walking upstream…
Etta James
photo: roland godefroy · cc by-sa 3.0 ↗Etta James
sourcesWikipedia
Etta James started out singing gospel in Los Angeles church choirs before breaking into R&B in 1954, and spent the following decades moving fluidly between blues, soul, jazz, and rock and roll. Her 1960 ballad 'At Last' became a standard of American vocal music, prized for the way she could turn a lyric from a whisper into a shout without losing control. James's raw, church-rooted delivery — equal parts tenderness and grit — became a reference point for generations of R&B and pop singers who followed her.
the sound in question
1960
At LastEtta James
walk the tributaries ↓
Billie Holiday1930s–40s · Jazz / Vocal jazz
James found inspiration in Billie Holiday from childhood, drawn to how Holiday expressed pain through phrasing; in 1994 James recorded an entire tribute album, Mystery Lady: Songs of Billie Holiday, which won a Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Album.
listen: upstream & here
1941
God Bless the ChildBillie Holiday
1994
Don't ExplainEtta James
listen forPlay Holiday's aching, behind-the-beat delivery on 'God Bless the Child' next to James's own reading of the Holiday standard 'Don't Explain' from her tribute album — the same unhurried, wounded phrasing.
Sister Rosetta Tharpe1940s · Gospel / Rhythm and blues
James was raised singing in a Baptist church associated with the gospel-jazz tradition Sister Rosetta Tharpe came out of, and said she was 'blown away' by Tharpe's music growing up.
listen: upstream & here
1944
Strange Things Happening Every DaySister Rosetta Tharpe
1962
Something's Got a Hold on MeEtta James
listen forHear Tharpe's driving, guitar-punctuated gospel fervor on 'Strange Things Happening Every Day,' then James's own gospel-rooted shout on 'Something's Got a Hold on Me' — the same church-to-secular-stage energy.
Dinah Washington1950s · Jazz / Blues / R&B / Traditional pop
In the mid-to-late 1950s James was one of the era's most popular R&B singers, trailing only Dinah Washington and Ruth Brown in chart hits, and Washington is counted among James's major influences.
listen: upstream & here
1959
What a Diff'rence a Day MakesDinah Washington
1960
All I Could Do Was CryEtta James
listen forCompare Washington's crisp, jazz-schooled diction on 'What a Diff'rence a Day Makes' to James's bluesier, more ragged reading of heartbreak on 'All I Could Do Was Cry' — a shared knack for turning pop enunciation into aching detail.