I was blind in my love life, and I was blind in my personal ways. And, in 2008, Rolling Stone ranked her at number 22 in its rock-focused list of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time. That year, James's influence was everywhere, with avariety of black female singers (including Turner, Gladys Knight and Candi Staton) employing her defiant, abrasive vocal style. And the family name, Czy, became Chess. Read More Joe Williams: Beyond the Blues, As a JazzTimes writer, I can talk about the powers of a dynamic drummer until Im blue in the face: the weight of each tom-toms Read More Chops: What Bassists Listen for in Drummers, America's jazz resource, delivered to your inbox. When her contract with Modern came up for renewal in 1960, she signed a contract with Chess Records instead, with which she would go on to become one of the label's earliest stars. According to Marshall Chess, son of Leonard Chess, he had these words to say concerning the issue of this affair: Now, my father was no angel, but (he) was never caught in an affair, Chess said. Most gallingly, for a film "based on a true story," there doesn't seem to be a single fact contained within writer-director Darnell Martin's ham-fisted fiction, which renders pre-rock musical history as yet another downer soap opera bloated with smack and sex and premature corpses, as though that's all that defined the period and the people. She was buried at Inglewood Park Cemetery in Los Angeles County, California. [38], James was diagnosed with leukemia in early 2011. Though the record was not as successful as expected, her rendition has become the best-known version of the song. The British pop singer Adele said that it was buying an Etta James CD when she was 13 that made her want to sing. (modern), Etta James's approach to singing and to life was one of wild, desperate engagement. Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors. She carried on touring but by 2010 had to cancel concert dates because of her gradually failing health; by this time she was suffering from dementia and leukemia. The follow-up, Good Rockin' Daddy, reached No 12 in the R&B charts in November 1955. [51] She was in the Tarzana Psychiatric Hospital for 17 months, starting at the age of 36, and went through a great struggle at the start of treatment. Beyonc was invited to sing At Last at Barack Obama's presidential inauguration in January 2009. Brussels music act Vaya Con Dios covered the song on their 1990 album Night Owls. In 1941, he married Revetta Sloan, who was also Jewish; they had three children: son Marshall and two daughters, Elaine and Susie[9]. James would go on to publicly criticize Beyonce, who was invited to perform the song at Barack Obama's inaugural ball, 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. Leonard Chess Lejzor Szmuel Czy (March 12, 1917 - October 16, 1969), best known as Leonard Sam Chess, was a Polish-American record company executive and the co-founder of Chess Records. James was inducted into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame a full eight years before her 2001 inclusion in the Blues Hall of Fame. There's no Bo Diddley either, a woeful oversight for a film in need of his hubris and humor. The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". Chess, a junkyard owner, dreams of opening a nightclub, which he does: the Macomba Lounge. Thank you, Wayne. Subscribe, 2023 Grown Folks Music. About Us All rights reserved. This brought her to yet another audience. He also takes issue with the onscreen love affair between Leonard and Etta James. Now if youre looking for a name to sell movie tickets, I can definitely see the follow the money rationale. While Etta wondered much about the true identity of her father, most of her issues of rejection and insecurity stemmed from her mother, Dorothy, a single teenage mother who traveled in and out of Ettas life like a bad storm. Still, the parade of famous faces playing famous faces overstuffs the movie with subjects deserving of features but instead treated as footnotes. Though Etta had a mother figure in an older woman affectionatelynamed Mama Lu, Ettas life spiraled after her death. It does not store any personal data. Yes. 3 Who was Harvey Fuqua dating before Etta James? As many families did, when they arrived in the United States the Czy family changed their name. A Toast to 2018, the Year Movies Roared Back. "Something's Got a Hold on Me" is a song by American singer Etta James. 0. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. Pianist Prez was then a professor at the New England Conservatory; his student, Read More Explaining the Taubman Approach, Everyone knows that Joe Williams sang the hell out of the blues, but do you know what else he sang the hell out of? Her first was in 1995, when she was awarded Best Jazz Vocal Performance for the album Mystery Lady, which consisted of covers of Billie Holiday songs. Between this internal tug of war and growing up in a business that didnt cater much to a growing teenager, Ettas life journey was surrounded by upheaval and survival. Violence andsubstance abuse were now constants in James's life and she would maintain a difficult, combative relationship with her mother across many decades. [4] Around this time, she became involved in a relationship with the singer Harvey Fuqua, the founder of the doo-wop group the Moonglows. