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.
Too Tired
Etta James Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I laid down last night, too tired to wake
I had a chill this mornin', too tired to shake
I got a good poker hand, too tired to win
I can hear my baby knockin', too tired to let her in
I'm tired
Too tired
Too tired for anythin'
I'm too tired to walk
Too tired to run
I can hear my baby callin'
Too tired, too tired
I'm tired
Yes, I'm tired
I'm tired
Too tired for anythin'
Take over Albert
I'm too tired for this
I'm tired of prosperity
I'm tired of luck
I'm sittin' on a pin
I'm too tired to get up
I'm tired
I declare I'm tired
I'm too tired
Too tired for anythin'
Oh, Albert I'm tired
You better take over Albert
I'm too tired baby
Etta James’s song “Too Tired” is a heartbreaking ballad about being too exhausted to carry on. The song starts off describing how the singer is too tired to even get out of bed or shake off a chill. To make things worse, the singer has a great hand in poker but is too tired to win. Even when they hear their baby knocking, they’re too tired to let them in. In the chorus, Etta James repeatedly affirms her exhaustion, emphasizing her inability to do anything at all, not even walk or run. She then turns things over to her piano player, Albert, declaring that she's too tired for it. Appropriately, the song ends with the singer admitting that they are tired of everything - good luck, prosperity - to the point where they are too tired to even stand up, sitting on a pin. The song has a melancholic, resigned tone that perfectly captures the singer's acute state of exhaustion. It's a portrait of someone who feels utterly defeated.
The lyrics of Etta James’s “Too Tired” have a lot of contradictory elements that create a kind of dramatic tension. For instance, the singer has a great hand in poker but is too tired to win. They hear their baby knocking but are too tired to let them in. Furthermore, the repeated affirmation of being tired in the chorus is set against the verses, which describe specific situations where the singer should be anything but tired. The ballad's tone is also somewhat ironic, as the singer initially talks about being too tired to do things even while she's singing. The song beautifully conveys the bond between emotional and physical exhaustion, as well as how the song's protagonist feels like nothing can be done to break the cycle.
Line by Line Meaning
I laid down last night, too tired to wake
Last night, I was so exhausted that I couldn't even bring myself to wake up this morning.
I had a chill this mornin', too tired to shake
Though I had a chill when I woke up this morning, I'm too tired to even shiver.
I got a good poker hand, too tired to win
I have a promising hand in poker, but I'm too drained to engage in the game and try to win.
I can hear my baby knockin', too tired to let her in
My partner is trying to reach me, but I'm too exhausted to even summon the energy to open the door for them.
I'm too tired to walk
I'm feeling so weary that I don't have the inclination to even walk around.
Too tired to run
My exhaustion has rendered me unable to run or jog.
I can hear my baby callin'
I'm aware that my partner is trying to contact me.
Too tired, too tired
But I am too drained to prompt myself to answer back or reply.
I'm tired
In general, I'm feeling drowsy and unenergetic.
Yes, I'm tired
Indeed, I'm completely exhausted.
Too tired for anythin'
I'm not just worn out but also incapable of doing anything.
I'm tired of prosperity
Even having a prosperous life feels like a burden as it takes energy to enjoy it.
I'm tired of luck
I'm worn out by always having the chance to be successful or have good things happen to me.
I'm sittin' on a pin
Even simple tasks, as in sitting down, are uncomfortable and draining for me at this moment.
I'm too tired to get up
I don't think I can muster up the energy to get up and act on something that may need to be done.
I declare I'm tired
I'm certainly worn out, and I'm emphasizing that I'm not exaggerating about how drained I feel.
Oh, Albert I'm tired
I'm expressing to Albert that I'm worn out and need help to carry on.
You better take over Albert
I'm requesting that Albert picks up the slack, as I don't think I can keep up with my usual responsibilities while feeling so worn out.
I'm too tired baby
I'm emphasizing even more that I'm entirely drained and not able to face most things at the moment.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: JOHNNY GUITAR WATSON, MAXWELL DAVIS, SAUL BIHARI
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.