Sunday Diva/Three From The Hip:
Etta James
The omnipotent Etta James.
Her searing voice comes from an abyss within, touching our deepest chords, striking and resonating unlike any other.
Tapping into a well of emotion, she's a powerhouse of mercurial complexities, as likely to slap you as she is to offer comfort.
A rebel with her pedal to the metal, her life was one big road trip, her drive insatiable.
Oh, it got hard. To own such a gift? It weighed heavy upon her at times.
But she persevered.
She had no choice.
She was born Etta James.
And that's who she lived.
For she could live no other.
The gospel according to her?
Well, here are three from the hip, dropping from her lips.
The topic? Her Rebel Blues
"Even as a little child, I've always had that comedian kind of attitude."
"I was a sloppy kid, wanted to be just wild."
"I was originally like a punker, know what I mean, like the punks are today, I'd spit in a minute."
"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'm not a braggart, but when I was a little girl people used to come from all over Hollywood to hear me sing."
"When I'm performing for the people, I am me, then. I am that little girl who, when she was five years old, used to sing at church. Or I'm that 15-year-old young lady who wanted to be grown and wanted to sing and couldn't wait to be smokin' a cigarette, you know?"
"They said that Etta James is still vulgar. I said, Oh, how dare them say I'm still vulgar. I'm vulgar because I dance in the chair. What would they want me to do? Want me to just be still or something like that? I've got to do something."
"Johnny Guitar... just one of my favorite singers of all time. I met him when we were both on the road with Johnny Otis in the '50s when I was a teenager. We traveled the country in a car together. I would hear him sing every night."
"Long as I was riding in a big Cadillac and dressed nice and had plenty of food, that's all I cared about."
"My mother used to play nothing but Billie Holiday."
"My mother was a jazz fanatic and she wanted me to play the piano so I could play jazz tunes. I wish I had learned but I was too busy getting into trouble!"
"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."
"Most of the songs I sing, they have that blue feeling to it. They have that sorry feeling. And I don't know what I'm sorry about."
"I figured I could do It's A Man's Man's Man's World, because I believe it's the truth."
"And as I started reaching deeper I realized that most of the blues of that day was done by men. Women just didn't have the nerve."
"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."
"I sing the songs that people need to hear. 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."
"It's not about battling the original artists when I record these songs, it's about paying tribute to them."
"You can't fake this music. You might be a great singer or a great musician but, in the end, that's got nothing to do with it. It's how you connect to the songs and to the history behind them."
"That's where it begins and ends for me and these songs were the ones that touched me the deepest. It was like I was laying hold of some part of me that I didn't even know was there until I let it out."
"I was a sloppy kid, wanted to be just wild."
"I was originally like a punker, know what I mean, like the punks are today, I'd spit in a minute."
"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."
"When I'm performing for the people, I am me, then. I am that little girl who, when she was five years old, used to sing at church. Or I'm that 15-year-old young lady who wanted to be grown and wanted to sing and couldn't wait to be smokin' a cigarette, you know?"
"They said that Etta James is still vulgar. I said, Oh, how dare them say I'm still vulgar. I'm vulgar because I dance in the chair. What would they want me to do? Want me to just be still or something like that? I've got to do something."
"Johnny Guitar... just one of my favorite singers of all time. I met him when we were both on the road with Johnny Otis in the '50s when I was a teenager. We traveled the country in a car together. I would hear him sing every night."
"Long as I was riding in a big Cadillac and dressed nice and had plenty of food, that's all I cared about."
"My mother was a jazz fanatic and she wanted me to play the piano so I could play jazz tunes. I wish I had learned but I was too busy getting into trouble!"
"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."
"Most of the songs I sing, they have that blue feeling to it. They have that sorry feeling. And I don't know what I'm sorry about."
"I figured I could do It's A Man's Man's Man's World, because I believe it's the truth."
"And as I started reaching deeper I realized that most of the blues of that day was done by men. Women just didn't have the nerve."
Something's Got A Hold On Me - Etta James
I'd Rather Go Blind - Etta James
At Last - Etta James
And one more parting shot...
"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."
"I sing the songs that people need to hear. 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."
"It's not about battling the original artists when I record these songs, it's about paying tribute to them."
"You can't fake this music. You might be a great singer or a great musician but, in the end, that's got nothing to do with it. It's how you connect to the songs and to the history behind them."
"That's where it begins and ends for me and these songs were the ones that touched me the deepest. It was like I was laying hold of some part of me that I didn't even know was there until I let it out."
3 comments:
I like her.
R.I.P.
A life well spent, Etta
One incredible vocalist!!!
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