Etta James – Rocks
Bear Family BCD 17750
Tough Lover – Dance With Me, Henry – If It Ain’t One Thing – Seven Day Fool – W-O-M-A-N – Next Door To The Blues – Good Rockin’ Daddy – I’m A Fool – Shortnin’ Bread Rock – By The Light Of The Silvery Moon – Spoonful – The Wallflower (Roll With Me, Henry) – Plum Nuts – Something’s Got A Hold On Me – Hickory Dickory Dock – I Just Want To Make Love To You – Tough Mary – Market Place – Good Lookin’ – Baby, Baby, Everynight – Pushover – What’d I Say – Baby What You Want Me To Do – Strange Things Happening – Hey! Henry – The Pick-Up – Come What May Etta James – My One And Only – That’s All
This latest addition to Bear Family’s always excellent “Rocks” series is no exception.
Unless you are an absolute and complete fan, and own everything, this disc is the perfect tool to discover or rediscover this immense artist that is Etta James. This compilation is mainly intended for those who, like me, have only a superficial knowledge of her or know her only through her hit At Last, or even through Beyoncé’s interpretation in Cadillac Records (but after all, you have to start somewhere). But it’s a safe bet that the most complete fans will jump on it, if only for the copious and richly illustrated booklet.
The 29 tracks in this collection cover the singer’s first ten years, from her first hit The Wallflower (Roll With Me Henry), still heavily tinged with Doo-Wop and which made her discovered by Johnny Otis in 1954, to 1963, when she released Etta James Rocks the House” from which Baby What You Want Me To Do and a mind-blowing version of What’d I Say are taken. During this decade, Rhythm’n’Blues evolved into Rock’n’Roll, as heard in the proposed selection. One can also find tunes that reflect the fashions of the moment like Twist or, more exotic, the Mambo. Like many African-American singers of this generation, Gospel also represents a major influence, evident in Something Got A Hold On Me. There are also some Blues of course, songs that would make Little Richard green with envy, such as Tough Lover and Dance With Me Honey on which we note the participation of Lee Allen and Earl Palmer. But above all this album is full of juicy Rhythm’n’Blues, which are the perfect vehicle for this magnificent, powerful, and expressive voice to express itself.
Buy it here.
Fred “Virgil” Turgis
