Etta still has it goin' on

Etta still has it goin’ on

Etta James may be 66 years old. Her two sons who tour in her Roots band may boss her around some, and she may mix a few more ballads into her show than she did in her wilder youth. However, the reigning empress of rhythm and blues has still got it goin on. James brings a voice more powerful than whole horn sections, a musical command honed by 60 years in the business, and an attitude guaranteed to make the uninitiated blush. With that length of service, plenty of performers would be content to let their classic records do their work, but James is still busy touring and recording.

Etta, born Jamesette Hawkins in 1938, began performing with a church choir as a child in Los Angeles, and was discovered when she was 14 by band leader Johnny Otis. Her first recording in 1955 was a reply to Hank Ballard & the Midnighters’ “Annie” but "Roll With Me Henry" was considered too suggestive and re-titled "The Wallflower." By 1960 she had signed with Chess Records in Chicago. James took her inspiration from powerful male vocalists - John "Guitar" Watson and Ray Charles. As a child she had a male vocal teacher. "He said, `You might be little but you got to push those words you sing, not from your throat but from your stomach, " she said. She followed that advice and her powerful voice has carried her through a prolific musical career that included a string of hits that made the R&B Top 10 in the 1960s and crossed over to the pop charts as well. Despite hard times, including a battle with heroin addiction, James continued recording and performing for the next three decades.

She has been honoured with 12 W.C. Handy awards, the top honour of the blues music industry, and two Grammys, one for lifetime achievement bestowed in 2003. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993. But her soulful ballads that raced up the charts in the 60s - "At Last," "All I Could Do Was Cry," "Dont Cry Baby" - only reveal a corner of James talent. Let loose, she gets a groove going that will drag you out of your seat, whether shes covering the Creedence Clearwater Revival classic "Born on the Bayou" or breathing fresh life into the Rolling Stones "Miss You." Her most recent album "Blues to the Bone" reaches way back to blues classics from John Lee Hooker, Jimmy Reed and Robert Johnson. However, James took some heat when she chose to record “gutbucket songs” such as "Driving Wheel," "You Shook Me" and "Crawling Kingsnake." In response, she said - "I always wanted to do those songs, and Stevie Ray Vaughan and Eric Clapton really turned on the motor and brought the blues back," she said.

Martin Scorseses recent PBS documentary on the blues also inspired her, she said. Musically, James has never been afraid to roam. Shes tackled jazz standards. She nailed hip-hop with "Get Funky" on her "Stickin to My Guns" album. She even makes Bob Dylan groove, recording "You Gotta Serve Somebody" on her "Matriarch of the Blues" CD. Currently, James is working on a new album whose working title is "Lush Life," a song made famous by Nat King Cole. More info at: www.etta-james.com