Remembering Etta

Unfortunately, I wasn't surprised when Etta James passed away , after reading about her health problems over the past few months. I'm left with disparate images of the woman and the artist.

My understanding of Etta James the woman is largely shaped by Beyonce's portrayal in "Cadillac Records", the most compelling image being when Adrian Brody's Leonard Chess finds her lying naked on the floor of her totally empty house, enlisting Jeffrey Wright's Muddy Waters to revive James before her heroin addiction claims her life. The movie character is bitter, tough, contemptuous and suspicious of Chess's romantic overtures. James' origins are alluded to in another powerful scene, an ill-fated lunch in a posh restaurant with legendary pool hustler Minnesota Fats, whom Etta thinks is her father. Her attempt at finding her roots ends with James bellowing at the waiter for another drink, determined to go on a bender after Fats categorically denies parenthood, the same bout with booze and drugs that ends up with her eating the carpet. The most poignant scene intercuts between Etta singing "I'd Rather Go Blind" in the studio as Leonard Chess drives away from 2120 South Michigan Avenue, having just revealed that he has sold the label, but he never makes it to the end of the street, dying from a heart attack in his signature Cadillac.

Etta James' music helped define rthymn and blues, a body of work that ranges from recognized classics like "Trust in Me", "All I Could Do Was Cry", and "Tell Mama" to her straightforward embrace of classic down home blues. My personal favorite is "That's Alright" from her 2004 compilation "Blues to the Bone" on RCA. Her voice reflects the right note of tired resignation combined with sarcasm, the rejected lover accepting the fact yet slyly questioning who her replacement might be. James' voice is  permanently enshrined for the audience in "At Last", the rich, smooth tones soaring in front of lush orchestration, each perfect note dripping with emotion, Etta's timeless tribute to love. She was at home in a wide variety of styles, but on "Bone", James reinvents classics like Howlin Wolf's "Smokestack Lightining", "Got My Mojo Workin" from Muddy Waters, and a particularly ominous version of John Lee Hooker's "Crawlin Kingsnake."

Etta James is gone, but will never be forgotten, and will be remembered for her art, not her life. Her voice, the way it cut through the medium as if Etta James was right there in the room with you, is her legacy.