I was floating aroung on the org and listening to various items on the net. I came across this and was a little surprised. It's good listen. However. "At Last" wins me over when it comes to her best work.

http://www.etta-james.com...droom.html


With a new slimmed-down look, a rejuvenated stage show and celebrating an incredible five decades as a recording artist, music legend Etta James will showcase her enduring artistry on an amazing diversity of the eleven songs featured on her new BMG album, “All The Way.”
Due in stores March 14, 2006 and produced by Etta’s sons Donto and Sametto and longtime musical associate Josh Sklair, “All The Way” includes a range of material that would prove challenging for even the most competent vocalists: “This is an album of songs that I’ve always loved, tunes that I heard and thought, ‘wish I could have been the one to do that one first!’” explains the three-time Grammy winner, who has also been the recipient of a NARAS Lifetime Achievement Award, a Rhythm & Blues Foundation Pioneer Award and is a W.C. Handy Foundation honoree. “For the first time in my fifty-three years of recording, I really had control over an entire album, start to finish. And that feels really good! I got to make an album that I can listen to and say, “I really like this record!’”

James, honored with a much-deserved star on The Hollywood Walk Of Fame, adds her special vocal magic to songs originally recorded by Prince (“Purple Rain”), Marvin Gaye (“What’s Going On”), Bobby Womack (“Stop On By”) and Simply Red (“Holding Back The Years”) alongside Leonard Bernstein’s “Somewhere” (from ‘West Side Story’) and “All The Way,” the standard most often associated with Frank Sinatra. For good measure, Etta also included R. Kelly’s contemporary classic, “I Believe I Can Fly,” James Brown’s enduring “It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World” and John Lennon’s “Imagine.” Rounding out the musical solid set are “Calling You,” (from ‘Baghdad Café’) and “Strung Out,” a tune originally cut by R&B legend Johnny ‘Guitar’ Watson, with whom Etta toured during her teen years after being discovered by bandleader Johnny Otis in 1955.

The release of the 1993 Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame inductee’s latest project, the follow-up to the 2004 Grammy-winning BMG set “Blues To The Bone,” comes at a time when Etta is showing off her new look: after losing some 200 pounds in weight, the Los Angeles native grins, ““Now I can flaunt my figure wherever I go. I can go shopping and buy those outfits I always wanted to wear!” The loss of weight has also dramatically changed Etta’s always-exciting stage performances: “Now I can stand up on the stage again like I used to after five years of sitting down while I sang…”

I hope she tours.

No California shows.

04 08 06 - Louisville, KY - Louisville Palace Theatre
04 10 06 - Milwaukee, WI - Potawatomi Casino-Northern Lights Theatre
04 11 06 - Saint Paul, MN - O'Shaughnessy Auditorium
04 12 06 - Chicago, IL - House of Blues
04 14 06 - Baltimore, MD - Meyerhoff Symphony Hall
04 15 06 - Washington, DC - Theater
06 16 06 - Rochester, NY - Eastman Theatre
06 17 06 - Westhampton, NY - Westhampton Beach Performing
06 18 06 - Atlantic City, NJ - House of Blues
06 20 06 - New York, NY - Carnegie Hall
06 21 06 - Red Bank, NJ - Count Basie Theatre
06 23 06 - Hyannis, MA - Cape Cod Melody Tent
06 24 06 - Boston, MA - Bank of America Pavilion
06 25 06 - Saratoga Springs, NY - Saratoga Performing Arts Center
06 27 06 - Toronto, ON - Hummingbird Centre

Thanks for letting us know

Picked this up on Thursday (during my Morph The Cat run)...



...just based on how good she looked on the cover. This woman is almost 70 years old.

The last time i'd seen her was either a Soundstage or Austin City Limits performance on PBS.
At that time, her excessive weight had caused her to join the ranks of the "sit-down" performers

Wasn't aware that this had even been released.
The other thing that jumped off the CD cover (outside of Etta's picture) is the track list discussed in the lead post.
Listening to the arrangements it sounds as if this CD was designed to land her in, what used to be called, the Easy Listening market.
I believe there are strings (or string patches) on every tune.


Negatives
~ Some of the arrangements are weak and cluttered. It seems as if there's always some instrument tinkling, trilling or trembling around her vocals.
~ For my ears certain songs have Etta buried in the mix. A couple of times during the initial listen I caught myself almost trying to reach for faders on the mixing console to get some of that stuff out of her way.

Positives
~ It's Etta James singing!
She's got such a sincere approach to singing that it's difficult to screw her up even with bad material.


Currently my favorite tunes are Strung Out (the closest to her wheelhouse) and Calling You (if you discount the silly telephone schtick at the end).
Her take on All The Way is starting to grow on me.

Purple Rain's arrangement is one of the most annoying because it's too busy and they don't give the song any dynamic build up.
Yet and still, Etta comes through with a decent vocal performance.

My guess is that this CD's purpose is to get her higher grade gigs which she most definitely deserves.
And i'm hoping that the weight loss has given us a few more years of her distinctive voice.


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431
[Edited 3/18/06 8:51am]
[Edited 9/27/06 18:08pm]

theAudience said:

She looks beautiful.



Just came out this week.

I agree with your take on this project point for point. I too liked Calling You. I also liked Stop on By as well. She looks wonderful and I wish her the best with this project.

Stax said:

none in this area either

theAudience said:

I didn't know about this CD but I have ALMOST every CD (and vinyl before that) that Etta James has ever recorded! She has ALWAYS been one of my favorites and remains so. Having said that, I haven't liked her recent stuff as much as her earlier work and I think a lot of that is because her sons are doing a lot of the arrangements and perhaps choosing some of the songs. I guess I'm just too old school. (Have you heard "Sugar On The Floor?")
As for the weight loss...it's quite amazing. I'm happy for her because I'm sure it improves her health, but it's the first time I've EVER seen her this size! Even when she was a young woman, she was heavy. She's still in a wheelchair (at least some of the time), I'm sure as a result of carrying all that extra weight for so many years. She was in DC for the NABOB convention last weekend and one of my friends who was there called to let me know because she knew I was such a fan.
I don't have this CD yet, but I plan to pick it up while I'm out early Tuesday, getting you-know-what (wink, wink)!
So glad to hear Etta has fans on here!

NewPowerSista said:

Me too! My parents used to play Etta JAmes when I was a wee one, and then by the time I grew up and was old enough to have had a few hard knocks of my I became completely ENTHRALLED by her, ! The last time I saw her perform live was in Florida in maybe 1994 or 95, and yes indeedy, she was so big she performed without shoes and sitting down. Even though she was too big to move, it still didn't daunt her sense of sass, bawdiness and ribald humour, and the voice was as powerful as ever. I am very happy to see, however, that she has managed to find a healthier weight for herself, as I was convinced from seeing her onstage that night, that she might not have made it to 70. How wonderful is that that she got healthier so she could keep on keepin' on?!

Glad to see there are at least a few Etta James fans around.


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431