We lost Etta James today. I was so sad to hear the news. I've seen her multiples times over a span of many years. Always a good time and left me amazed. She is another family favorite. Yes, there's her most famous iconic song; At Last, but my favorites run from "Don't Cry Baby, Trust in Me, All I Could Do Was Cry, Something Got A Hold On Me to her later years when she did her tribute albums to Lady Day, Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington, Gershiwn and other famous standards. The deepness of her voice, the POWER, the range, her playfulness on stage all stand out. I will never forget the first time I heard her at an outside concert in San Francisco at Fort Mason. We were sitting pretty far back and she walked on stage and started singing without a microphone. Her voice boomed and she was so emotionally raw. Then she lifted the mike and started to sing I'd Rather Go Blind, my most favorite of all. She did a slow build up and I was mesmerized, frozen in place, just standing there and I could feel the tears well up in my eyes. She was a force of nature, a gift, one of a kind. I was hooked, felt like her voice put me in a trance. An unforgettable moment. Of course, I grew up listening to her music through the influence of my Mom. In our house Dance or well, Roll With Me Henry was a favorite, no matter how raunchy 1950's society though it to be; we danced and sang to it over and over again. But LIVE, Etta LIVE was an experience. You never knew what you were going to get. She could sing anything and she did! Rock, Jazz, Blues, Standards, Scat, Animal sounds - she was limitless. Her recordings will never do her live shows justice. She could make you cry, laugh and squirm from her sassy and unpredictable stage antics. As Mom said, "her life was far from perfect but she was always true to herself, her fans and her music. I will miss seeing you, Miss Etta James but you will be in my heart and voice as long as I'm on this earth through your music. I will make sure that people younger than me hear your beautiful voice.
No comments:
Post a Comment