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.
The Jealous Kind
Etta James Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
If I seem rude
Each time we meet
A girl that you once knew
You say that used to be so close to you
It's just that I'm so afraid
Someone might steal you away
I can't help myself
The way I feel sometimes
Yeah, I'm the jealous kind
It was alright
When I first met you
Oh, I didn't mind
But now things have changed
And I'm just not the same
Oh, and now I find
I want you all to myself
I don't want to share you
With nobody, nobody, nobody else
You must forgive me
For the way I act sometimes
Yeah, I'm the jealous kind
Oh, baby
Oh, baby
If you only knew
How much it hurts me
Oh, to hear you say
How you can't forget
That before we met
Those were the good old days
Why must you hurt me so?
Lord, I can't stand it no more
Boy, I'm really, really, really, oh I'm really tryin'
And I can't help myself
The way I act sometimes
I'm the jealous kind
Oh, baby
Oh, baby
I'm the jealous kind
I know, I know
And I know, baby, I know
Oh, I know, I know
I know I'm the jealous kind
Ooh, I can't help it, I can't help it, baby
I can't help that I, I'm the jealous kind
Etta James's "The Jealous Kind" is a soulful love song about jealousy and possessiveness in a relationship. The singer is admitting to her significant other that she has been acting angry and rude towards an old friend of his, who he used to be close to. She explains that she can't help these feelings because she is afraid someone might steal him away from her. As the song progresses, she reveals that she wants him all to herself, and doesn't want to share him with anyone else. She is jealous of anyone who had a past with him, and it hurts her to hear about his life before they met.
The lyrics of the song perfectly capture the complex emotions that come with love and jealousy. Sometimes, when people fall in love, they become possessive and fearful of losing their partner. The lyrics of the song show that these emotions can be hard to control, despite the negative effect they may have on the relationship. The singer's honesty about feeling jealous in her relationship is poignant and relatable to many listeners.
Overall, "The Jealous Kind" is a beautiful love song that explores the difficulties of navigating a relationship in which one partner struggles with jealousy. Its soulful melody and poignant lyrics have ensured its place as a beloved classic among fans of soul music.
Line by Line Meaning
Don't be angry
Please don't be upset
If I seem rude
If I appear impolite
Each time we meet
Whenever we come across each other
A girl that you once knew
A lady that you knew before
You say that used to be so close to you
You mentioned that you were once very close with her
It's just that I'm so afraid
It's just that I am extremely frightened
Someone might steal you away
Someone could take you from me
Oh, I'd lose my mind
Oh, I would go insane
I can't help myself
I am unable to control myself
The way I feel sometimes
How I feel on some occasions
Yeah, I'm the jealous kind
Yes, I'm the type to be jealous
It was alright
It was fine
When I first met you
At the beginning when we first met
Oh, I didn't mind
Oh, it didn't bother me
But now things have changed
But now the situation is different
And I'm just not the same
And I'm not like I used to be
Oh, and now I find
Oh, and now I realize
I want you all to myself
I want you exclusively
I don't want to share you
I don't want to split you between others
With nobody, nobody, nobody else
With no one else
You must forgive me
You have to excuse me
For the way I act sometimes
For my actions sometimes
Oh, baby
Oh, dear
If you only knew
If you were only aware
How much it hurts me
How much it pains me
Oh, to hear you say
Oh, when you confess
How you can't forget
That you are unable to move on from
That before we met
That you had previous experiences before we became acquainted
Those were the good old days
Those were the enjoyable times
Why must you hurt me so?
Why do you have to cause me so much pain?
Lord, I can't stand it no more
My God, I can't endure this any longer
Boy, I'm really, really, really, oh I'm really tryin'
I'm putting in a great effort, oh boy, I'm really doing my best
And I can't help myself
And I am impotent to control myself
The way I act sometimes
How I behave on some occasions
I'm the jealous kind
I'm the type to be jealous
I know, I know
I understand
And I know, baby, I know
And I know, dear, I know
Oh, I know, I know
Oh, I understand, I understand
I know I'm the jealous kind
I know that I have a tendency to be jealous
Ooh, I can't help it, I can't help it, baby
Ooh, I'm powerless over it, I'm powerless over it, dear
I can't help that I, I'm the jealous kind
I am unable to aid that I am the type to be jealous
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: Robert C. Guidry
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.