Five artists inspired by Etta James
The voice of Etta James has crossed continents, united generations and transcended genres. She remains essential for anyone interested in soul, blues and R&B and has been a powerful influence on countless artists from across the musical spectrum. Simply put, she is a giant of 20th-century popular music.
Born in Los Angeles in 1938, Etta was something of a child prodigy, performing on gospel radio stations when she was just five years old. By the time she was a teenager, her group, The Creolettes, had already attracted the attention of west coast R&B pioneer Johnny Otis.
Having changed their name to The Peaches, James and her two bandmates hit the road, recording their first track – a single originally titled ‘Roll with me, Henry’ – for Modern Records. After a wave of success, James joined Little Richard on tour, an experience that introduced the young singer to the danger and excess of rock ‘n’ roll.
After singing backup vocals for soul artists such as Marvin Gaye, Minnie Riperton and Harvey Fuqua, James released her debut album, At Last, in 1960. The record made her an icon, and she remains one of the most important soul singers of her generation. Here, we’ll be exploring some of the artists inspired by James, from Janis Joplin to Amy Winehouse.
Five artists inspired by Etta James:
Janis Joplin
In 1969, Etta James spotted a young singer at a closed recording session singing in an abrasive style and swigging on a bottle of whiskey. A reporter from the New York Times was there too and described the singer’s surprise. “What’s she doing here?” James asked. “Shhhh. That’s Janis Joplin,” she was told. “She’s a big star.”
For a moment or two, James just stood blinking. Then it all came flooding back: Joplin had walked right into her dressing room years earlier before a show in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Joplin was 13 at the time and obsessed with Etta, having modelled her style and voice on the singer. James let Joplin sit in while she got ready for the show, an experience the ’60s icon would carry with her forever.
Keith Richards
For The Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards, Etta James was not only his “rock ‘n’ roll wife” but a powerful influence and fierce friend. Introducing her track ‘Sugar on The Floor’ during his appearance on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs, the guitarist said: “first off, [she’s] a great friend of mine, and at the same time, I was going: ‘I’ve got to have a diva, a soul diva on this list somewhere’.”
Keith and Etta had a great friendship throughout her lifetime, and the pair frequently performed together, with the singer joining the Stones on their 1978 US tour. Four years earlier, Richards had performed Etta’s ‘I’d Rather Go Blind’ with The Faces in 1974. You can check that out below.
Diana Ross
Etta James inspired a multitude of Black female singers to adopt defiant, powerhouse vocals. One of them was Diana Ross, whose sensual vocal line for Giorgio Moroder’s ‘I Feel Love’ is widely hailed as ushering in the house era.
Ross stepped into music as a member of the Primettes, the sister group to a male vocal outfit known as the Primes. After singing to Motown and releasing a slew of singles in the ’60s, Ross embarked on a highly successful solo career, eventually leaving Motown to sign with RCA and cement her reputation as a disco icon. James’ own career followed a similar trajectory, with the singer first performing with The Peaches and later signing a contract with Chess Records.
Rod Stewart
As The Faces’ cover of ‘I’d Rather Go Blind’ suggests, Rod Stewart was a huge fan of Etta James, with the singer’s husky blues vocals providing him with a template for his own stadium-shaking vocal style.
The Faces’ cover of ‘I’d Rather Go Blind’ was born late one night when Rod and half a dozen of his friends assembled in his living room for an impromptu jam session. The original was written by James following a visit to her friend Elligon ‘Fugi’ Jordan in prison in 1967. Jordan had already laid the groundwork from his cell. The pair then completed the song together, though James gave her songwriting credit to her creative partner, Billy Foster, for tax purposes – a decision she would come to regret.
Amy Winehouse
Amy Winehouse was raised on a diet of Billie Holiday and Etta James and was continually compared to both singers throughout her career. Even towards the end of her life, when her addiction to drugs and alcohol was making headlines, writers debated whether she would end up like Billie or Etta. Sadly, it was the former.
Of course, that view of Etta James as a classy contrast to the trashy Amy Winehouse was never particularly accurate. During the mid-60s, James was addicted to heroin, forging prescriptions and bouncing checks to fund her habit. In ’66, she was arrested for writing bad checks and was forced to pay a $500 fine – later spending ten days in jail for violating her probation.
