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 With
a new slimmed-down look, a rejuvenated stage show and celebrating
an incredible five decades as a recording artist, the truly legendary
Etta James showcases her enduring artistry with a range of material
that would render most singers helpless on her new BMG album,
"ALL THE WAY."
Born Jamesetta Hawkins, on January
25, 1938, James is an American blues, soul, R&B, rock &
roll, gospel and jazz singer and songwriter. The four-time Grammy
award winner, 2-time Grammy Hall of Fame inductee, (1999 &
2008) 17-time Blues Music Awards winner, 1993 Rock and Roll Hall
of Fame inductee, NARAS Lifetime Achievement, Rhythm & Blues
Foundation Pioneer awardee and W.C. Handy Blues Foundation honoree,
who has her own star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame - shows that
when it comes to music that speaks to the soul, she is virtually
peerless.
She is best known for performing "At
Last", which has been featured in many movies, television shows,
commercials, and web-streaming services since its release.
In much the way she is a musical storyteller,
Etta relishes the opportunity to talk about her choices for ALL
THE WAY: "The title track? Well, I've been hearing that song since
I was a child growing up. My mother was a jazz fanatic. I do remember
she always told me, "even if a song has been done a thousand times,
you can still bring something of your own to it.' I'd like to
think I did that with this standard..."
 James,
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.
ALL THE WAY is, Etta proclaims, an
album that allows her "to sing the songs that people need to hear"
and in looking back at her illustrious career, that's been a constant
theme for five decades from 1955 after she was first discovered
by Johnny Otis while still a teenager. It was the bandleader and
talent scout who produced that first hit, the saucy "Dance With
Me Henry," which immediately topped R&B charts nationwide.
Her tenure with Chess Records began in 1960 and would continue
for sixteen incredible years with a string of landmark hits including
her signature tune, "At Last," along with "All I Could Do Was
Cry,"
"My Dearest Darling," "Trust In Me,"
"Something's Got A Hold On Me," "Tell Mama," "Fool That I Am"
and "Don't Cry Baby" comprised a run of charting records that
ranked Etta third, just behind Aretha Franklin and Dionne Warwick,
as the most prolific female R&B vocalist of her era.
Now with ALL THE WAY, chock full of
contemporary classics and time-honored standards and running the
gamut from R&B chestnuts to show tunes, Etta James is ready
for what she calls "the next adventure! You know, now that I've
lost all the weight, I can stand up on the stage again like I
used to after five years of sitting down while I sang. I look
out at the audiences and I say, "how do all these young eyes who
are looking at me know my music?' The range goes from 17 and 18-year
olds to some of those older folks, 50 to 70 who are in there hollerin'
away for me to sing one of my songs! "
 Etta
James is justifiably proud as she declares, "This is one of the
best records I've ever made!"
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