Who does not know the musical genius that is Etta James, the four time Grammy Award winning blues/soul/rock'n'roll/jazz singer whose artistry is unmatched even today.
James started her career in the 50's singing in a trio with the hit song The Wallflower in 1955 which hit #1 in the r&b chart. After the success of this song James decided to pursue a solo career and signed up a record deal with Chess Records in 1960 which turned out to be the perfect career choice for her.
While with Chess Records James recorded many hit songs like If I Cant Have You, My Dearest Darling, All I Could Do Was Cry, but perhaps her most popular song was her rendition of Glenn Miller's song At Last which won her the Grammy Hall Of Fame in 1999. Besides her Grammys, James also won 17 Blues Music Awards, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990, and the Blues Hall of Fame in
2001.
Her latest album All the Way released in 2006 can be viewed as James's expression of a nostalgic past. A very curious selection with songs ranging from St
op on By (B Womack), All The Way to I Believe I can Fly(R. Kelly), Purple Rain(Prince) and Imagine (Lennon). This Album is different from her previous ones in the sense that all of her song selection have a pop edge and the whole blue/soul/jazz flavour that one expects so religiously from her seems to be missing. Although a decent album, it lacks a certain 'soul' that is so famously associated with James. But the remarkable thing is James's come-back to the stage after a long break, getting a new look losing 200 pounds gaining a lot of confidence she says, "Now I can flaunt my figure wherever I go. I can go shopping and buy those outfits I always wanted to wear!........Now I can stand up on the stage again like I used to after five years of sitting down while I sang…”And so this album marks the comeback of the legend Etta James and this time she is taking it 'All the Way.'
