James was born Jamesetta Hawkins in Los Angeles, California, on 25th January 1938, to an unmarried fourteen-year-old mother, Dorothy Hawkins. According to Etta, her mother claimed that her father was the white Rudolph "Minnesota Fats" Wanderone, and that they received financial support from him on the condition that they keep his paternity a secret. This seems unlikely, though it has not been definitively disproved. Etta was born in Los Angeles in 1938. At the time, Wanderone was known to be managing a pool hall in Washington, D.C. and had not yet become known to be the cross-country traveller he later became.
She received her first professional vocal training at five years old from James Earle Hines, musical director of the Echoes of Eden choir at St Paul Baptist Church in Los Angeles. Her family moved to San Francisco in 1950, and she teamed up with two other girls to form a doo-wop singing group. When the girls were fourteen, band leader Johnny Otis had them audition. They sang an answer to Hank Ballard's "Work with Me, Annie" called "Roll Wwth Me Henry". Otis particularly liked the song, and against her mother's wishes, James and the trio went to Los Angeles to record the song in 1954. The song was recorded on the label Modern Records. By this time, the trio renamed the song "The Wallflower (Dance with Me, Henry)" and released it in 1955. James named her vocal group The Peaches. Richard Berry, a Los Angeles doo-wop luminary, is featured on some of their records.
"The Wallflower" reached number two on the rhythm and blues charts in February 1955, but was undercut in the wider market by a rushed-out cover version by Georgia Gibbs on Mercury Records; in fact, the very first time Gibbs was recorded in studio, they used the first take recorded and it became number one on the top 100 songs nationally. The song's royalties were divided between Hank Ballard, Etta James, and Johnny Otis, and its huge success attracted the attention of the R&B world, resulting in James going on tour with Little Richard. On the tour, though, according to James, she witnessed and experienced situations to which minors are not usually privy, and she allegedly acquired a drug habit.
Soon after the success of "Wallflower", The Peaches and James parted company, but this did not halt her career. Shecontinued to record and release albums throughout much of the decade, and enjoyed more success. Her follow-up, "Good Rockin' Daddy", became another fifties hit. Other songs however, such as "Tough Lover" and "W-O-M-A-N" failed to gain any significant success. James toured with Johnny "Guitar" Watson and Otis Redding in the fifties, and has cited Watson as the most significant influence on her style..
In 1960, James signed a recording contract with Chess Records. She went on to have the biggest success of her career from this label, recording her biggest and most memorable hits. Chess went into high gear with James, releasing many duets with her then boyfriend, the married Harvey Fuqua, who was the lead singer of the Moonglows. One of her duets with Fuqua, "If I Can't Have You", became a hit on the R&B charts in 1960. As a solo artist however, she had more enduring success. One of her first singles released by Chess in 1960 was called "All I Could Do Was Cry"; this blues number became a big hit on the R&B charts in 1960. Leonard Chess, one of the founders of Chess Records, helped James along the way. He saw the potential for her to go in a more pop-oriented direction, and she started recording more pop tunes for the label.
The year 1961 became a year of great change for James. In 1961 came the release of one of her first pop-oriented tunes called "At Last". The song became a big hit in 1961, reaching number two on the R&B charts. The song even went as far as twenty-two on the pop charts that year. It became her signature song. Other songs, such as "Trust in Me", also became hits, and the 1962 tune "Something's Got a Hold On Me" showed more of James' gospel side, a genre she had sung since childhood.
She had other big hits in the 1960s, but mainly on the R&B charts: the song "Pushover" in 1963 and "Stop the Wedding", "Fool That I Am", and "Don't Cry Baby", were hits for her between 1961 and 1963. Her 1963 album Etta James Rocks the House, recorded at Nashville's "New Era" club, also gave her career a boost. James then became one of the most successful R&B artists of the 1960s, having many more top ten and top twenty hit singles. Performing in Memphis, Tennessee helped make her into a blues icon.
In 1967, James released her next hit single, "Tell Mama", and it became a top ten hit on the R&B charts. After a dry period of no hits for almost four years, the song once more made James a household name. The follow-up, "Security", was also a success, and proved that James had staying power on the charts again. Whilst less success came for James after this hit, she was still on the charts regularly and, despite the death of Leonard Chess, stayed with the Chess label into 1975. Towards the end of the Chess years though, she went into more rock-based songs. She recorded for many other labels, and continued to release albums, such as 1978's Deep In the Night on Atlantic Records.
Despite a dry period during the early to mid 1980s, James got back on track and began to record music again. She received accolades for her 1981 rendition of Randy Newman's "God's Song". Her 1988 album Seven Year Itch proved this comeback capability; the album showed more of her soul side. In 1989, she recorded the song "Avenue D" with David A. Stewart of Eurythmics. The song was featured on the soundtrack to the Robert Wise film Rooftops. She also performed with the Grateful Dead for two shows in 1982. In the 1990s she continued to record and perform. Her albums widely varied in styles and genres. Her 1992 album, The Right Time, was another soul album that was released by Elektra Records. She also began to record more jazz, which became the style for many of her 1990s albums.
