Last week, two titans in the R&B/Bluesworld who ironically are linked to one another passed away. On January, 17th Johnny Otis died in Los Angeles at the age of 90. Otis was the child of immigrants from Greece who settled in California and were entrepreneurs. Otis’ father owned a grocery store in a predominately African-American area of Vallejo. Johnny spent most of his time helping his father at the store and became very fond of the culture, so much so that he was quoted as saying, ”I decided that if our society dictated that one had to be black or white, I would be black.”
His music career started in the Big Band era and soon thereafter crossed over into his beloved genre of Rhythm & Blues. Otis opened a nightclub in Watts section of Los Angeles called the Barrelhouse Club and procured the careers of promising performers and made them stars. In 1951 he discovered a talented teenager by the name of Jamesetta Hawkins, who he renamed “Etta James”.
Etta James died on January 20th in Riverside, California she had been struggling with Alzheimers and Luckemia. After Otis discovered James she was singing with a few other girls in a group called “Peaches” and they found fame with a hit called “Dance with me, Henry”, the success of that single landed them as openers on the Little Richard national tour.
When the tour was over so was the peaches and James decided to strike out on her own and signed to Chess records. Her debut album, At Last! , was released in 1960. The signature song, “At Last” didn’t do as well as expected by James or the record executives it went as high as number 2 on the R&B charts but only to number 47 on the Billboard charts. James switched up her style on the next album “The Second Time Around” going back to her church roots. The songs, mostly covers of pop and jazz singles were recorded in gospel. Again, a disappointing showing on the charts peaking around number 4 and a fast come and go pop hit.
James always kept chipping away with her music recording here and there. It would not be until the 1970s that she would finally get praise from critics after she collaborated with producer Gabriel Mekler (of Steppenwolf/Joplin fame). The release of that album “Etta James” in 1973 did not have commercial success, but gave James a bigger name recognition with her (5th) Grammy nomination [it would be 5 more nominations before she took home the trophy in 1995]. Her foray into Rock got her noticed and she began to open for the Rolling Stones. This peak in success would quickly fall as she became more reclusive and became comforted by Heroin.
And so it goes the highs and lows of the career for Etta James. She really didn’t receive the fame, success, money and recognition she deserved until after THIRTY YEARS in the business. It was licensing deals in commercials in Europe that help to reintroduce the world to her soulful voice. Hence, Etta James is considered one of the most overlooked musicians in R&B/Blues in American history. Then came major awards and recognition from the industry, James would end up with Grammy awards and induction into the Hall of Fame.
Perhaps now you can understand why there was a little bit of sourness towards Beyonce when she, Beyonce, was asked to sing Ms. Etta’s signature song, “At Last!” at the Obama inauguration while Etta sat in the audience and endured. Etta James was known for her voice & versatility as a musician but just as strong – if not stronger was her endurance as a person.
Rest in Peace Johnny Otis and Jamestta Hawkins, may you reunite and keep rocking on the other side.
