This whole thing between Etta James and Beyonce prompted me to ask; "Which version of this song is the BEST"?

The original by Glen Miller from the movie "Orchestra Wives"


The classic cover by Etta James (clips from "Wild At Heart"...sorry)


A funky version by Stevie Wonder


A soulful version by Lou Rawls


A throaty version by Christina Aguilera


A version by Celine Dion


A bewitching version by Stevie Nicks


An emotional version by Cyndi Lauper


The "controversial" version by Beyoncé



...or finally...YOUR version...???

(of course, you'll need to post a vid for us to verify!)

There must've been 100 or more covers of this song at least!

Or this one Christina version.

http://www.youtube.com/wa...fg7RfS45sA
[Edited 2/15/09 0:09am]

Etta all the way. Cyndi Lauper would be my second favorite.

I'm really kind of getting sick of this song, even before Beyonce sang it at the inauguration.

It's almost to the point where I hate it and will avoid it.

errant said:

I prefer "I Just Wanna Make Love to You" by Etta James over her version of "At Last" any damn ways.

I like Etta´s version, of course, and I also love Christina´s. I think Christina´s voice is also perfect for the song.

I sat and listened to all of them (the song will be stuck in my head the rest of the day! ) I really liked the Glenn Miller version. The orchestra was wonderful!

Cyndi Lauper's wouldn't play, though.

My favorite version is Eva Cassidy's.

The Temprees

FuNkeNsteiN said:

thats riiiiight they did do a version soulful as hell too

forkupine said:

Etta, of course... the orchestra did sound NICE... I wanted to listen to Christina's all the way but she got acrobatic in the first 10 seconds so I couldn't hang... Celine's was decent (she stayed true to the melody) BUT the music backing her sucked salty nuts... Cyndi Lauper's wouldn't play... Stevie Nicks needs to stay the fuck away from this song... Had never heard Stevie's funked up version, sweet! & I normally like Lou Rawls but it was just too cut & dry, didn't even get to Diane Reeves on it but I don't think she could have saved his dried up delivery...

CalhounSq said:

I just loved your descriptions!

SORRY about the disabled link for Cyndi Lauper's version.

Follow the link here: http://www.youtube.com/wa...-t7ceb4DBk

PurpleJedi said:

That is lovely.

Vendetta1 said:

You know what's interesting???

When she put out that album ("At Last") I got it for Christmas and when I heard her version of the song (the title track nonetheless) I really didn't care for it. Very dissapointed.

THEN I saw the video for it, and I connected her vocals with the emotion that she conveyed/portrayed...and WAMMO!!! I "got" it.

I really like it now.

IAintTheOne said:

Can anyone post a Youtube vid of it???

PurpleJedi said:

She had a great voice.

Vendetta1 said:

...there, fixed it for you.

PurpleJedi said:

Thanks. That is definitely what I meant.

PurpleJedi said:

It's not on YouTube

I'm still unpacking from my move, and I opened a box of vinyl records. I didn't realize that my mom had given me her 12" of Etta James' "At Last" in the bunch. I had just logged off from here, so I thought that was a nice coincidence.

FuNkeNsteiN said:

...yeah I know...that's why I'm asking for someone who owns it to post a vid...

chocolate1 said:

...watta koinkidinky eh?

LATE!

http://prince.org/msg/8/291028

floetcist said:

oh well... ...the more, the merrier!

dag said:

I agree about Christina's' voice. It's kinda raspy like Etta's, but listening to that clip is like being on a rollercoaster. Too much going on to the point that it started to feel like a parody or something.

I'd like to see her do this song now. She showed great restraint and control during the performance of "I Love You Porgy" at the recent Grammy special. If she can do justice to a difficult song like that, I think she could easily do a better job with "At Last".
[Edited 2/17/09 0:35am]