Etta James (1938-2012), Multi-Stylistic American Singer from Los Angeles Spanning Jazz, R&B, Soul, and Gospel

[The Hersch]

I posted a link to Etta James singing "The Very Thought of You" from her beautiful "Mystery Lady" album over in the Carmen McRae thread. Here's another great track from the same album, "How Deep Is The Ocean." I totally love this album and can't say enough nice things about it:

Here, on the other hand, is Etta James doing the kind of thing she was better known for, tearing up Otis Redding's "I Got The Will." I hate to use the word "apotheosis" again so soon, but if this ain't apotheosis, I don't know what is:

[The Hersch]

Writers of English poetry and song lyrics sometimes toss up a line or a phrase that tells you wow, this cat's got it. Shakespeare, of course, had thousands of these, as has, obviously to me, Bob Dylan. Walter de la Mare wrote the lines that I've used as my signature for a while now, and he obviously had it here, in his poem "King David," from his collection Peacock Pie:

King David lifted his sad eyes into the dark-boughed tree,

'Tell me, thou little bird that singest, who taught my grief to thee?'

...although he's not generally thought of as a heavy-weight. (Here's Sarah Connolly performing the ravishing art-song setting of the poem by the English composer Herbert Howells):

Etta James, so the story goes, was visiting her friend Ellington Jordan in prison, when he offered her up a half-written song with the line "I'd rather go blind than see you walk away from me", which she filled in and recorded under the title "I'd Rather Go Blind," and subsequently as "Blind Girl" and "I'd Rather Be Blind", and it remained one of her signature tunes for the rest of her career. Whoever wrote "I'd Rather Go Blind" obviously had it. I'm going rather far afield from the chanteuses I've been featuring, but here's the great Etta James singing "I'd Rather Go Blind":

[DaveO]

Writers of English poetry and song lyrics sometimes toss up a line or a phrase that tells you wow, this cat's got it. Shakespeare, of course, had thousands of these, as has, obviously to me, Bob Dylan. Walter de la Mare wrote the lines that I've used as my signature for a while now, and he obviously had it here, in his poem "King David," from his collection Peacock Pie:

King David lifted his sad eyes into the dark-boughed tree,

'Tell me, thou little bird that singest, who taught my grief to thee?'

...although he's not generally thought of as a heavy-weight. (Here's Sarah Connolly performing the ravishing art-song setting of the poem by the English composer Herbert Howells):

...

Etta James, so the story goes, was visiting her friend Ellington Jordan in prison, when he offered her up a half-written song with the line <a data-ipb="nomediaparse" data-cke-saved-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I" d_rather_go_blind"="">"I'd rather go blind than see you walk away from me", which she filled in and recorded under the title "I'd Rather Go Blind," and subsequently as "Blind Girl" and "I'd Rather Be Blind", and it remained one of her signature tunes for the rest of her career. Whoever wrote "I'd Rather Go Blind" obviously had it. I'm going rather far afield from the chanteuses I've been featuring, but here's the great Etta James singing "I'd Rather Go Blind":

...

YES!

That is a terrific description.  Thanks to our friends at boobtube here is Etta James doing a soulful rendition at Montreaux:   

Gee, I wonder how Dylan would have used that phrase to create more lyrics?  I can imagine he would have blown us away with something epically colorful! Meanwhile, Etta James is perspiring like crazy during the song. Was it her, the lights, what? It makes watching the performance more poignant. 2 to 3 smokey scotches in my book. Very soulful!