Jamesetta Hawkins (January 25, 1938 – January 20, 2012), known professionally asEtta James, was an American singer and songwriter. Starting her career in 1954, James frequently performed in Nashville's R&B clubs, collectively known in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s as theChitlin' Circuit.[1] She sang in various genres, includinggospel,blues,jazz,R&B,rock and roll andsoul and gained fame with hits such as "The Wallflower" (1955), "At Last" (1960), "Something's Got a Hold on Me" (1962), "Tell Mama" and "I'd Rather Go Blind" (both 1967).[2] She faced a number of personal problems, includingheroin addiction, severe physical abuse andincarceration, before making a musical comeback in the late 1980s with the albumSeven Year Itch (1988).[3]
Jamesetta Hawkins was born on January 25, 1938, in Los Angeles, California, to Dorothy Hawkins, who was 14 at the time. Although her father has never been identified,[10] James speculated that she was the daughter of pool playerRudolf "Minnesota Fats" Wanderone, whom she met briefly in 1987.[11] Her mother was frequently absent from their apartment inWatts, conducting relationships with various men, and James lived with a series of foster parents, most notably "Sarge" and "Mama" Lu. James referred to her mother as "the Mystery Lady".[10] James was raised by relatives and friends during her childhood, and she began regularly attending aBaptist church while in the care of her grandparents.[12]
James received her first professional vocal training at the age of five from James Earle Hines,musical director of the Echoes of Edenchoir at the St. Paul Baptist Church inSouth-Central Los Angeles. She became asoloist in the choir despite her young age and performed with them on local radio stations. She quickly gained attention for having a strong voice for a child. Hines often punched her in the chest while she sang to force her voice to come from her gut.[13][12]
Sarge, like Hines, was also abusive. During drunken poker games at home, he would awaken James in the early morning hours and force her with beatings to sing for his friends. The trauma of her foster father forcing her to sing under these humiliating circumstances caused her to have difficulties with singing on demand throughout her career.[14]
In 1950, Mama Lu died, and James's biological mother took her to theFillmore district of San Francisco.[15] Within a couple of years, she began listening todoo-wop and was inspired to form a girl group, the Creolettes (so named for the members' light-skinned complexions).
At the age of 14, she met musicianJohnny Otis. Stories on how they met vary. In Otis's version, she came to his hotel after one of his performances in the city and persuaded him to audition her. Another story was that Otis spotted the Creolettes performing at a Los Angeles nightclub and sought for them to record his "answer song" toHank Ballard's "Work with Me, Annie". Otis took the Creolettes under his wing and helped them sign toModern Records, at which point they changed their name to Peaches.[16] At this time Otis also gave James her stage name, transposing "Jamesetta" (her given first name) into "Etta James."[citation needed] In 1954, James recorded and was credited as co-author for "The Wallflower" (a title change to the aforementioned song, "Work with Me, Annie"), which was released in early 1955. The original title of the song was actually "Roll with Me, Henry", but it had been changed to avoid censorship at the time (roll implying sexual activity). In February 1955, the song reached number one on theHot Rhythm & Blues Tracks chart.[17] Its success also gave the Peaches an opening spot onLittle Richard's national tour.[18]
While James was on tour with Richard, pop singerGeorgia Gibbs recorded a version of her song and released it under the again-altered title "Dance With Me, Henry." It became acrossover hit, reaching number one on theBillboard Hot 100, which angered James.
After leaving the Peaches, James had another R&B hit with "Good Rockin' Daddy" but struggled with follow-ups. When her contract with Modern came up for renewal in 1960, she signed a contract withChess Records instead, with which she would go on to become one of the label's earliest stars.[5] Around this time, she became involved in a relationship with the singerHarvey Fuqua, the founder of the doo-wop group theMoonglows.
