At Last: Remembering Etta James

A young Etta James

Informational: Non-Fiction

At Last: Remembering Etta James

Jamesetta Hawkins was born on January 25^th, 1938 to Dorothy Hawkins, a “Miss Hip, jazz chick” and an unknown man.  No one knows who is for sure Jamesetta’s father is, but Jamesetta believes her father is Minnesota Fats.  Jamesetta was named for her Uncle James and her Aunt Cozetta.  ‘Aunt Cozie’ was her role model. She grew up inside the jazz culture, Jamesetta grew up with little but a fighting chance.

Jamesetta was raised by the woman who ran the boarding house her Uncle James and Aunt Cozie lived in, even after her teenage mother got out of reform school, Jamesetta had a strict upbringing by ‘Mama Lu’.  But even this couldn’t keep her from the streets in Los Angeles.  Jamesetta became a teenage junkie, but fate and her fighting spirit would not leave her a junkie.

Soul and Gospel Legend Sam Cooke

Jamesetta, from the age of five was raised going to Church, St. Paul Baptist Church on Naomi and 21^st in Los Angeles.  She was singing in the church choir from the age of five and was influenced by some of the greatest names in Gospel who went to or would come and sing at that Church, among them Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Sam Cooke and the Sallie Martin Singers.

Jamesetta was heavily influenced by Professor James Earle Hines, the choirmaster at St. Paul Baptist.  She wanted to sing like him, as she put it, with “spill-your-guts-out power”.  And it was that power that put an indelible mark on the souls who would hear Jamesetta sing.  After her Mama Lu died she started singing professionally and the world would know her as Etta James.

Etta James had her first hits in 1955 on the ‘Modern Records Label’ and later after many professional let downs and personal demons (she became a heroin addict) she rose to do a good many hits and go on tour in the early 60’s .  Etta recorded “At Last” written by Mac Gordon and Harry Warren for the Glen Miller Band.  Etta’s 1961 version of “At Last” is considered by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame an American Standard.

Even while undergoing some treatment for her addiction Etta James turned out a few hits in the 60’s and a critically acclaimed blues album called ‘Call My Name’ in 1966.  Even with these hits mainstream or ‘white’ America didn’t really know Etta James.  Etta’s fame was limited almost exclusively to the black community, but the rockers knew who she was, and they revered her.

Janis Joplin

Janis Joplin and Rolling Stones Keith Richards were listening to Etta James while she was playing dives and trying to tour on a small budget.  During the 60’s Etta lived at the Sutherland Hotel, with other struggling artists from the 60’s who made it big including Curtis Mayfield and Marvin Gaye.  


But Etta was in a nose dive, fighting Chess records who stole or withheld money she made off her hits.  The 70’s were bad for Etta.

After rehabilitation at the Tarzana Psychiatric Hospital in Tarzana, (just northwest of LA) she came back to recording with force.  Her career took off in the mid eighties and her music finally started to ‘cross over’ and she was now getting the gigs and the recognition she deserved.

Even though professionally, things got better for Etta she gained a lot of weight and her health was at risk.  In 2002, Etta James had gastric bypass surgery which Etta said, “saved her life”.  Etta James continued to record and has achieved many milestones:

Marvin Gaye

“Career: Singer, 1943–; toured with bandleader Johnny Otis, 1954-55; toured with a variety of performers, including Little Richard, Bo Diddley, Marvin Gaye; recording artist for a variety of companies, including Modern, 1955; Chess, 1960-75; Warner Brothers, 1978; Island, 1988-93; Private, 1994–; RCA, 2004–.

Awards: W. C. Handy Award, 1989; NAACP Image Award, 1990; Blues Society Hall of Fame, 1991; Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, 1993; Grammy Award, Best Jazz Vocal, 1995, for Mystery Lady; Blues Hall of Fame, 2001; Lifetime Achievement Award, Grammy, 2003; Grammy Award, Best Contemporary Blues Album, 2004, for Let's Roll; Grammy Award, Best Traditional Blues Album, 2005, for Blues to the Bone.

In 2003 James was honored with a lifetime achievement Grammy award, her own star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame, as well as a Grammy for best contemporary blues album the next year for Let's Roll. 


James became especially inspired by Martin Scorsese's documentary The Blues, produced by PBS, and recorded a selection of traditional blues songs on her 2004 album Blues to the Bone, for which she won a Grammy in 2005.”

Etta James succumbed to Leukemia yesterday, January 20^th in Riverside, California.  We have to let Etta go in the flesh but she will be living forever as we and the coming generations rediscover one of the most soul searing voices in the history of recorded music.


RJ


Cited Works and Articles:

Read more: Etta James Biography - Selected works - Blues, Jamesetta, Chess, and Private - JRank Articles http://biography.jrank.org/pages/2752/James-Etta.html#ixzz1k6y0MnK8

Rage To Survive: the Etta James Story, by Etta James & David Ritz

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/21/arts/music/etta-james-singer-dies-at-73.html


http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/20/us-ettajames-idUSTRE80J1FC20120120