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. [35] She performed at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in 2006 and 2009 (prior 2012 credit - after date of death). The film stars Adrien Brody as Leonard Chess, Cedric the Entertainer . The true story is that the man who recorded under the pseudonym Howlin Wolf was a 300-pound farmer named Chester Burnette. According to Marshall Chess, son of Leonard Chess, he had these words to say concerning the issue of this affair: Now, my father was no angel, but (he) was never caught in an affair, Chess said. Another story was that Otis spotted the Creolettes performing at a Los Angeles nightclub and sought for them to record his "answer song" to Hank Ballard's "Work with Me, Annie". Rock 'n' Roll.) He was influential in the development of electric blues, Chicago blues, and rock and roll. Rock'n'Roll (1987), opened stadium dates for the Rolling Stones and was inducted into the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame in 1993. But so egregious are the deficiencies and distortions herein this universe, The Rolling Stones came to the United States and The Beach Boys ripped off Chuck Berry long before anyone had ever heard of Elvis Presleythat it's almost impossible to discern whether there's anything decent about the moviemaking itself. [19] After signing with Chess Records in 1960, James broke through as a traditional pop-styled singer, covering jazz and pop music standards on her debut album, At Last! Of course we all saw Beyonces role in the movie Cadillac Records but unfortunately that role was not the factual life of Etta James. Less than a year after selling their label, Leonard Chess was dead. Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. 4 What did Leonard Chess son say about Etta James? [19] The album won James her first Grammy Award, for Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Female, in 1994. Dorothy was a hustler and showed no inclination to change her lifestyle. Leonard and his brother Phil became involved in the black nightclub scene on the South Side of Chicago in 1938 running a series of jazz clubs, culminating in the Macomba Lounge. [77] Her albums Life, Love, & the Blues (1999), Burnin' Down the House (2003), and Let's Roll (2004) were awarded Soul/Blues Album of the Year,[77] and in 2001 she was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame.[71]. She was continuously in and out of rehabilitation centers, including the Tarzana Treatment Centers, in Los Angeles, California. That success was quickly followed by "Stop the Wedding", which reached number six on the R&B chart and also had gospel elements. In November 2011, James released her final album, The Dreamer, which was critically acclaimed upon its release. Etta's crossed over!' She is survived by her husband and her sons, Donto and Sametto. Here her powerhouse contralto voice was matched with the sumptuous, bluesy string arrangements of Riley Hampton, and James truly came into her own as a singer. Presley died a year later. [27] and was a guest on John Mayall's Blues Breakers 1982 reunion show in New Jersey.In 1984, she contacted David Wolper and asked to perform in the opening ceremony of the 1984 Summer Olympics, at which she sang "When the Saints Go Marching In". Cover of Etta James: The Essential Modern Records Collection, Chops: What Bassists Listen for in Drummers, The 10 Best Jazz Albums of the 1950s: Critics Picks, Year in Review: The Top 40 Jazz Albums of 2022, Year in Review: The Top 10 Historical Albums of 2022, Chops: What Bassists Listen for in Drummers. (It bugs me to this day that he still receives royalties, James wrote in 1995.). Leonard Chess played bass drum on one of Muddy Waters' sessions in 1951, specifically on the tracks "She Moves Me" and "Still A Fool".[8]. An elite fanclub ensured James sang at the Los Angeles Olympics opening ceremony in 1984, appeared in Taylor Hackford's celebrated Chuck Berry feature Hail! Theyoung superstar made adecent job of portraying her as a foul-mouthed, two-fisted singer, yet lacked the raging bull quality that made James sounforgettable. 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. Join the Observer community and help support She notched up such hits as All I Could Do Was Cry, If I Can't Have You and AtLast. Musician Bobby Murray toured with James for over 20 years. [25] 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. King, Janet Jackson, Teddy Riley and many others. In the early 1960s, Chess became involved in the broadcasting business as part owner of WVON-AM radio and later acquired WSDM-FM, both in Chicago. What characteristics allow plants to survive in the desert? Among the women on that list, only Aretha Franklin and Tina Turner ranked higher. Etta James was born Jamesetta Hawkins in Los Angeles, California on January 25, 1938; her mother was just 14 years old at the time, and she never knew her father, though she would later say she had reason to believe he was the well-known pool hustler Minnesota Fats. (You can hear his own, more psychedelic take on the song, called Id Rather Be a Blind Man, on YouTube.) Thereafter (until the massive success of At Last) the hits stopped coming, though the quality of James work did not diminish an iota. James never again enjoyed a major US hit, although she continued to record strong material. [59], James was hospitalized in January 2010 to treat an infection caused by MRSA, a bacterium resistant to many antibiotics. Chess contacted Sam Phillips (of Sun Records) to help find and record new artists from the South. Like the song says, I just dont want to be free. When Leonard Chessthe founder of Jamess label, Chess Recordsfirst heard the song, James says, he got up and left the room cause he started crying When he came back in the room, he said, Etta, its a mother its a mother.. (A far better place to start would be Nadine Cohodas' 2001 book, Spinning Blues Into Gold, about the Chess Brothersyes, both of them.) independent local journalism in Dallas. [30] They were part of her touring band. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. The label's many talents included Jimmy Reed, Bo Diddley, John Lee Hooker, Robert Nighthawk, Muddy Waters, Gene Ammons, Jimmy Rogers,. When did Etta James change her name to Peaches? Addicted to heroin and bad men, she lived a criminal lifestyle and was jailed several times. The story is too fragmented to deciphera sloppily arranged sequence of sketches that's like a who's who without the why. Not saying I wasnt pleased to see Beyonces commitment to the role written however that role was poorly written and watered down. Once asked to describe her style, she responded that singing allowed her to vent "all this bitch shit inside of me". First, a key spoiler: Cadillac Records is not the story of Chess Records, the blues label started in Chicago in 1950 by brothers Leonard and Phil Chess that featured among its stable of artists Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry and Etta James, plus many others who birthed rock 'n' roll. He wrote that James had her first hit single when she was 15 years old and went steady with B.B. In 1967 Leonard Chess, the founder of Chess Records, sent. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. The life of Ms. Etta James is as fascinating as her voice, complicated as her vocal interpretations and raw as her passion. [7] In 1950, the Chess brothers renamed the company Chess Records. She also recalled how happy he made her many years later when she found out that it was Presley who had moved her close friend Jackie Wilson from a substandard convalescent home to a more appropriate facility and, as she put it, paid all the expenses. James countered with a coy follow-up called Hey! But rarely is Etta James recognized among those pioneers. What happened between Etta James and Leonard Chess? Who was the singer that played Etta James? Leonard Chess set new standards for the industry in artist development, deal making, networking, and marketing and promotion"[12] He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987, posthumously, in the non-performer category.[13]. Fiszel became Phil. Just 52 years old, the elder brother had died of a heart attack in his car less than two blocks from the Chess headquarters. In time, Chess begins assembling his pieces: Howlin' Wolf, played with almost cartoonish ferocity by Eamonn Walker; Dixon, who here comes off as nothing more than a sideman; Chuck Berry, rendered as a savvy country boy who liked to show gals his ding-a-ling in the backseat of his car; and James, who already had a career before Chess signed the tormented torch singer in 1960, not that you'd know it here. But in this version of the taletold in flashback, with overwrought narration provided by Cedric the Entertainer as Chess producer, session musician and house songwriter Willie Dixonthere is no Phil Chess, only Leonard, played by an actor, Adrien Brody, who, with his anachronistically tousled hair and Forever Fonzie wardrobe, looks as much like Leonard Chess as he does, well, Howlin' Wolf. James went on to record a string of hits in the late 1950s and `60s including "Trust In Me," "Something's Got a Hold On Me," "Sunday Kind of Love," "All I Could Do Was Cry," and of course, "At Last." Chess Records, whose founder, Leonard Chess, called James their first soul singer, she wrote. Etta James was born Jamesetta Hawkins in Los Angeles, California on January 25, 1938; her mother was just 14 years old at the time, and she never knew her father, though she would later say she had reason to believe he was the well-known pool hustler Minnesota Fats. He was so impressed with James's voice and her songwriting skills that he offered to take her to Los Angeles the following day to record Roll With Me Henry. Early life In 2001, she was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame and the Rockabilly Hall of Fame, the latter for her contributions to the developments of both rock and roll and rockabilly. Her 1978 album Deep in the Night, produced by Jerry Wexler for Warner Bros., incorporated more rock-based music in her repertoire. I will make certain to bookmark your blog and will often come back Howlin Wolf guitarist was a huge inspiration for the Stones The funeral for Chicago blues great Hubert Sumlin, the longtime guitar player for Howlin Wolf who died Sunday at age 80, will be paid for by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones. Two other Berry tunes are included in this collection, the rollicking Number One (which cleverly references Henry as a bygone lover) and the stridently plaintive Im A Fool. James herself co-authored both the playfully sensual W-O-M-A-N and the high-octane Tough Lover, easily the equal of any of Little Richards thundering hits. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". Where is the border between Italy and France? In time, other important artists signed with Chess Records, including Bo Diddley and Sonny Boy Williamson, while Willie Dixon and Robert Lockwood Jr. took on a significant role behind the scenes. Since 1989 (notably rather late in her career, after nearly thirty years of prior recording), James has received over 30 awards and recognitions from eight different organizations, including the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum[64] and the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences which organizes the Grammys.[65]. Of these, Howlin' Wolf in particular became very popular, and Chess Records had to vie for him with other companies which had also been supplied with Wolf recordings by Phillips. Thank you so much for your comment! The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". [61][62] Her death came three days after that of Johnny Otis, the man who had discovered her in the 1950s. Glad you enjoyed it! Knowles also recorded her own version of James signature song, At Last for the soundtrack. Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet. In 1952, she met musician Johnny Otis who helped the band sign to Modern Records and changing their name to the Peaches and gave the singer her stage name reversing Jamesetta into Etta James. She performed at the Playboy Jazz Festival in 1990, 1997, 2004, and 2007. [37] It was later reported that Alzheimer's disease and "drug-induced dementia" had contributed to her negative comments about Knowles.[38]. The alterations are distracting and head-scratching and ultimately dismissive, to the point where Wright's Muddy Waters is reduced to a mere spectator in his own story, just some guy who hangs around the Chess studios to glower at Howlin' Wolf and panhandle Chess for money. So in conclusion, when I think of an artist whos invested 58 years in writing and singing songs that come from the real chapters of her life, it seems only fitting that she have the honor of a real depiction. Eventually, the two men meetduring a never-happened brawl at the Macomba, instigated by hell-raising harp player Little Walter (Columbus Short)and form a partnership, then a friendship. Cadillac Records is a 2008 American biographical drama film written and directed by Darnell Martin.The film explores the musical era from the early 1940s to the late 1960s, chronicling the life of the influential Chicago-based record-company executive Leonard Chess, and a few of the musicians who recorded for Chess Records.. [22] The album included the future classics "I Just Want to Make Love to You" and "A Sunday Kind of Love". Slate is published by The Slate Love Ms. Etta James!! [16][8], James signed with Private Music Records in 1993 and recorded a Billie Holiday tribute album, Mystery Lady: Songs of Billie Holiday. Polish-American record executive (19171969), Learn how and when to remove this template message, "Phil Chess, co-founder of blues label Chess Records, dies", "Will the real music mogul stand up? 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 legendary FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Hines abused James while she was under his tutelage; he often punched her in the chest while she sang to force her voice to come from her gut. The same sample was used by the east coast rapper Flo Rida in his 2011 hit single "Good Feeling". James was a star, yet one seemingly set on self-destruction. [55] James was arrested in 1966 for writing bad checks. Described as a soul enigma by MOJO magazine in 2002, Jordan has had a fascinating musical career of his own. An album of the same name was also released that year and included her take on Otis Redding's "Security". This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Also in 1995, she recorded the album Time After Time. [50], James was married to Artis Mills from 1969 until her death in 2012. Sumlins partner, Toni Ann, posted the news online. [19] Later that same year (1960), James released a second studio album, The Second Time Around. 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. What did Etta James say about Leonard Chess? [19] After a couple of years of minor hits, James's career started to suffer after 1965. Contribute Stevie Wonder and Christina Aguilera gave musical tributes. Jamesetta Hawkins (January 25, 1938 January 20, 2012), known professionally as Etta James, was an American singer who performed in various genres, including gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, rock and roll, and soul. Describing the song in her autobiography, James wrote, I was blind. All rights reserved. As a teenager on tours with Otis, Johnny "Guitar" Watson, Ike and Tina Turner and Little Richard, James encountered and quickly embraced much debauchery. By 1998, with the release of Life, Love & the Blues, James had added as backing musicians her own sons, Donto and Sametto, on drums and bass, respectively. [31], In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked her number 62 on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.[32]. [51][52], James had two sons, Donto James and Sametto James, born to different fathers. [53] Both were 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. Her funeral was presided over by the Reverend Al Sharpton and took place in Gardena, California eight days after her death. Fortunately, the best of those early recordings, all for Modern Records, have now been assembled in a single-disc collection.
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