MusicianBobby Murray toured with James for over 20 years. He wrote that James had her first hit single when she was 15 years old and went steady withB.B. King when she was 16. James believed that King's hit single "Sweet Sixteen" was about her.[19] In early 1955, she and an aspiring singer, the 19-year-oldElvis Presley, then recording forSun Studios and an avid fan of King's, shared a bill in a large club just outside Memphis.[citation needed] In her autobiography, she noted how impressed she was with the young singer's manners. She also recalled how happy he made her many years later when she found out that it was Presley who had moved her close friendJackie Wilson from a substandard convalescent home to a more appropriate facility and, as she put it, paid all the expenses. Presley died a year later. Wilson went on to live for another ten years in the care center Presley found for him.
James' first hit singles with Fuqua were "If I Can't Have You" and "Spoonful". Her first solo hit was the doo-wop–styled rhythm-and-blues song "All I Could Do Was Cry", which was a number two R&B hit.[20] Chess Records co-founderLeonard Chess envisioned James as a classic ballad stylist who had potential to cross over to the pop charts and soon surrounded the singer with violins and other string instruments.[20] The first string-laden ballad James recorded was "My Dearest Darling" in May 1960, which peaked in the top five of the R&B chart. James sang background vocals for her labelmateChuck Berry on his "Back in the U.S.A."[21][22]
Her debut album,At Last!, was released in late 1960 and was noted for its varied selection of music, fromjazz standards toblues to doo-wop andrhythm and blues (R&B).[23] The album included the future classics "I Just Want to Make Love to You" and "A Sunday Kind of Love". In early 1961, James released what was to become her signature song, "At Last", aGlenn Miller tune, which reached number two on the R&B chart and number 47 on theBillboard Hot 100. Though the record was not as successful as expected, her rendition has become the best-known version of the song.[21] James followed this with "Trust in Me", which also included string instruments.[20] Later that same year (1960), James released a second studio album,The Second Time Around. The album took the same direction as her first, covering jazz and pop standards and with strings on many of the songs. It produced two hit singles, "Fool That I Am" and "Don't Cry Baby".[24]
James started addinggospel elements in her music the following year, releasing "Something's Got a Hold on Me", which peaked at number four on the R&B chart and was a Top 40 pop hit. That success was quickly followed by "Stop the Wedding", which reached number six on the R&B chart and also had gospel elements.[21] In 1963, she had another major hit with "Pushover" and released the live albumEtta James Rocks the House, recorded at the New Era Club inNashville, Tennessee.[20] After a couple of years of minor hits, James's career started to suffer after 1965. After a period of isolation, she returned to recording in 1967 and reemerged with more gutsy R&B numbers thanks to her recording at the legendaryFAME Studios inMuscle Shoals, Alabama. These sessions yielded her comeback hit "Tell Mama", co-written byClarence Carter, which reached number ten on the R&B chart and number twenty-three for pop. An album of the same name was also released that year and included her take onOtis Redding's "Security".[25] TheB-side of "Tell Mama" was "I'd Rather Go Blind", which became a blues classic and has been recorded by many other artists. In her autobiography,Rage to Survive, she wrote that she heard the song outlined by her friend Ellington "Fugi" Jordan when she visited him in prison.[26] According to her account, she wrote the rest of the song with Jordan but for tax reasons gave her songwriting credit to her partner at the time, Billy Foster.
Following this success, James became an in-demand concert performer, though she never again reached the heyday of her early to mid-1960s success. Her records continued to chart in theR&B Top 40 in the early 1970s, with singles such as "Losers Weepers" (1970) and "I Found a Love" (1972). Though James continued to record for Chess, she was devastated by the death of record executiveLeonard Chess in 1969. James ventured into rock andfunk with the release of herself-titled album in 1973, with production from the famed rock producerGabriel Mekler, who had worked withSteppenwolf andJanis Joplin. Joplin had admired James and had covered "Tell Mama" in concert. James' 1973 album, exhibiting a mixture of musical styles, was nominated for aGrammy Award.[25] The album did not produce any major hits, however, and neither did the follow-up album,Come a Little Closer, in 1974, though, like '73'sEtta James before it, the album was also critically acclaimed.[citation needed]
James continued to record for Chess (now owned byAll Platinum Records), releasing one more album in 1976,Etta Is Betta Than Evvah! Her 1978 albumDeep in the Night, produced byJerry Wexler for Warner Bros., incorporated more rock-based music in her repertoire.[20] That same year, James was the opening act for theRolling Stones and performed at theMontreux Jazz Festival. Following this brief success, however, she left Chess Records and did not record for another ten years while she struggled with drug addiction and alcoholism.
