AT LAST//VINYLE AUDIOPHILE 180GR/6 BONUS TRACKS

Description

With: Etta James (voice). Orchestra arranged and conducted by Riley Hampton.
Discovered by Johnny Otis, who recommended that she use only her first name by reversing the syllables – Etta James was born James Etta Hawkins on January 25, 1938, in Los Angeles – this soul woman with a raspy voice and rock instincts has undoubtedly never received the international recognition she truly deserved, as much, in any case, as an Aretha Franklin, a Gladys Knight, or a Dionne Warwick. A well-kept secret of a musical genre where only strong-willed women could assert themselves and last, Etta James managed to record several albums cherished by R&B aficionados. "At Last!", her first album for the famous Chicago label Chess, is certainly one of her most memorable. How can one not be struck, from the very first notes of Anything To Say You're Mine, by the power of this voice? Each phrase, each word is delivered with an energy that commands respect. But beware: this young woman (22 years old at the time) could also embrace the softer forms of a melancholic ballad like Stormy Weather with a certain tenderness. "At Last!" is simply one of the key records of soul music from the early 1960s.