Goodbye Etta We'll Always Love You

I honestly don’t remember the first time I heard Etta James. Maybe it was at some cousin’s wedding when the bride and groom took their first dance to “At Last,” except none of my cousins would have been hip enough to have played her. “Freebird” maybe, but not Etta.

Whenever it was, that beautiful voice settled somewhere in my memory and I picked up my first Etta James album and I fell in love. I’ve never met Etta James, never even laid eyes on her except in pictures and television, but I love her nonetheless. Her glorious voice raises your spirits, and it’s impossible not to feel what is behind that voice – a heart heavy with pain and a tortured soul.

Etta James was the embodiment of the blues.

If you’ve ever listened to the radio program I co-host with Henry Cook, Time For The Blues, heard on WCVE Public Radio (visit our web presence here), you’ve probably heard me talk about Etta before. We have featured her music on several different occasions and will continue to do so in the future. I can’t imagine not having that voice be a part of our shows going forward.

With her passing due to complications from leukemia and a compromised immune system from years of hard living, I can only imagine that more folks will discover her work. That always seems to be the case when the spotlight shines on someone who has been outside of the light for awhile. There will be a lot to discover – from her days at Chess all the way up to her final albums, you will hear style, power, and a raw approach that few could ever achieve.

It would be easy to list James’ albums and name my favorite tracks to act as a guide for you, but sometimes when we do that we deprive you of the discovery process. You might find different songs that speak to you in ways that they didn’t speak to us. So listen to her, once you find a way into the music, you will never leave it completely. Etta’s music is a part of my DNA, it is heavily represented on my MP3 player and she’ll be back on Time For The Blues before long.

Goodbye Etta James, thank you for bringing us your talent and sharing your music with us. I hope that this tortured angel will at last find rest.