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Amazon Review
Capitol/EMI has compiled Etta James' earliest recordings for a new salute to the American music icon, titled The Essential Modern Records Collection. The collection spotlights 15 of James' first singles and b-sides, including the singer's debut, 1955's "The Wallflower" (aka "Roll With Me Henry"), which launched her legendary, decades-spanning career.
Etta James began her professional recording career in 1954, auditioning at the age of 14 for bandleader Johnny Otis before recording her first singles for Modern Records in Los Angeles with her vocal group, The Peaches. Her first single, "The Wallflower" (aka "Roll With Me Henry"), an answer song to Hank Ballard's 1954 #1 R&B hit "Work With Me Annie," hit #1 on Billboard's R&B chart in 1955, and "Good Rockin' Daddy" reached #6 on the chart the same year. James shot into fame and was soon invited to tour with Little Richard and Johnny "Guitar" Watson, established artists of the day who would bear significant influence on her career.
Other standout singles on the new Modern collection include "Tough Lover," recorded in New Orleans and featuring Lee Allen on saxophone, "W-O-M-A-N," an answer to Bo Diddley's "I'm A Man," and "The Pick-Up," in which Ms. James shares a sultry conversation with saxman Plas Johnson.
Modern Records was founded in 1945 in Los Angeles by brothers Saul and Jules Bihari, and, with its RPM and other label divisions, became a leading source of blues and R&B music in the 1950s. The label's A&R team included Ike Turner, and artists who recorded for the label, in addition to Etta James, included Howlin' Wolf, John Lee Hooker, B.B. King, Elmore James, Lightnin' Hopkins, and Little Richard.
Etta James has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Blues Hall of Fame, and the GRAMMY Hall of Fame, and she has been honored with the GRAMMY Lifetime Achievement Award and four GRAMMY Awards.
Customer Review
Great sides - but no liner notes? Why?
James was an early icon of the R&B scene and her #1 hit "The Wallflower" - better known as "Roll With Me Henry" - was recorded when she was just 15. Another single on Modern - " Good Rockin' Daddy"- hit #6. Both of these show up near the beginning of this 15-track compilation from EMI. But there are other tracks that are just as neat. The sound is just fine. The problem, for me, is in the packaging. There are no notes of any kind - surely they could have provided something from one of their freelance writers - just a list of the songs, composer and chart position. and YEAR of release. James deserves a bit more respect than that and additional info would allow a new generation of listeners to learn about James and her Modern Years.
Steve Ramm
"Anything Phonographic"
Keywords:
blues
etta james
classic female vocal blues
soul
rhythm and blues
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soul blues
quintessential
southern soul
the definitive collection
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