Vinyl Magic

 Etta James and Me…

Etta James was someone who knew how to make an entrance. I was in the Chess building when she first turned up in 1960. She walked down this narrow hallway and there was no missing her. She was a big lady in those days, maybe 200 pounds. And she was the first black woman I’d seen with blonde hair. She had quite an entourage with her – a hairdresser, a dressmaker, a bull dyke lesbian dressed as a man, even a midget. It was like a live action Fellini movie. I never did find out the midget’s role in all of it. Etta always liked an entourage. She was a colorful character. She was drinking and taking drugs. She was out there. And she had this voice that my father knew how to get the best out of.

               record label President Marshall Chess

Nemesis: a long-standing rival, foe or adversary, or the inescapable agent of someone's downfall. In my business career, I have had several. Despite my best efforts and intentions, things just didn't work out with some clients. I'd recommend buying a stock, and it would go down. A lot and quickly. Or I would recommend selling a stock, and it would go up, up and away. Chemistry, kizmet, karma, all blameless and held harmless. A good friend and business colleague termed them "nemesis" accounts. We all have them, he wisely counseled me. I learned to accept them as infrequently as they occur and move on.

 I guess Etta James is my music nemesis. I saw her first at the Clinton Inaugural festivities in Washington, DC in early 1993. They had tents on the Mall where a lot of great artists were performing free concerts. I grabbed some albums and went to see Etta, Al Green, and McCoy Tuner. Before her show, I gave Etta an album to sign. She gave me a withering stare. "This is not me. You have the wrong lady." Uh-oh. I looked down at the album, in my haste, I grabbed an Etta Jones album, a great jazz singer, but not the legendary soul and blues artist Etta James. She let me squirm for a bit, but she good naturedly signed the Etta Jones album "Wrong Lady," and I left her to listen to some wonderful music.

 In 2010, I saw Etta James again at BB Kings in New York City near the end of her career. She was such a powerful and emotive singer, and she lived the songs she sang. She was particularly feisty that night, and she berated Beyonce for playing her in an upcoming movie (the then unreleased "Cadillac Ranch"). "How she gonna play me if she's never met me?" she hectored B from the stage. Etta always spoke her mind freely and forcefully. She had lived a very difficult life. Growing up, her mother was a prostitute, then Etta became addicted to heroin, and she got ripped off by husbands and record companies her entire life. It was not an easy path, and she let you know she earned every hard road she walked. She sang her hits, "At Last", "You Can Leave Your Hat On", "I'd Rather Be Blind", "Tell Mama" and "Good Rockin' Daddy" with great gusto and a tight band backing her. Her performance was riveting.

 After the show, I brought some albums to get signed. Etta James Sings (1970) contained a re-worked version of her 1955 hit "Roll With Me Henry" written by Etta, Hank Ballard, and Johnny Otis. The original version was considered too risque for radio, so it was retitled, "Dance With Me Henry" and became a top 5 hit for Georgia Gibbs (whoever that is?!). When Etta saw the album cover, she erupted. "I ain't signing this motherf......! Who the f... do you think that is? You think that's me on the cover? That's some record company trying to rip me off. Where did you get this f....... album?" Her language was as coarse as a Wall Street trading desk, or a Lee Elia rant, and I was very comfortable in either milieu. 'I'm sorry,' I said meekly, but Etta remained furious. She wanted to throw the album out and she didn't want to give it back. I felt I was lucky to escape with my limbs intact and the unsigned album. But she did sign Rocks The House (1964), aptly titled, since Etta James rocked every house she ever sang in.

 She once said, "I sing the songs that people need to hear." And she was as strong and formidable offstage as she was on.

Etta James suffered no fools. Except me. Twice.