Etta James
Etta James
Etta Jameswas an American singer who performed in various genres, including blues, R&B, soul, rock and roll, jazz and gospel. Starting her career in 1954, she gained fame with hits such as "The Wallflower", "At Last", "Tell Mama", "Something's Got a Hold on Me", and "I'd Rather Go Blind". She faced a number of personal problems, including drug addiction, before making a musical comeback in the late 1980s with the album Seven Year Itch...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionBlues Singer
Date of Birth25 January 1938
CityLos Angeles, CA
CountryUnited States of America
You know the one with the big ears? Wait a minute, he ain't my president, he might be yours, he ain't my president. You know that woman he had singing for him, singing my song - she's gonna get her a- whipped. The great Beyoncé But I can't stand Beyoncé. She has no business up there, singing up there on a big ol' president day singing my song that I've been singing forever.
I wanna show that gospel, country, blues, rhythm and blues, jazz, rock 'n' roll are all just really one thing. Those are the American music and that is the American culture.
The two things you can't fake are good food and good music
My mother always told me, even if a song has been done a thousand times, you can still bring something of your own to it. I'd like to think I did that.
But even so, I still get nervous before I go onstage.
Even as a little child, I've always had that comedian kind of attitude.
Bobby Womack is always very real, both with his music and as a person.
This is an album of songs that I've always loved, tunes that I heard. For the first time in 53 years of recording, I really had control over an entire album, start to finish.
I really turned into, you know, the real street kid. I was kind of like a runaway, but I had a mother, you know what I mean, and I had a place to stay.
I figured I could do 'It's A Man's Man's Man's World,' because I believe it's the truth.
Jazz took too much discipline. You have to come in at the right place, which is different than me singing the blues, where I can sing, 'Oh, baby,' if there's a pause in the melody. With jazz, you better leave that space open, or put in something real cool.
I was originally like a punker, know what I mean, like the punks are today, I'd spit in a minute.
I’ve learned to live with rage. In some ways, it’s my rage that keeps me going. Without it, I would have been whipped long ago. With it, I got a lot more songs to sing.
It's not about battling the original artists when I record these songs, it's about paying tribute to them.