Etta James - Tell Mama: The Complete Muscle Shoals Sessions CD

Tell Mama: The Complete Muscle Shoals Sessions album for sale Originally released on Argo (4003). Includes liner notes by Andy McKaie. Digitally remastered by Erick Labson (MCA Music Media Studios, North Hollywood, California). When Etta James signed with Chess Records in 1960, the label decided to pair her raw, bluesy singing with a full backing band and lush orchestrations. AT LAST!, her Chess debut, shows the formula working to fine effect, as it highlights the singer's facility with different approaches including torchy balladry, jazz crooning, growling blues, and R&B shouting. She sounds equally at home on Willie Dixon stompers ("I Just Want To Make Love To You"), standards ("Stormy Weather"), and down-tempo soul workouts (the beautiful title track). James performs several duets with Moonglows vocalist (and then-boyfriend) Harvey Fuqua, including Dixon's "Spoonful," the duo's self-penned "My Heart Cries," and the chart-hit "If I Can't Have You." The emotionally wrenching "All I Could Do Is Cry" (the lyrics have the singer watching her beloved marry another), and soothing, romantic "Trust in Me" were hits on both the pop and R&B charts, assuring the singer's name recognition and paving the way for her future successes. AT LAST! is a fine set of R&B, blues, and jazz songs that showcase James's versatility and powerhouse pipes. Reissue producer: Andy McKaie. Personnel includes: Etta James, Harvey Fuqua ...

Tell Mama: The Complete Muscle Shoals Sessions buy CD music Few would dispute that this collection is the Holy Grail of blues harmonica. Like the other entries in Chess Records' HIS BEST series, the Little Walter compilation is beautifully selected, sequenced, remastered, and packaged. At 20 tracks, HIS BEST gives a satisfying, economical summary of Walter's genius, and defends his title as the king of blues harp men. As a member of Muddy Waters's band, and on his own, Walter was one of the architects of the original Chicago sound. His propulsive chording, high-leaning notes, inventive use of amplification (he used a close-up hand-held microphone and effects like distortion and echo), and endless stream of ideas expanded the possibilities of the harmonica. With the help of such Chicago heavy-hitters as pianist Otis Spann, bassist Willie Dixon, and drummer Fred Below, Walter's own group displayed ferocious chemistry and instrumental prowess. Naturally, Walter's vocals and exceptional harp are at the fore here. Whether on signature tunes ("Juke"), slow burners ("Mean Old World"), or classic rockers ("Boom, Boom Out Goes the Light"), this is old-school electric blues at its absolute finest. In addition to its status as a textbook for harmonica players, HIS BEST is a ground-floor necessity for any blues library. This is part of Chess Records' 50 Anniversary series. Personnel: Little Walter (vocals, harmonica); Muddy Waters (guitar, slide guitar); Dave Myers , Fred Robinson , Jimmie Lee Robinson, Jimmy Rogers , Leonard Caston, Louis Myers, Luther Tucker, Robert Lockwood, Jr. (guitar); Otis Spann (piano); Fred Below, Billy Stepney, George Hunter (drums). Liner Note Author: Billy Altman. Recording information: Chicago, IL (05/12/1952-12/??/1960). Photographers: Ray Flerlage; Mary Katherine Aldin.

Tell Mama: The Complete Muscle Shoals Sessions songs While several best-ofs from Etta James' Chess period have been available over the years -- with the two-disc, 44-track Essential Etta James at the top of the list in giving the big picture -- this 20-track collection sweats that bigger picture down to bare essentials. For those wishing to finally sample Etta's classic period at Chess without opening the wallet for box set expense, this single-disc retrospective will fill the bill quite nicely. Featuring 20 of the tracks that appear on the double-disc Essential anthology without anything literally essential left off, this scintillating little disc now officially becomes the one-stop, first-time purchase in connecting with the emotional greatness inherent in Etta's siren song. There's plenty more after this to discover, but this is absolutely where you start. ~ Cub Koda Digitally remastered collection from the Blues great, part of Chess' 50th Anniversary Collection series. Unlike many other artists of her genre, Etta James has lived her music, making her an expert on the Blues. Although she is best known for being one of the finest Blues belters around, she has also recorded incredible R&B, Jazz and Pop tunes that make grown men weep. This 20 track compilation features 'At Last', 'Trust In Me', 'If I Can't Have You', 'Next Door To The Blues' and many others. Etta is betta so you betta get some Etta! Chess. This is part of Chess' 50th Anniversary Collection series. All tracks have been digitally remastered. Personnel includes: Etta James (vocals); Harvey Fuqua, Sugar Pie DeSanto. Personnel: Etta James (vocals); Jimmy Johnson , David T. Walker, Ken Marco, Matt "Guitar" Murphy, Albert Lowe (guitar); Floyd Newman, James Mitchell , Aaron Varnell, Charles Chalmers (saxophone); Gavrell Cooper (tenor saxophone); Gene Miller (trumpet); Dewey Oldham (piano, organ); George Davis, John Young (piano); Vonzell Cooper, Carl Banks, Barry Beckett (organ); William D. "Smitty" Smith (keyboards); David Hood (electric bass); Roger Dawkins, Kenny Rice, Richard Waters, Freeman Brown, Al Duncan (drums); King Errisson (congas). Liner Note Author: Peter Grendysa. Recording information: Chicago, IL (01/??/1960-06/19/1970); L.A., CA (01/??/1960-06/19/1970); Muscle Shoals, AL (01/??/1960-06/19/1970); New Era Club, Nashville, TN (01/??/1960-06/19/1970). Photographers: Jim Marshall ; Ray Avery. Unknown Contributor Role: Erick Labson. Arranger: Riley Hampton.