Drug-related and romantic problems interfered with her career, but James managed to maintain a career throughout the latter half of the twentieth century. Later in life, she struggled with obesity, experiencing mobility and knee problems. In 2003, she underwent gastric bypass surgery.
In 2011, a vocal sample from Etta's "Something's Got a Hold on Me" was used in "Levels" by Avicii. "Levels" became a monster EDM hit, making Etta's "sometimes I get a good feeling" one of the most recognizable samples in 21st century music.
She died on 20th January 2012.
Cry Like a Rainy Day
Etta James Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Must a girl let fall
How many years will it take
To forgive me for it all
You see when i took you for granted
I knew not just what I'd done
I was a fool not to see
I made some wrong moves
I won't deny
Went lookin'for love when it was
Right before my eyes
So now don't go and tell me
That you found somebody new
I tell you that's gonna hurt me
More than i could ever hurt you
I'm gonna cry
It's just that I
Don't want to see
A good thing slip away
Late at night that's when I
I hope and pray
These lonely tears
Will wash the pain away
And I'm gonna cry, cry, cry
Like a rainy day
I'm gonna get it together
Gonna try to make you understand
Wrote all down in a letter
From one woman to a man
Remember these arms
How they held you then
Mark my words
It's gonna be that way again
Give me one more chance
I swear to god I'll be true
Don't walk away
Now i'll never never make it without you
I'm gonna cry
Like a rainy day
It's just that i don't want to see
A good thing slip away
Late at night that's when I, I hope and pray
These lonely tears will wash the pain away
I'm gonna cry cry cry like a rainy day
I'm gonna cry cry like a rainy day
I'm gonna cry cry
The song "Cry Like a Rainy Day" by Etta James is about regret and the pain of losing someone because of one's actions. The lyrics express remorse over taking someone for granted and not realizing how important they were until it was too late. The singer is trying to make amends and win back the love of the person they hurt. The repetition of the line "I'm gonna cry like a rainy day" emphasizes the sadness and longing for that love. The singer hopes that their tears will wash away the pain and bring back the relationship.
The lyrics of "Cry Like a Rainy Day" are universal and resonate with anyone who has experienced heartbreak and loss. The imagery of tears and rain also adds to the emotional impact of the song. Etta James delivers the song with raw emotion and soulful vocals, making it a powerful and timeless classic.
Line by Line Meaning
How many tears now darling
Asking how much pain and sadness she has caused her lover
Must a girl let fall
Asking how much more crying her lover has to endure
How many years will it take
Asking how long it will take for her lover to forgive her
To forgive me for it all
Asking for forgiveness for all the mistakes she has made
You see when i took you for granted
Acknowledging that she didn't appreciate her lover when she had the chance
I knew not just what I'd done
Realizing the gravity of her actions
I was a fool not to see
Admitting her foolishness for not recognizing her lover's worth
That you were the perfect one
Acknowledging that her lover is perfect for her
I made some wrong moves
Admitting that she has made some mistakes
I won't deny
Admitting to her mistakes
Went lookin'for love when it was
Searching for love in all the wrong places
Right before my eyes
Not realizing that the love she was searching for was in front of her all along
So now don't go and tell me
Begging her lover not to tell her that they have moved on
That you found somebody new
Hoping that her lover hasn't found someone else
I tell you that's gonna hurt me
Admitting that the news of her lover moving on will hurt her
More than i could ever hurt you
Saying that the pain she caused her lover was not intentional
I'm gonna cry
Admitting that she will cry
It's just that I
Explaining why she will cry
Don't want to see
Saying that she doesn't want to lose her lover
A good thing slip away
Referring to her lover as a precious thing that she doesn't want to lose
Late at night that's when I
Saying that the pain is the worst at night
I hope and pray
Wishing and praying for things to get better
These lonely tears
Describing the tears as lonely and sad
Will wash the pain away
Believing that crying will eventually make the pain go away
And I'm gonna cry, cry, cry
Repeating that she will cry
Like a rainy day
Comparing her crying to a rainy day which is melancholic and sad
I'm gonna get it together
Saying that she will get herself back on track
Gonna try to make you understand
Attempting to explain herself to her lover
Wrote all down in a letter
Putting her thoughts into writing
From one woman to a man
Addressing the letter to her lover
Remember these arms
Reminding her lover of their embrace
How they held you then
Recalling how they used to hold each other
Mark my words
Making a promise
It's gonna be that way again
Promising to get back to how things used to be
Give me one more chance
Begging for another chance to make things right
I swear to god I'll be true
Making a solemn promise to be faithful and honest
Don't walk away
Begging her lover not to leave her
Now i'll never never make it without you
Saying that she can't live without her lover
Writer(s): Kenny Greenberg, Gregory William Barnhill
Contributed by Arianna V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Erik brodland
on I Just Want to Make Love to You
Love this song so much, it makes me think of my son's Beautiful mommy jasmin and her amazing.voice.