ETTA JAMES “She's my favourite singer ever. She's got the richest voice in the world!” Adele Etta James was born Jamesetta Hawkins in Los Angeles on January 25, 1938, to 14-year-old Dorothy Hawkins and an unknown father, although James maintained he was the pool shark Rudolf “Minnesota Fats” Wanderone. Despite a somewhat tumultuous childhood having been raised by a series of foster parents, by the age of five she was already known as a gospel prodigy, gaining fame through singing in her church choir and on the radio. In later years, the singer recalled…“Everyone loved our church. We had one of the biggest, baddest, hippest choirs anywhere. Our choirmaster, Professor James Earle Hines, was my first and heaviest musical mentor, the cat who taught me to sing. Fact is, I wanted to sing just like him.” In 1950, she moved to San Francisco with her birth mother where she was exposed to doo-wop and formed a trio called The Creolettes. It was there, in 1952, where she met musician and band-leader Johnny Otis (best known for Willie And The Hand Jive) who took the group under his wing, helped them sign to Modern Records and changed their name to The Peaches (a then nickname of James). He also renamed his protégé by transposing her birth name, Jamesetta, into Etta James. She first hit the charts as a teenager, taking The Wallflower (aka Roll With Me, Henry) to No. 1 on the R&B charts in 1955 and its' success gave the group an opening spot on Little Richard's national tour. After leaving The Peaches, James had another R&B hit with Good Rockin' Daddy but when her contract with Modern came up for renewal in 1960 she signed with Chicago's Chess Records and it was then that her career began to soar. Her first hit singles included duets with then-boyfriend Harvey Fuqua (founder of the doo-wop group The Moonglows) with If I Can't Have You, and Spoonful. Her first solo hit was the doo-wop-styled ballad All I Could Do Was Cry, which was a number two R&B hit.
RELEASE DATE NZ
December 28th, 2018
ARTIST
Etta James
LABEL
MY GENERATION MUSIC
UPC
5060442751330