Tell Mama: The Complete Muscle Shoals Sessions CD music Contains material recorded for the Duke-Peacock subsidiary, Back Beat, between 1964 and 1974. O.V. Wright is part of the Pantheon Of 1960s Soul, up there with Solomon Burke, Aretha Franklin, and Otis Redding. He's not as well known as them--at least in America--but his songs have been covered by Redding, the Rolling Stones, Robert Cray, and Ann Peebles. Like Burke and Franklin, his vocal style was heavily based in Southern gospel music, passionately balancing the sacred and the secular. Wright fervently implored, pleaded, and howled his tales of love lost, strayed, thwarted, or shattered. "A Nickel and a Nail" is one of the finest distillations of no-way-out desperation ever recorded. Wright affirms his love to the heavens by crying out the dramatically devotional "I'd Rather Be Blind, Crippled and Crazy." The music is prime Memphis rhythm & blues: full of sharp, terse guitar, rich Hammond organ, and gospel-informed background vocals--tight and funky but never slick. Compilation producer: Andy McKaie. Personnel: O.V. Wright (vocals). Liner Note Author: Bill Bentley. Recording information: 1964-1973.

Tell Mama: The Complete Muscle Shoals Sessions buy CD music ROCKS THE HOUSE is the only live recording from Etta James' Chess recording career (late 1950s to mid 1960s). Recorded live at The New Era Club, Nashville, Tennessee on September 27 and 28, 1963. Originally released on Argo (4032). Includes liner notes by Ralph Bass and by Don Snowden. Digitally remastered by Paul Elmore (MCA Studios, North Hollywood, California). Though the studio albums Etta James made for Chess in the 1960s usually had the blues singer surrounded by lush production and string-heavy arrangements, this live date finds her performing with only a rhythm section, organist, guitarist, and tenor saxophonist. The singer seems to respond to both the stripped-down setting and the enthusiastic audience with noticeable abandon. In fact, James the classy balladeer, a role she sometimes plays on her studio albums, is nowhere to be found on this blazing set. The only time the band slows down is on the tearjerker story-song "All I Could Do Is Cry" (though what the tune lacks in tempo it makes up for in emotional intensity). The rest of the set is straight-edged blues and R&B, including covers of some hits of the day, like "Money (That's What I Want)" and Ray Charles's "What'd I Say." Jimmy Reed's "Baby What You Want Me To Do" (on which James does a growling, harmonica-imitating vocal solo) steps up the blues quotient, as does the band's finale of Willie Dixon's "I Just Want To Make Love to You," with James's gospel-drenched pipes wailing all the while. ETTA JAMES ROCKS THE HOUSE indeed. Personnel: Etta James (vocals); David Walker (guitar); Gavrell Cooper (tenor saxophone); Vonzell Cooper (organ); Marion Wright (bass); Freeman Brown, Richard Waters (drums). Personnel: Etta James (vocals); David T. Walker (guitar); Gavrell Cooper (tenor saxophone); Vonzell Cooper (organ); Richard Waters, Freeman Brown (drums). Audio Remasterer: Paul Elmore. Liner Note Authors: Don Snowden; Ralph Bass. Recording information: New Era Club, Nashville, TN (09/27/1963-09/28/1963). Editor: Ron Malo.

Tell Mama: The Complete Muscle Shoals Sessions songs Howard Tate hopped labels during the late '60s and early '70s, skipping from Verve to Lloyd Price's Turntable to Atlantic and never releasing more than one LP for any of them. His lone Atlantic LP, a self-titled release from 1972, was the least consistent of the three; despite a few highlights that made it worth hearing for fans, the album was plagued by substandard songs that sapped Tate and his crack band. The person most at fault was, surprisingly, producer Jerry Ragovoy, who had written and produced Tate's best songs for Verve (as well as dozens of other soul classics). Unfortunately, he simply wasn't firing here and wrote a set of surprising duds, including "When I Was a Young Man" and "She's a Burglar" ("She's a burg-a-lar/she broke into my mind"). The arrangements are staid period soul, and while the musicians back Tate with confidence and energy, it's difficult for them to open up within such constrained charts. One of the few interesting songs is "Girl From the North Country," a Dylan cover never recorded by any other soul singer. Ragovoy and the band don't help him here, either, but Tate's performance -- beginning with control but growing gradually more uninhibited with every verse -- illustrated that he was still a master of soul. His own song, "The Bitter End," is also a highlight, a working-class narrative with a surprisingly sweet vocal. ~ John Bush Photographer: Joel Brodsky. Arrangers: David Spinozza; Jerry Ragovoy. Personnel: Howard Tate (vocals); David Spinozza, Eric Gale , Michael Gayle (guitar); Kenny Berger (flute, bassoon, baritone saxophone); George Young (flute, tenor saxophone); George Coleman, Trevor Lawrence (tenor saxophone); Seldon Powell (baritone saxophone); Ernie Royal, Irwin "Marky" Markowitz (trumpet); Garnett Brown (trombone); Jerry Ragovoy, Kenny Ascher, Richard Tee (piano); Rick Marotta, Bernard "Pretty" Purdie (drums); Ralph MacDonald (congas). Recording information: The Hit Factory, New York, NY. ;1970