Tell Mama

James, Etta

album cover

Definitive Southern Soul

Conventional discographical wisdom holds that the best way to encounter Etta James, the soul singer with the gilded bullhorn of a voice, is through her Chess debut At Last! (1960). That album does contain her biggest hit (the title track), but focuses mainly on her skill as a ballad interpreter. It's marred, a bit, by the overactive studio orchestra; after a few selections you might find yourself wanting to pull those sappy strings out of her way.

Tell Mama, recorded in Muscle Shoals in 1967, tells a richer story. It's got a smoldering ballad, "I'd Rather Go Blind," that ranks among the very best things James ever cut. The rhythm section is the Fame Studios crew that helped refine Southern soul, and much of the music is up-tempo and propulsive. The chance to hear James in front of a great band, having to work to keep the heat turned up, is not to be missed. She tears into the title track determined to enjoy (and then exploit) the tightly wound groove. She sings "Don't Lose Your Good Thing" like a big sister giving advice—there's nothing fancy about her phrasing, yet it carries worldly wisdom. And after starting the Otis Redding–penned soulrevue stomp "Security" unexceptionally, James finishes the tune in a flourish of scalding, merciless, for-the-ages ad-libs.

The 2001 reissue augments the twelve original tracks of Tell Mama with ten more tunes cut during the same sessions. Often such bonus material is inferior, but not here: James undertakes several forays into rock and pop (a surprisingly credible "I Got You, Babe," and a torrid "You Took It") that anticipate and actually overshadow her later projects. Not long after Tell Mama appeared, James began an epic struggle with substance abuse, working intermittently through much of the '70s. Comeback recordings of the 1980s spotlight her mighty and remarkably well-preserved voice. They're well mannered and pleasant; Tell Mama is the essence of soul.

Genre: R&B
Released: 1968, Chess (Reissued 2001)
Key Tracks: "Tell Mama," "I'd Rather Go Blind," "Security," "Don't Lose Your Good Thing," "You Took It."
Catalog Choice: At Last
Next Stop: Dusty Springfield: Dusty in Memphis
After That: Doris Duke: I'm a Loser
Book Page: 389

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About 1,000 Recordings

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