1982–1998: Continued performances and return to recording
In 1989, she signed withIsland Records and with them released the albumsSeven Year Itch andStickin' to My Guns, both of which were produced byBarry Beckett and recorded at FAME Studios.[25] Also in 1989 James was filmed in a concert at theWiltern Theater in Los Angeles withJoe Walsh andAlbert Collins for the filmJazzvisions: Jump the Blues Away. Many of the backing musicians were top-flight players from Los Angeles:Rick Rosas (bass),Michael Huey (drums), Ed Sanford (Hammond B3 organ), Kip Noble (piano) and Josh Sklair, James' longtime guitar player.
By the mid-1990s, James's earlier music—by now considered classic—was being used in commercials, including "I Just Wanna Make Love to You", for example. After an excerpt of that song was featured in a Diet Coke advertising campaign in the UK, the song again charted, reaching the top ten on the UK charts in 1996.[17]
By 1998, with the release ofLife, Love & the Blues, James had added as backing musicians her own sons, Donto and Sametto, on drums and bass, respectively.[31] They were part of her touring band. She continued recording for Private Music, which released the blues albumMatriarch of the Blues in 2000, on which she returned to her R&B roots.
James at the 2006 Common Ground Festival in Lansing, Michigan
In 2008, James was portrayed by singerBeyoncé in the filmCadillac Records, a fictional account of Chess Records, James's label for 18 years, about how label founder and producer Leonard Chess helped the careers of James and others.[38] The film included "At Last," performed by Beyoncé. Beyoncé was invited to perform the song at Barack Obama'sinaugural ball. In the following weeks James publicly complained that Beyoncé was “singing my song,” but later added that her critical remarks were meant to be received as a joke and stemmed from personal hurt over not having been invited to the sing the song herself for the Obama inauguration.[39] It was later reported thatAlzheimer's disease and "drug-induceddementia" had contributed to her negative comments about Knowles.[40]
In April 2009, at the age of 71, James made her final television appearance, performing "At Last" on the programDancing with the Stars. In May 2009, she received the Soul/Blues Female Artist of the Year award from theBlues Foundation, the ninth time she won that award. She carried on touring but by 2010 had to cancel concert dates because of her gradually failing health; by this time she was suffering fromdementia andleukemia. In November 2011, James released her final album,The Dreamer, to critical acclaim. She announced her retirement at the time of its release.[41]
James' enduring relevance was affirmed in 2011 when the Swedish DJAvicii achieved substantial chart success with the song "Levels", which samples her 1962 song "Something's Got a Hold on Me". The same sample was used by the east coast rapperFlo Rida in his 2011 hit single "Good Feeling". Both artists issued statements of condolence upon James's death.[42] James' original classic music again charted after these 21st-century re-interpretations.
