Love Songs [RCA Victor/Legacy]

Performer: Etta James
Artist: Cedar Walton; Eddie Harris
Producer: Leonard & Phil Chess; Barry Feldman (Compilation)
Distributor: Sony Music Distribution (

Notes: Personnel: Etta James; Eddie Harris (saxophone); Cedar Walton (piano); Paul Humphrey (drums). Not to be confused with MCA's 2001 collection of the same title, this 15-song RCA Victor set was released in 2006. Interestingly, the compilation focuses on James's contemporary recordings (as opposed to her more celebrated material from the 1960's) and leans heavily on her readings of old standbys from the Great American Songbook. James's blues- and gospel-drenched voice still sounds great, though, and she shows she's as capable of handling jazz gems like "Body and Soul" and "My Funny Valentine" as she is R&B faves like "Try A Little Tenderness." There can be no debate about Etta James' many gifts as an interpreter of blues, R&B, soul, and jazz -- and she also has a way with a country song that makes the best of them sit up and take notice. Her long and varied career has taken her all along the American music highway. This set of love songs comes almost exclusively from her later BMG-affiliated label recordings, made in mid-'90s and early 21st century -- the opening cut, however, "At Last," was originally issued in 1960 on the Chess label. Many veteran listeners who prefer James' 1950s music may have a hard time appreciating this phase in her career, and it's their loss. For those who do, however (and for those who have yet to encounter the singer properly), these 15 cuts will be a small revelation. Compiled to accent her softer jazz singing persona, Love Songs sets James in the company of jazz greats including Cedar Walton, Tony Dumas, Red Holloway, and George Bohannon on her readings of standards such as "He's Funny That Way," "My Man," "Teach Me Tonight," and "I'll Be Seeing You," among others. Elsewhere, James can be found digging into deeply soulful nuggets like Otis Redding's "I've Been Loving You Too Long" and Brook Benton's "I'll Take Care of You." The closer is her now classically controversial version of Cole Porter's "Night and Day," where she turns the tune inside out and makes it completely her own. But the most beautiful thing here is the skeletal, deeply moving and introspective "My Funny Valentine," where she is accompanied only by a guitar and a trumpet. For the money, this comp is a solidly different taste of James and should be considered. ~ Thom Jurek

Though Californian belter Etta James is widely known as one of the greatest blues singers, famed for her '60s Chess recordings and '70s Muscle Shoals work, her story is bigger than that. She started out with the Johnny Otis band in the '50s as a hard-edged R&B singer of the kind whose records would've been called rock & roll if made by a white singer. The tireless James never stopped working, and by the '90s, she'd covered everything from jazz standards to Steppenwolf and CCR.

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