, the ninth time James had won the award. James carried on touring but by 2010 had to cancel concert dates to her gradually failing health after it was revealed that she was suffering from dementia and leukemia. In November 2011, James released her final album, The Dreamer, which was critically acclaimed upon its release. James announced via her manager's statement that this would be her final album. On 8th January 2012 her continuing relevance was affirmed when Avicii reached number 1 on Beatport with the song "Levels", which samples her song "Something's Got a Hold on Me". A vocal sample of James' 1962 song, "Something's Got a Hold On Me," was also sampled by rapper Flo Rida in his 2011 single, "Good Feeling."
Style and influence
James's musical style changed during the course of her career. When beginning her recording career in the mid-50s, James was marketed as an R&B and doo wop singer. After signing with Chess Records in 1960, James broke through as a traditional pop-styled singer, covering jazz and pop music standards on her debut album, At Last!. James's voice deepened and coarsened, moving her musical style in her later years into the genres of soul and jazz.[13]
Etta James had once been considered one of the most overlooked blues and R&B musicians in American music history. It wasn't until the early 1990s when James began receiving major industry awards from the Grammys and the Blues Foundation that she began to receive wide recognition. In 2011 James was voted one the Best Singers On Earth by viewers to Btoe, the multimedia Web site founded by Colin Larkin, creator of the Encyclopedia of Popular Music. In recent years, she has been seen as bridging the gap between rhythm and blues and rock and roll. James has influenced a wide variety of American musicians including Diana Ross, Christina Aguilera, Janis Joplin, Bonnie Raitt, Shemekia Copeland, and Hayley Williams of Paramore, as well as British artists The Rolling Stones, Rod Stewart, Elkie Brooks, Amy Winehouse, Paloma Faith, Joss Stone and Adele.
Illness and death
James was hospitalized in January 2010 to treat an infection caused by MRSA, a bacterium that is resistant to antibiotic treatment. During her hospitalization, her son Donto revealed that James had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2008, and attributed her previous comments about Beyoncé Knowles to "drug induced dementia".
She was diagnosed with leukemia in early 2011. The illness was announced as terminal by Dr. Elaine James (no relation) in December 2011, in a plea for prayers from fans. On January 20, 2012, longtime friend and manager, Lupe De Leon, stated that James had died with her husband and sons by her side at Riverside Community Hospital in Riverside, California.
Personal life
James encountered a string of legal problems during the early 1970s due to her heroin addiction. She was continuously in and out of rehabilitation centers, including the Tarzana Rehabilitation Center, in Los Angeles, California. Her husband Artis Mills, whom she married in 1969, accepted responsibility when they were both arrested for heroin possession and served a 10-year prison sentence. He was released from prison in 1982 and was still married to James at her death. She was also arrested around the same time for her drug addiction, accused of cashing bad checks, forgery and possession of heroin. In 1974, James was sentenced to drug treatment instead of serving time in prison. She was in the Tarzana Psychiatric Hospital for 17 months, at age 36, and went through a great struggle at the start of treatment. She later stated in her autobiography that the time she spent in the hospital changed her life. However, after leaving treatment, her substance abuse continued into the 1980s, after she developed a relationship with a man who was also using drugs. In 1988, at the age of 50, she entered the Betty Ford Center, in Palm Springs, California, for treatment. In 2010, she received treatment for a dependency on painkillers.
James had two sons, Donto and Sametto. Both started performing with their mother in 2003—Donto on drums and Sametto on bass guitar.
Awards
From 1989, James received over 30 awards and recognitions from eight different organizations, including the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum and the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences which organizes the Grammys.
In 1989, the newly formed Rhythm and Blues Foundation included James in their first Pioneer Awards for artists whose "lifelong contributions have been instrumental in the development of Rhythm & Blues music". The following year, 1990, she received an NAACP Image Award, which is given for "outstanding achievements and performances of people of color in the arts"; an award she cherished as it "was coming from my own people".
1993, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
2001, Rockabilly Hall of Fame
2003, Hollywood Chamber of Commerce Hollywood Walk of Fame, star at 7080 Hollywood Blvd, and Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) Lifetime Achievement Award[45]
2006, Billboard R&B Founders Award[46]
Grammys
The Grammy Awards are awarded annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. James has received six Grammy Awards. Her first was in 1994, when she was awarded Best Jazz Vocal Performance for the album Mystery Lady, which consisted of covers of Billie Holiday songs.[47] Two other albums have also won awards, Let's Roll (Best Contemporary Blues Album) in 2003, and Blues To The Bone (Best Traditional Blues Album) in 2004. Two of her early songs have been given Grammy Hall of Fame Awards for "qualitative or historical significance": "At Last", in 1999,[48] and "The Wallflower (Dance with Me, Henry)" in 2008.[49] In 2003, she was given the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.[50]
Etta James, whose powerful, versatile and emotionally direct voice could enliven the raunchiest blues as well as the subtlest love songs, most indelibly in her signature hit, “At Last,” died Friday morning in Riverside, Calif. She was 73.
Slide Show A Versatile and Direct Voice: Etta James.
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Her manager, Lupe De Leon, said that the cause was complications of leukemia. Ms. James, who died at Riverside Community Hospital, had been undergoing treatment for some time for a number of conditions, including leukemia and dementia. She also lived in Riverside.
