Etta James died earlier today. (h/t commenter lamh)
This is played from a skippy record, but it is my favorite Etta James song. (I’d go with “I’d Rather Go Blind” but I like Koko Taylor’s version even better.)
Update. Also too (why are soul covers of country songs always the very best songs?).
Omnes Omnibus
Reposted from the SotW Thread: More Etta.
jl
Thanks for Etta thread. Great musician, great singer. RIP and thank you, Etta.
hildebrand
Time for the Crooner in Chief to sing “At Last”.
Litlebritdifrnt
OT and just for information but there are a metric ton of pro Newt radio ads playing in my area of Eastern NC. They are by his PAC of course and not him, but damn they are spending alot of money. They feature, believe it or not, Michelle Bachmann praising him from 2008 (I think).
Carolinus
WTF…
Georgia judge orders Obama to appear in court for hearing on attempt to keep him off ballot
http://www.examiner.com/11th-circuit-court-in-atlanta/orly-taitz-and-david-farrar-birthers-at-it-again-hold-on-for-the-ride
Orly Taitz’s reaction on her site:
AA+ Bonds
At least post Tell Mama again
burnspbesq
@Carolinus:
God, I feel sorry for the poor shlub from the US Attorney’s office in Atlanta who has to deal with this.
Yutsano
@burnspbesq: It’s okay. That’s why they’re GS-14s. With differential for the Atlanta area.
And I didn’t think Taitz had a legal license to practice anywhere anymore. How in the hell is she representing anyone?
burnspbesq
why are soul covers of country songs always the very best songs?
No kidding.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFeB7zTGesk
Chuck Butcher
Twenty years ago my wife and I had our first dance after the wedding to an Etta tune. We made a pretty hot couple in our mid-thirties.
thanks Etta
Gin & Tonic
You can’t mention Etta James without mentioning Johnny Otis, who also died this week.
burnspbesq
@Yutsano:
There have been complaints filed, but the State Bar has yet to take action.
I don’t remember hearing about her having paid the $20K in sanctions that were imposed by the Middle District of Georgia. If she hasn’t, she can’t file anything in that court. She also can’t sell or refinance her house, because DOJ recorded an abstract of judgment here in OC.
Yutsano
@burnspbesq: It’s a good thing I take UNAX seriously. Otherwise it’s very very tempting to go there.
Schlemizel
I was really saddened when I heard this. I have a dozen or so of her CDs & play the to death. Its a shame she didn’t get a wider audience while she was alive but was inducted into the R&R HoF so she knew people respected & enjoyed her work.
Jennifer
One of my favorites was her cover of Ray Charles’ What’d I Say, recorded live at some little club back in the 60s. You can really hear how powerful her voice was in this recording, and how awesome it must have been to see her perform live back in the day.
lamh35
thx DougJ.
As I said in the previous thread, there are few singers today who are actual singers who are able to sing their most personal songs with “feeling”. What I mean is even though there are many “soul” singers today who sing technically beautifully few of them are able to actual make you FEEL what they are singing about, even when they didn’t right the song they are singing (Adele sorta did when she sings “Someone Like You” live for the first time). Many of the soul singers from the past did do that and Ella was one of the best at making you feel her pain over loving/losing/keeping that man of hers.
burnspbesq
@Yutsano:
SB/SE in Laguna will get around to her eventually. Not for nothing is there a specialized audit techniques guide for dentists. They are notorious for having unreported income.
Benjamin Franklin
@jl:
+1
Why must we wait until people are gone before we recognize them ?
ThresherK
@lamh35: Which jazzman said “I like country music for the stories, man. Listen to the stories!” ?
Yep. Soul and country singers share the need to convince the listener they believe the stories they’re singing. And, like Justice Potter Stewart, I can’t define it, but I know it when it when I hear it.
Matt in HB
Count me among those that had their first wedding dance to “At Last.” I think it’s pretty much a perfect love song and still get chills when I hear it.
noodler
Horrible news. Thanks for this thread. Such a great voice.
sb
She had a version of “Take it to the Limit”, a live version, that was just spectacular.
She had been very sick for a long time, apparently. Rest in Peace, Etta.
Mnemosyne
@Carolinus:
So which B-J commenter is more likely to be revealed as secretly being Orly Taitz: mclaren or Samara Morgan?
Omnes Omnibus
@Mnemosyne:
Like the Grinch, I puzzed and I puzzed until my puzzler was sore, and then I thought of something I hadn’t thought before. What if all three of them, I said, were something we could ignore?
Suffern ACE
I like her version of St. Louis Blues a lot. I’m not going to say it is better than more famous versions, but it is the song of hers that I play the most.
russell
Two kinds of soul wrapped up in one package. What’s not to like?
Johnny Otis passed also. Not a good day for American music.
Origuy
@Carolinus:
IANAL, but my understanding is that while the judge denied the request to quash the subpoena, he did not order it enforced. Defense did not show sufficient cause to him; probably they were going through the motions, so to speak. Source
Cheryl from Maryland
@Suffern ACE: Beautiful. Thank you.
SixStringFanatic
Country songs tell great stories but they’re country songs, with that shitty white-people rhythm. Did you notice that there aren’t any country-sounding country songs anymore? They’re all set to a rock-n-roll beat now. Because, deep down, even country fans know country music sucks.