James possessed the vocal range of acontralto.[43] Her musical style changed during the course of her career. At the beginning of her recording career, in the mid-1950s, James was marketed as an R&B anddoo-wop singer.[20] After signing with Chess Records in 1960, James broke through as atraditional pop-styled singer, covering jazz and pop music standards on her debut album,At Last![44] James's voice deepened and coarsened, moving her musical style in her later years into the genres of soul and jazz.[20]
British blues bandChicken Shack recorded Etta James’ 1967 single "I'd Rather Go Blind", which ended up becoming very successful for the band, withChristine McVie singing lead vocals.[53] The single was successful enough that it garneredChristine McVie the Top Female Singer on the Melody Maker's Reader's Poll in 1969.[54]
Through her mother, Dorothy, James was introduced to theNation of Islam. Dorothy attended occasional meetings at Nation of Islam Temple No. 27 in Los Angeles and relayed the teachings to her daughter.[55] Under the care of her grandparents, however, James was raisedBaptist.[12] In her adult years, James and a friend began attending a Nation of Islam temple in Atlanta, where she found comfort in the preaching ofMinister Louis X and a sense of "racial pride". She took on the nameJamesetta X and later joinedMalcolm X’s temple inHarlem; she remained a member for about a decade.[56] It was in Harlem that James became friends with young boxerCassius Clay, who later changed his name toMuhammad Ali.[57] She didn't strictly follow their beliefs, saying it was "something of a fad" and the "radical, the 'in' thing to do" at the time.[55]
James was married to Artis Mills from 1969 until her death in 2012.[58][59] She had two sons, Donto James and Sametto James, born to different fathers.[60] Both of her sons became musicians and eventually performed professionally with their mother; Donto played drums at Montreux in 1993 and Sametto played bass guitar circa 2003, among other performances and tours.[61]
By the mid-1960s, James suffered from an addiction to heroin. To finance her habit, she bounced checks, forged prescriptions and stole from her friends.[62] In 1966, she was arrested for writing bad checks; she was placed on probation and ordered to pay a $500 fine.[63] In 1969, she spent 10 days in jail for violating her probation.[58]
James was continuously in and out of rehabilitation centers, including the Tarzana Treatment Centers, in Los Angeles. Her husband, Artis Mills, accepted responsibility when they were both arrested for heroin possession and served a 10-year prison sentence.[64] He was released from prison in 1981.
In 1973, James was arrested for possession of heroin.[65] In 1974, she was sentenced to drug treatment instead of prison. During this period, she became addicted to methadone and would mix her doses with heroin.[58] She was in the Tarzana Psychiatric Hospital for 17 months, starting at the age of 36 and went through a great struggle. In her 1995 autobiographyRage to Survive, she said that the time she spent in the hospital changed her life. After leaving treatment, however, her substance abuse continued, particularly after she developed a relationship with a man who was also using drugs.
In 2010, James received treatment for a dependency onpainkillers.[66]
James was hospitalized in January 2010 to treat an infection caused byMRSA, a bacterium resistant to many antibiotics. During her hospitalization, her son Donto revealed to the public that, in 2008, she had been diagnosed withAlzheimer's disease.[40]
In 2011, James was diagnosed withleukemia. Artis Mills was appointed sole conservator of the James estate and tasked with overseeing her medical care.[67] She died on January 20, 2012, at age 73, at Riverside Community Hospital inRiverside, California.[68][69] Her death came three days after that ofJohnny Otis, the man who had discovered her in the 1950s. Thirty-six days after her death, her sidemanRed Holloway also died.[70]
In 1989, the newly formedRhythm and Blues Foundation included James in their first Pioneer Awards for artists whose "lifelong contributions have been instrumental in the development of Rhythm & Blues music".[45] The following year, 1990, she received anNAACP Image Award, which is given for "outstanding achievements and performances of people of color in the arts;"[77] it was an award she cherished as it "was coming from my own people".[78] In 2020, James was inducted into theNational Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame.
The members of the Blues Foundation, a nonprofit organization set up inMemphis, Tennessee, to foster the blues and its heritage,[87] have nominated James for aBlues Music Award nearly every year since its founding in 1980; and she received some form of Blues Female Artist of the Year award 14 times since 1989, continuously from 1999 to 2007.[88] Her albumsLife, Love, & the Blues (1999),Burnin' Down the House (2003), andLet's Roll (2004) were awarded Soul/Blues Album of the Year,[88] and in 2001 she was inducted into theBlues Hall of Fame.[82]
^"Archived copy".members.home.nl. Archived fromthe original on November 5, 2012. RetrievedJanuary 13, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^James, Etta; Ritz, David (2003).Rage to Survive. Hachette Books. p. 256.ISBN9780306812620.I felt less conflicted about the NAACP Image Award I won. That was coming from my own people, and I cherished the recognition.