Ms. James was not easy to pigeonhole. She is most often referred to as a rhythm and blues singer, and that is how she made her name in the 1950s with records like “Good Rockin’ Daddy.” She is in both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Blues Hall of Fame.
She was also comfortable, and convincing, singing pop standards, as she did in 1961 with “At Last,” which was written in 1941 and originally recorded by Glenn Miller’s orchestra. And among her four Grammy Awards (including a lifetime-achievement honor in 2003) was one for best jazz vocal performance, which she won in 1995 for the album “Mystery Lady: Songs of Billie Holiday.”
Regardless of how she was categorized, she was admired. Expressing a common sentiment, Jon Pareles of The New York Times wrote in 1990 that she had “one of the great voices in American popular music, with a huge range, a multiplicity of tones and vast reserves of volume.”
For all her accomplishments, Ms. James had an up-and-down career, partly because of changing audience tastes but largely because of drug problems. She developed a heroin habit in the 1960s; after she overcame it in the 1970s, she began using cocaine. She candidly described her struggles with addiction and her many trips to rehab in her autobiography, “Rage to Survive,” written with David Ritz (1995).
Etta James was born Jamesetta Hawkins in Los Angeles on Jan. 25, 1938. Her mother, Dorothy Hawkins, was 14 at the time; her father was long gone, and Ms. James never knew for sure who he was, although she recalled her mother telling her that he was the celebrated pool player Rudolf Wanderone, better known as Minnesota Fats. She was reared by foster parents and moved to San Francisco with her mother when she was 12.
She began singing at the St. Paul Baptist Church in Los Angeles at 5 and turned to secular music as a teenager, forming a vocal group with two friends. She was 15 when she made her first record, “Roll With Me Henry,” which set her own lyrics to the tune of Hank Ballard and the Midnighters’ recent hit “Work With Me Annie.” When some disc jockeys complained that the title was too suggestive, the name was changed to “The Wallflower,” although the record itself was not.
“The Wallflower” rose to No. 2 on the rhythm-and-blues charts in 1954. As was often the case in those days with records by black performers, a toned-down version was soon recorded by a white singer and found a wider audience: Georgia Gibbs’s version, with the title and lyric changed to “Dance With Me, Henry,” was a No. 1 pop hit in 1955. (Its success was not entirely bad news for Ms. James. She shared the songwriting royalties with Mr. Ballard and the bandleader and talent scout Johnny Otis, who had arranged for her recording session. (Mr. Otis died on Tuesday.)
In 1960 Ms. James was signed by Chess Records, the Chicago label that was home to Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters and other leading lights of black music. She quickly had a string of hits, including “All I Could Do Was Cry,” “Trust in Me” and “At Last,” which established her as Chess’s first major female star.
She remained with Chess well into the 1970s, reappearing on the charts after a long absence in 1967 with the funky and high-spirited “Tell Mama.” In the late ’70s and early ’80s she was an opening act for the Rolling Stones.
After decades of touring, recording for various labels and drifting in and out of the public eye, Ms. James found herself in the news in 2009 after Beyoncé Knowles recorded a version of “At Last” closely modeled on hers. (Ms. Knowles played Ms. James in the 2008 movie “Cadillac Records,” a fictionalized account of the rise and fall of Chess.) Ms. Knowles also performed “At Last” at an inaugural ball for President Obama in Washington.
When the movie was released, Ms. James had kind words for Ms. Knowles’s portrayal. But in February 2009, referring specifically to the Washington performance, she told an audience, “I can’t stand Beyoncé,” and threatened to “whip” the younger singer for singing “At Last.” She later said she had been joking, but she did add that she wished she had been invited to sing the song herself for the new president.
Ms. James’s survivors include her husband of 42 years, Artis Mills; two sons, Donto and Sametto James; and four grandchildren.
Though her life had its share of troubles to the end — her husband and sons were locked in a long-running battle over control of her estate, which was resolved in her husband’s favor only weeks before her death — Ms. James said she wanted her music to transcend unhappiness rather than reflect it.
“A lot of people think the blues is depressing,” she told The Los Angeles Times in 1992, “but that’s not the blues I’m singing. When I’m singing blues, I’m singing life. People that can’t stand to listen to the blues, they’ve got to be phonies.”
Wanted to say thank you to David Neal, Len Schillaci, Hugo F. Ayala, Ross Henrickson, Robin Lawlor, for helping film & run the Super-Unknown show yesterday, all the staff at Tailgaters Sports-Bar, and all of the fans for the support! Yesterday was truly memorable. Now if you don't mind, I'm gonna go sip my tea. ;)
Here is a really beautiful post about "social imaginaries"
http://nbry.wordpress.com/2012/01/17/successful-innovations-meet-with-social-imaginaries-by-stephane-hugon-sociologist-and-managing-consultant/
Warm regards to my social imaginaries Ralf Lippold Irma Wilson Inma Vp David Hodgson Venessa Miemis Anthony Lawlor Imagination and Innovation Stéphane Hugon is a reckognized sociologist,researcher, and teacher at both Descartes-Sorbonne Paris University and Paris National Design School (Ecole Nationale Sup...
