By Odeisel

The one thing about fame is that it keeps you under pressure. Etta James found her fame at 14 with a raw talent (you could actually get put on with talent back then) that spanned over half a century and almost every genre fo American popular music. We all remember her for the version of the classic, “At Last” which became the standard (though not the original version) of the song and the recent controversy with Beyonce over it during the 2008 Presidential inauguration. What we didn’t know at the time was the pain she was going through at the time and whether she was in her right state of mind.

We always hear wild stories of the music back then; things that would shock us if they were happening in todays’ era of camera phones and omnipresent news coverage. Her talent was honed and discovered in the church and abused by a choir director who would awaken her from her sleep to sing for him and his drunk friends, often through violence. Never knew her daddy, momma hopping from bed to bed leaving her destiny in the hands of others. Discovered at age 14 by the Godfather of R&B, the also recently deceased Johnny Otis. Dating blues legend BB King at age 16 and allegedly the inspiration for his song “Sweet Sixteen” and on the road at a time when that age made you a woman and not a child.   Yeah, she had enough in her life to fuel a lifetime of emotionally charged music.

The brilliance of Etta James derives from her connection with that pain;; her catalog a litany of heartbreak, ballsy defiance and classic ballads that speak of a heart longing for a love it could not find. Her versatility was such that she found success in the realms of Doo-Wop, Gospel, Country, Blues, Jazz, R&B (the real kind, not the machine assisted kind), Rock & Roll, and survived long enough to even have elements fo her music woven into Hip_Hop. that speaks to her irrepresible spark of life that it could touch that many wavelengths with aplomb. You have R&B singers who think they can rap and vice versa, but this woman successfully executed songs that contended across time and lifestyle. Hillbillies and Hip-Hoppers don’t have common ground on much, but Etta James was someone they could probably agree on.

With most of those stories from Black artists in the 50s come tragic tales of dealing with the fame and the travel and the heart-break. There was addiction. there was drugs. There was the constant vacillation between the road and rehab, but the key was that the fight never stop and Etta James never succumbed to her demons with any finality. She fought for her life throughout its entire run. The same passion that fueled her music fueled her will to exist. The Doo Wopper had survived through enough eras to tour with the Rolling Stones and endure enough successful comebacks to make LL keep his day job (whatever that is these days). She survived long enough to actually be appreciated and recognized while she was still alive, something that has escaped many of those blues and early Black pop music pioneers. To her credit are multiple prestigious awards and designations, including inception  into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the Rockabilly Hall of Fame, the Hollywood Walk of Fame, a BMI Lifetime Achievement Award and a BillBoard R&B Founders Award. James has 6 Grammy Awards, amazingly for music AFTER the 1990’s,  with “At Last” and “Dance WIth Me Harry” entered into the Grammy Hall of Fame for historical significance.

When you think of Etta James think of fire. think of that will to live and the unquenchable passion that burned bright through all the demons that possessed her life. Think of triumph and the ability to live you life. Most of all, think of one of the greatest artists that has ever picked up a microphone and blessed the world of music. Her force of will inspired countless artists and touched the lives of many who shared similar struggles and her fearlessness in conveying that through music was old before Mary J made it cool to share your screwed up life through song. For now, Etta James has no more drama, no more pain. Finally she’s free at last. Rest in peace.

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