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.
Sweet Little Angel
Etta James Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I love the way she spread her wings
Yes, got a sweet little angel
I love the way she spread her wings
Yes, when she spread her wings around me
I get joy in everything
Now if my baby quit me
If my, my baby quit me
Well, I do believe I would die
Yes, if you don't love me little angel
Please tell me the reason why
You know, I asked my baby for a nickel
And she gave me a twenty dollar bill
Yes, I asked my baby for a nickel
And she gave me a twenty dollar bill
You know I asked her, let's go out and have a good time
And she bought me a [unverified]
Etta James's song "Sweet Little Angel" showcases her love for a sweet little angel whom she calls her own. She admires her sweet angel for the way she spreads her wings, which makes her feel happy about life. Every time she wraps her wings around her, she feels overjoyed. It's relatively clear that the lyrics represent her love for someone who uplifts her and makes her feel like a better person. Her lyrics go on to say that if her sweet angel left her today, she would die. James's lyrics are essentially a love letter to someone who makes her feel alive.
Besides, she asked her angel for a nickel, and she gave her a twenty-dollar bill, which shows how much this relationship and love mean to James that she didn't hesitate to mention all those priceless moments that she spends with the angel. The song ends with her asking the angel to tell her why she doesn't love her in case she doesn't. Etta's song 'Sweet Little Angel' is thus an ode to the way romantic love can make or break us.
Line by Line Meaning
I've got a sweet little angel
She is incredibly happy and content to have someone special in her life.
I love the way she spread her wings
She admires how her partner independently expresses herself and spreads her wings.
When she spread her wings around me
Being in her partner's company brings her a lot of joy in life.
I get joy in everything
Her partner's presence adds a lot of happiness and positivity to her life in every aspect.
Now if my baby quit me
She is deeply scared of losing her partner and the thought of it devastates her.
Well, I do believe I would die
Her partner's absence would be so unbearable that she feels like she wouldn't survive it.
Please tell me the reason why
She wants to know the reason behind her partner leaving her, in case it happens in the future, so that she can work on fixing it.
You know, I asked my baby for a nickel
She remembers a specific instance where she asked her partner for a small favor.
And she gave me a twenty dollar bill
Her partner went above and beyond her expectations and fulfilled her request beyond her wildest dreams.
And she bought me a [unverified]
In her partner's presence, she feels like she could ask for anything and her partner would give it to her selflessly.
Contributed by Joshua F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
thechrismadden
This recording is magical. Really captures the true raw essence of that incredible voice. RIP.
Queen Shields
I also love Etta James! When I heard that Beyonce was going to act as her in Cadillac Records...this was the type of music I thought she would sing
..of course I was like NO!. Bcs I was thinking of Ettas LIVE and her scatting sound. But after seeing the movie I was very much pleasef bcs Beyonce did a fantastic job on all her SLOW songs. Thanks Beyonce for bringing her to big screen. Loved it!!!!
Queen Shields
If you have a sweet little Angel as I do...Cherish him! Shriver is not dead!" If my my baby should quit me" lol. Bless his little heart lol. Good music yall..love it! My kids and grandkids get a kick out of me singing and trying to do the dances they were doing back then. Lol
protwin66
a ball of fire....had the pleasure of seeing her on a blues bill with B.B., the Fabulous T-birds, J.Geils and Colin James a few years back....sensational....
Marília Lima
Amazing!!!!
Queen Shields
"Asked my baby for a NICKEL and he gave me a $20 dollar bill... you know a $20 bill was alot of money back then!! Love it bcs the song has a lot of history ( a whiskey bill... is a tab now days lol)
Bowtie41
Love Ettas,didn't know she did rough blues like this til I heard it yesterday on a blues station I set up on Pandora.Awesome,thanks for posting@
Sister Lucille Band
She was the queen of power and soul!!! Bowtie41 get her etta james rocks the house cd, it will blow you away! Most people have only heard studio cuts of her but when she got in front of a crowd she really came alive!! She is one of the greats, my hearts influence!