Customer Rating:  
Summary: Powerful performance
Comment: Although this was released in 1994, it was actually recorded in March 1981. Etta and friends financed the recording but were unable to release it. Thankfully, this was pulled out of the vault. Obviously, this recording was a labor of love and it shows.
I have to admit, I was not entirely ready for the growling vocals, and even at times it sounds like Etta is gargling water! But it's apparent she's just having fun and doing it on purpose. When she launches into a devastating cover of Take It To The Limit (my favorite track), you know you're in the hands of a pro.
The backing band is tight and stripped down. One guitar, bass, drums, keyboards, and a minimum of horns. The audience obviously LOVES Etta and their enthusiasm drives the performance. Etta delivers a great set of blues, soul and R&B that is guaranteed to satisfy. Signature songs Tell Mama, Sugar On The Floor, and I'd Rather Go Blind are followed by a three song Otis Redding medley. Etta wraps it up with an exquisite song titled Born Blue.
Customer Rating:
Summary: GREAT CD
Comment: I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN A FAN OF ETTA JAMES,AND HAVE ENJOYED BOTH ASPECTS OF HER CAREER: HER EARLIER DAYS AS A SWEET VOICED SINGER, AND HER LATER YEARS AS A GRAVEL VOICED FEMALE BLUES SHOUTER. ALTHOUGH SOME OF HER LATER RECORDINGS HAVE NOT BEEN AS "INSPIRED" AS THEY MIGHT HAVE BEEN, THIS ONE IS. SHE GETS DOWN AND DIRTY AND SOUNDS AS GOOD AS SHE EVER HAS ON THIS CD, AND THE REASON FOR IT IS THE LIVE VENUE SHE WAS PLAYING IN. SOMETIMES SHE EVEN CONJURES UP IMAGES OF BIG MAYBELLE OR BIG MAMA THORNTON. GREAT CD, WITH GREAT BACKUP AS WELL AS HER SINGING. IF YOU ARE A FAN OF ETTA JAMES, THIS ONE IS WORTH PICKING UP.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Spacfabulous!
Comment: If you are a TRUE fan of Etta James, this is the perfect arrangement of some of her finest. My favorite is the live version of "I'd Rather Go Blind." Sister girl sang that one from the soul.
Customer Rating:
Summary: ETTA LIVE AND IN HER PRIME
Comment: I do not know about you but every once in a while I need my Etta. No, not the material she did when starting out in popular music -essentially `bubble gum' music in accord with the teenage tastes of the times- but, the bluesy, gospelly material as presented in this cd. That said, this cd, as all cd's, which present live music, is a little uneven technically. However, the selections presented are fine especially when they allow Etta to go the full range of her voice. I recently saw Etta live in Boston. Although she has lost most of her edge she can still belt out the classics. Stick-out selections here include I'd Rather Go Blind and Born Blue- ya, those are fine, indeed.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Sugar on the Floor
Comment: Sugar on the Floor...She Sung It...She Meant It...I Believed It...A POWER HOUSE SINGER...
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