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.
Losers Weepers
Etta James Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Now you put your only man
Out in the cold, yes you did
Just because your best friend told you
He was too told, lemme tell you she lied
And now I found him and you want him back, yes you do
But lemme tell you, but I'm tell you right now
It was a case of
Losers, weepers, finders, keepers
Now listen
You know you cheated and you lied
Right to the end, yes you did
You were even talking about your man to his best friend
You have no business doing that
Then you promised him if he come back
He's never miss you, see
But now he belongs to be, and I ain't gonna lose him
It was a case of
Losers, weepers, finders, keepers
I been in love with your man for a long, long time
Yes I have, you didn't know that did you?
I been trying to think of a way to make him mine
Now listen, I will still be your best friend
And do all, do all I can
Sure enough, but I'll never, never, never let go of that man
Because it was a case of
Losers, weepers, finders, keepers
In Etta James's song Loser's Weepers Part One, the lyrics describe a love triangle where the singer has taken the singer's man. The song explores themes of infidelity, betrayal, and jealousy. The repeated phrase "Losers, weepers, finders, keepers" implies that the singer lost her man to the singer, and now the singer is going to keep him.
The first verse describes how the singer put her man "out in the cold" because her best friend told her that he was too old. The singer now wants him back, but the singer is not going to let go. The second verse implies that the singer cheated and lied in her relationship with her man, even talking about him to his best friend. Despite promising him that he wouldn't miss her, the man has now moved on to the singer.
The chorus reinforces the idea that the singer is the loser in this situation, weeping over her lost relationship, while the singer has found a new love and is going to keep him. Finally, in the third verse, the singer reveals that she has been in love with the man for a long time, and she is not going to let the singer take him back. She promises to still be the singer's friend but makes it clear that she will not give up the man.
Line by Line Meaning
Now you put your only man
You abandoned your partner, leaving him alone
Out in the cold, yes you did
You left him without support or care
Just because your best friend told you
You made a decision based on hearsay from a friend
He was too told, lemme tell you she lied
The friend who advised you was incorrect about your partner's age
And now I found him and you want him back, yes you do
I am now in a relationship with the partner you abandoned and you want him back
But lemme tell you, but I'm tell you right now
I want to be clear with you
Etta, I'm not going for that
I will not let you take back the partner you abandoned
Now listen
Pay attention to what I am saying
You know you cheated and you lied
You were unfaithful and dishonest
Right to the end, yes you did
You continued to act in this manner until the end of the relationship
You were even talking about your man to his best friend
You spoke negatively about your partner to his closest friend
You have no business doing that
It was not appropriate for you to speak poorly about your partner to someone else
Then you promised him if he come back
You made a promise to your partner that if he returned to you
He's never miss you, see
He would not regret leaving our relationship
But now he belongs to me, and I ain't gonna lose him
But now that he is with me, I will not let go of him
I been in love with your man for a long, long time
I have had feelings for your partner for quite some time
Yes I have, you didn't know that did you?
You were not aware of my feelings for your partner
I been trying to think of a way to make him mine
I have been searching for a way to pursue a relationship with your partner
Now listen, I will still be your best friend
I want to maintain a friendly relationship with you
And do all, do all I can
I will help you in any way that I can
Sure enough, but I'll never, never, never let go of that man
But I will not give up my relationship with your partner
Because it was a case of
This scenario arose from
Losers, weepers, finders, keepers
The idea that in life, those who lose something must accept it, while those who find something have a right to keep it
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: LEON DAVID BOND
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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.