Backwoods Listener's Guide: Thoughts for Etta

It's a scene played out with such frequency that it has almost become expected. When you've got someone who's managed to build a bank account on the strength of her talent and chops, then you've got a host of folks looking to get their hands on it. In the case of blues and R&B legend Etta James, it's been coming down to who gets to control her funds now that she appears to be incapable of managing

them herself. While I would not question their love or sincerity in wishing to provide the best care possible for Etta through the time she has left with us, the situation seems to be one we see with sickening regularity.

From the Los Angeles Times:

By Phil Willon, Los Angeles Times

"The heartache and redemption that infused the life and soulful voice of Etta James, steeling her to survive the hardest of times, seem to keep playing on for the blues and R&B great.

As James lies seriously ill in her suburban Riverside home, her husband and sons are locked in a court dispute over control of the singer's $1 million in savings. All parties said their only concern is to ensure James receives proper medical care.

James has dementia and is undergoing treatment for leukemia, requiring around-the-clock care for a fiery, headstrong performer who, friends say, appeared capable of surviving anything. Best known for her bluesy riffs and smoky nightclub ballads — including "At Last" and "Tell Mama" — James overcame drug addiction and weight problems and was on tour just two years ago, at age 70.

"She's in the fight of her life, and I wish she gets the best possible care,'' said Josh Sklair of Culver City, James' band leader for 25 years. "She's a rebellious spirit."

The family court fight began last year when James' husband of 41 years, Artis Mills, filed legal action to have three of the singer's financial accounts — worth just over $1 million — declared community property. Doing so would grant him access to the money and allow him to pay for her medical care, he said.

"I'm only trying to take care of Etta James," Mills said Friday after a Riverside court hearing on the singer's estate.

The petition is opposed by James' son Donto James of Moreno Valley. The singer granted him power of attorney in 2008, to be used if she became incapacitated. Donto James, born to a different father, said in a court declaration that he does not object to money spent on James' healthcare but that he wants an independent administrator to handle her finances "to avoid present and future family conflict and discrepancies.''

During Friday's hearing, Donto James' attorney, D.P. Sindicich of Los Angeles, questioned why the singer would have kept her personal and business bank accounts solely in her name all of these years.

Mills, court records show, is arguing that James was not of "sound mind and judgment" when she granted power of attorney to her son..."

In an industry overwhelmingly dominated by men, Etta James burst onto the scene and demanded her rightful place as one of the preeminent vocalists of the late 20th century. Born an illegitimate child to a teenaged mother, she began singing at Los Angeles' St. Paul Baptist Church by the age of 5. At 12 she was living in the Bay Area and formed a doo-wop trio with a pair of neighborhood girls. They would later christen themselves "The Peaches." Two years later they were discovered by bandleader Johnny Otis, who would prove the greatest influence on Etta's early emergence.

Beginning with The Wallflower, which reached #2 on the R&B chart in 1955, James would have a string of hit singles on the Mercury label before her famous tenure with Chess began in 1960. While we remember Etta's legacy primarily through her Chess (which is to say its subsidiaries, Argo and Cadet), she actually charted more singles while still with Mercury and fronting the Peaches.

But it was on Chess that James left us the real meat of her legacy. Through the Chess years, Etta's gospel and soft R&B influences got to swim with a harder-edged blues approach. Here we began to see the stomping, growling blues momma emerge alongside, often on the same album, as the torch singer who could deliver tunes of incomparable delicacy and subtle emotion.

As Etta endures the difficult twilight of her life, I would like to take a few minutes on this blog to throw the spotlight on a pair of the Chess/Argo releases that helped cement her enduring legacy. They are perhaps the finest of her discography and have long since earned their place as undisputed essentials to the idiom.

In a blues world more closely associated with smoke, grit, and steel, Etta's Argo debut gave us strings and at times aching subtlety. As a single, At Last (b/w her saucy cover of I Just Want to Make Love To You) would also reach #2 on the R&B chart, and #22 on the Pop chartings. It was a powerhouse album that plunged far deeper than the pop fluff which she had been recording previously, finally affording her the opportunity to fold in her hard-edged blues influences and to finally "sing it how she felt it."

Etta James

At Last

MCA 1999

1. Anything To Say You're Mine

2. My Dearest Darling

3. Trust In Me

4. A Sunday kind of Love

5. Tough Mary

6. I Just Want to Make Love To You

7. At Last

8. All I Could Do Is Cry

9. Stormy Weather

10. Girl of My Dreams

11. My Heart Cries

12. Spoonful

13. It's a Crying Shame

14. If I Can't Have You

Link

In contrast to her debut's more polished production, Etta's first live release, Rocks the House, is gritty, raw and wonderful. Recorded at Nashville's New Era Club over a pair of nights in September, 1963, Etta's in front of a stripped-down ensemble of guitar, drums, bass and sax, ripping through a mostly up-tempo setlist that gave our lady ample opportunity to throw down and get to business. It has gone on to become one of the best blues albums ever issued, easily holding its own with BB King's Live at the Regal, Live at Cook County Jail and Muddy's Live at Newport.