Post 4: Chapter 5

Etta James - I'd Rather Go Blind

Etta James born as Jamesetta Hawkins was born to a 14 year-old mother in South Los Angeles in 1938. She never knew the identity of her father. Her career began in San Francisco when she was 16 years old and she auditioned for bandleader Johnny Otis, considered by many to be the Grandfather of Rhythm and Blues. In 1960, James became the first lady of Chess Records, the blues record label started in Chicago by Leonard Chess. Many of James's biggest hits came from her days at Chess, including "All I Could Do Was Cry" and the album At Last, whose title track became James's signature song.  In 1993, James was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and in 1994, James won her first Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Performance for her tribute album Mystery Lady: Songs of Billie Holiday. She received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003 and the following year, Rolling Stone named James to its list of 100 Greatest Singers of All Time. James won another Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues Album for Let's Roll, released in 2005. It was James' final recording.

In the video you can hear the guitars, drums, and saxophone's in the background.  You can also hear the soulfulness in her voice around the 1:31 mark and the 2:05 mark.

I grew up listening to this kind of music and I fell in love with this song.  Sometimes I can honestly say that I can relate some of my life lessons to this song.  Etta James was a wonderful lady and she used so much soul and emotion and that heart felt blues in her music.  I already love the song but what made me love it even more was the remake of it in the movie "Cadillac Records" when Beyoncé song it.