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.
Your Good Thing
Etta James Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You gonna lose me, oh baby
Don't lose your good thing now
Now listen, you better wake up
You better settle down, don't lose it
Don't lose your good thing now
Oh, in everything I do
'Cause I want you
Ooh, hey love, Lord knows I need you
Ooh, ooh honey, Lord so bad
Ooh, so bad, ooh
I'll always love you
No matter what you do
Ooh, I'm beggin', beggin' you
Don't lose your good thing now
Ooh, someday you just might need me
And I won't be around
Ooh, oh darling, oh baby
Don't lose your good thing now
Oh, I'm just, I'm just a fool now
To keep on, to keep on lovin' you now
Oh, but I want you
Ooh Lord, ooh honey, now
I need, I need you, ooh yeah
Ooh honey, so bad, bad now
Bad, ooh, ooh, ooh
If you keep on playin' around
You don't miss your water till your well runs dry
Please, please honey
Don't lose your good thing now
The song "Don't Lose Your Good Thing" by Etta James is about a woman who is warning her man about the risks of taking her for granted. She is imploring him to stop playing around and to settle down before it's too late, as he may lose the one good thing he has in her. The lyrics speak of her efforts to please him and her love for him, but at the same time, she is pleading with him not to lose her.
The song begins with a warning that if her man doesn't change his ways, he will lose her. She then tells him to wake up and settle down, not to lose the love they share. The lyrics then touch on the lengths she has gone to, to make him happy, hoping that it will inspire change in him. Her love for him is so strong that she is willing to plead with him not to lose her, even if he might not feel the same intensity of emotion.
The chorus of the song is a plea for him to see the value in their relationship and to understand that he needs to hold on to the good thing he has with her. The song ends with a warning that someday he will need her and she may not be there, imploring him not to lose his good thing.
Line by Line Meaning
If you keep on playin' around
If you continue to act inappropriately and disrespectfully
You gonna lose me, oh baby
I will leave you and end our relationship
Don't lose your good thing now
Do not lose someone who is valuable and important to you
Now listen, you better wake up
Take this seriously and pay attention
You better settle down, don't lose it
You need to calm down and not ruin what you have
I tried, I tried to please you
I made an effort to make you happy
Oh, in everything I do
In every action and decision I made
'Cause I want you
Because I love you and desire to be with you
Ooh, hey love, Lord knows I need you
My dear, I require you so much according to God's will
Ooh, ooh honey, Lord so bad
Oh, my darling, I deeply and passionately need you
I'll always love you
My love for you will never fade
No matter what you do
Even if you make mistakes or bad decisions
Ooh, I'm beggin', beggin' you
I am pleading with you
Don't lose your good thing now
Do not let go of a valuable asset
Ooh, someday you just might need me
There may be a time when you will require my assistance
And I won't be around
But I will not be there for you to rely on
Ooh, oh darling, oh baby
Oh my love, my dear
Don't lose your good thing now
Do not let go of a valuable asset
Oh, I'm just, I'm just a fool now
I admit that I am foolish right now
To keep on, to keep on lovin' you now
To continue to love you despite your behavior
Ooh Lord, ooh honey, now
Oh God, oh my love
I need, I need you, ooh yeah
I desperately need you
Ooh honey, so bad, bad now
Oh my darling, I need you so much right now
Bad, ooh, ooh, ooh
Very desperately
If you keep on playin' around
If you continue to act inappropriately and disrespectfully
You don't miss your water till your well runs dry
You will not realize what you have until it is gone
Please, please honey
I implore you, my love
Don't lose your good thing now
Do not let go of a valuable asset
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: RICK HALL, BOB KILLEN, ROBERT EARL KILLEN, SPOONER OLDHAM
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.