The Bottleneck Cafe

This morning as I was writing a post to pay tribute to the life of the great Johnny Otis, who passed away yesterday, I learned of the passing of one of the greatest artists Johnny ever discovered, Ms. Etta James. While Etta James is a house-hold name (and rightfully so) the name Johnny Otis is sadly becoming less and less known by today’s music fans. Besides giving Etta James her first big break, Mr. Otis also helped start the careers of many top R&B performers. When not performing with his own band he was in the studio recording and producing sides for many of the best R&B performers. It was Johnny Otis who produced and performed on the original 1952 recording of Hound Dog featuring Big Mama Thornton. Two years later in 1954 Otis found himself in the studio again with another young blues singer, a woman by the name of Jamesetta Hawkins. Like Big Mama Thornton, Jamesetta started out performing with The Johnny Otis Band. She then moved to Los Angeles and entered the studio with the band to record what would be her break out song “The Wallflower (Roll With Me Henry)”. Written by Johnny Otis “The Wallflower” was an answer song to the Hank Ballard tune “Work With Me Annie”. Shortly after the release of the song Jamesetta (now going by the stage name Etta James) started off on a solo career that would last over 50 years. She recorded many smash hits for a number of different labels and released albums up until 2011. In addition to being successful in the recording studio James was also successful on the stage and would continue to be an in-demand performer until 2009 when she was unable to perform due to health issues.
As for Johnny Otis, discovering Etta James was just one of the many highlights in a career that lasted well into his eighties. A true renaissance man, Otis was a songwriter, performer, producer, author, store and bar owner, and painter. He even got involved in politics in his home state of California during the 1960′s. However, with all these accomplishments Johnny Otis is probably best know for writing the hit song “Willie and The Hand Jive” which would sell over 1.5 million copies and be covered by Eric Clapton for his 1974 album 461 Ocean Boulevard.
During the their lifetimes both Etta James and Johnny Otis brought to joy to millions of fans all over the world, they are both members of multiple halls of fame, and their influence can be heard in the music of artists in every genre of music. They will both be dearly missed.

ETTA JAMES WHO’S BLUE? RARE CHESS RECORDINGS OF THE 60′S AND 70′S

We need to thank the good people at ACE Records for releasing this album.  When I first saw the new Etta James compilation Who’s Blue? Rare Chess Recordings Of The 60′s and 70′s in the bin at my local record store I thought to myself “does the world really need another Etta James Greatest Hits album?”  It seems like every few years I see a new “Best of Etta James” album featured on iTunes or on the shelves at the record store.  However, my friend Tom who is in charge of the Blues section at Amoeba Records in San Francisco assured me that this album was worth a listen.  As per usual, he was right.

Who’s Blue? Rare Chess Recordings Of The 60′s and 70′s completely ignores Etta’s most famous recordings and is compiled entirely of B-sides and deep album cuts from her time at Chess Records.  Many of these recordings haven’t seen the light of day in a long long time and most of them have never been released on CD!  As expected, the music on this disc showcases Etta’s talents as one of the greatest Blues and R&B singer of all time, but what caught me off guard was how funky Etta could be!  The tune, “I’ve Been A Fool” was a failed attempt by Etta’s producers to get her to “update” her sound and become more of a Disco singer.  After hearing this track it’s puzzling to me that Chess Records could have been anything but overjoyed with the results of this session.  Etta screams and shouts while the backing band lays down a deep funky groove complete with a wonderful Duane Allman-style slide guitar solo.  “Only A Fool” was another attempt to push Etta out of the R&B realm and into a more “popular” genre.  This time she was paired with Steppenwolf producer Gabrial Mekler.  Again, Etta comes through with another classic performance and although it may not have been exactly what Mekler or Chess were looking for it does show that Etta can be as funky as well as soulful. 

Also included on this compilation are the Southern Soul ballads “Are My Thoughts With You?” and “My Man Is Together”.  Both songs have a mellow country-like swagger and should have been huge singles for the West Coast raised Etta James who sounds right at home singing Southern Soul.  But these songs are only a few of the gems on this disc.  The bluesy “Don’t Take Me For Your Fool” is classic Etta James.  Her vocals meet the hard hitting backing band head on and set up a dark bluesy groove that shows you why Etta James has as much right to claim the title “Queen Of Soul” as Aretha Franklin does.

After listening to the music on this disc, one can’t help but wonder why some of these tunes didn’t get the same attention as classics such as “At Last” and “Tell Mama”.  While we may never know who the true “Queen of Soul” is we do know that Soul Music wouldn’t be where it is today without the talents of Ms. Jamesetta Hawkins.