It's extremely difficult for me to pick an album other than "At Last!" by the incomparable Etta James to jump-start what will most definitely be a series of Gems Of Jams to follow. In choosing, I decided to go with one of my personal favorites of hers, an obscure record, but the album that launched a dirtier and grittier sound from Etta. The extraordinary beauty of Etta's early '60s work is that she was a piranha cast into a sea of orchestral arrangements. The music was pretty, but her voice (even at 22) brought a razor-like growl to each track that nearly spliced the strings off the symphony backing her. She was also surrounded by white background singers to appeal to white record-buyers and would sing so loud; she'd bust a microphone every now and then. Released in 1967, "Call My Name" is a 12-song groove that will have you subconsciously "stank-facing" at any given moment. You might even find yourself doing the "Stroll" (see video below) to all 12 of these Gems and Jams. (A shout-out to my Dad who taught my siblings and me this dance. He was 15 years old when this dance craze swept through the soda shops and high school gymnasiums).
Jamesetta Hawkins was born January 25, 1938 in Los Angeles and grew up for a time in San Francisco. Her mother was "The Mystery Lady" as she refers to her in her superb, highly, highly recommended autobiography "Rage To Survive: The Etta James Story" --and I do mean the best musician autobiography I've ever read. Her mother earned that sobriquet because she was a prostitute and Etta's father one of her many Johns. Changing her name to "Etta James" she scored her first hit with girl-group "The Peaches" called "The Wallflower" (a.k.a.) "Roll With Me, Henry." She was 16 when she recorded it.
Signed to Chess Records and seven albums in, Etta gave us "Call My Name," the first album of hers to be more or less recorded in a series of complete sessions. Previous albums were made up of songs recorded individually over spans of time and strung together; this was because Etta was living a rough personal life of drugs, booze, bounced checks, and bad boys. Whereas the first six albums would have Etta giving us soul-stirring symphonic blues gems, 'Name' would ditch the strings and give us raw everything: blues guitars, heavy high-hats, pounding pianos, horns, kick drums, black background singers and a huskier, 28-year-old Etta who knew more than a thing or two by this time, about pain. On that background singer tip: a young Barbara Acklin, of "Love Makes A Woman, Am I The Same Girl" fame and author of "Have You Seen Her" by the Chi-Lites, is singing backup on this record!
Of course listening to Etta James, it's no surprise that her biggest fan was Janis Joplin who sounds so much like her, you can barely tell the difference. There's a great story in Etta's autobiography about Janis--so READ the book! We lost Etta only two years ago, but have artists such as Christina Aguilera, Jojo, and of course Adele to carry on her legacy. Check out Christina's incredible version of "Something's Got A Hold On Me" or Adele's rendition of "Fool That I Am." Leela James did a tribute album to Etta. Or perhaps you've heard Beyonce's Grammy winning rendition of "At Last."
"Call My Name" opens with one of my supreme favorite Etta records "Happiness," a mid-tempo heartbreak with a gorgeous melody and a vocal drenched in despair. The part that sends chills down my spine every time is the key change when Etta lets out her signature growl on the lyrics "Oh, the way I feel baby, I wonder if it's really real, I'm so happy, everything is a dream to me; and If someone wakes me, I'll be so unhappy, if it's a dream that I dream, come on now, let me dream!" It doesn't get any betta than Etta!
"That's All I Want From You" is one of those "stroll" jams I was talking about earlier. Etta makes her plea--a plea that I can relate to this moment, when she tells her suitor that all she wants is "a new love that slowly grows and grows, not one that comes and goes, that's all I want from you." Now one could assume innuendo here as many R&B recordings prior to the liberated late 60s were laced with sexual subtext. Why the very term "Rock n' Roll" implies rocking and rolling in the sheets. (Please see Little Richard's original "Tutti Frutti" lyrics or The Dominoes "Sixty Minute Man" for further explanation).
"842-3089 (Call My Name)" is a hip-shaker that's all about the hook-up. "All you got to do is call me baby, call me honey and I'll come. In the midnight hour all you got to do is moan; in the early morning all you got to do is let me hear you groan and I'll be there at your beck-and-call...842-3089." Etta is giving us full sex screams on this song!
"Don't Pick Me For Your Fool" is years ahead of Alanis Morissette's "You Oughta Know." With its very frank lyrics, "you say you want me baby, but how can I believe, it's not a single day passed baby that you're not out cheating on me; baby don't pick me for your fool." This song is as relatable today as it was 47 years ago!
Etta does a rendition of The Impressions' "It's All Right" that I think sets fire to the original. She speeds up the tempo and turns up the bass and horns. But of course, where would the song be without that trademark growl vocal and those screams!
I have to take a minute to recognize another boutique company that has thankfully re-released all of Etta's obscure albums beginning with 1965's "Queen Of Soul," continuing with "Call My Name," "Losers Weepers" (1971) and 1976's "Etta Is Betta Than Evvah!" Each album includes an abundance of bonus tracks that were singles or other recordings from the period of time the album was released. These albums are known as the Kent Soul years and are released by Ace Records under license form Universal Music Group that owns the masters. Unfortunately this album and the other releases mentioned just above are not available to digitally download, but are available as Import compact discs. Ace Records is a British label. You can visit the incredible catalog of releases below by clicking the button. The Etta albums of the late 60s are Gems Of Jams supreme, and are more than worthy of dusting off for the Millennial music lover out there!