Etta James 42 Albums Discography 1960 2007

The discography for the American singer Etta James consists of 29 studio albums, 3 live albums, and 12 compilations. She has also issued 58 singles, one of which, "The Wallflower (Dance with Me, Henry)," reached number 1 on the Rhythm and Blues Records chart in 1955.

After beginning to date Harvey Fuqua, a singer for the Moonglows, James signed with Argo Records, a subsidiary of Chess Records. Producer Leonard Chess believed James had crossover potential in the pop market and backed her material with orchestral arrangements. With this new style, many of James's songs became hits on both the R&B and the pop charts, such as "All I Could Do Was Cry, "At Last," and "Trust in Me."[1] She released her debut album, At Last!, in 1960. It was followed by The Second Time Around in 1961. In 1967, James recorded with a more soul-inflected style and had her first Top 10 hit in three years, "Tell Mama," which was followed by an album of the same name.[1] In the 1970s, her popularity declined on radio, but remained under Chess records, recording five albums for the label, departing from them with 1975's Etta Is Betta Than Evvah.

The members of the Blues Foundation, a nonprofit organization set up in Memphis, Tennessee, to foster the blues and its heritage,[76] have nominated James for a Blues Music Award nearly every year since its founding in 1980; and she received some form of Blues Female Artist of the Year award 14 times since 1989, continuously from 1999 to 2007.[77] Her albums Life, Love, & the Blues (1999), Burnin' Down the House (2003), and Let's Roll (2004) were awarded Soul/Blues Album of the Year,[77] and in 2001 she was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame.[71]

Following this success, James became an in-demand concert performer though she never again reached the heyday of her early to mid-1960s success. Her records continued to chart in the R&B Top 40 in the early 1970s, with singles such as "Losers Weepers" (1970) and "I Found a Love" (1972). Though James continued to record for Chess, she was devastated by the death of Leonard Chess in 1969. James ventured into rock and funk with the release of her self-titled album in 1973, with production from the famed rock producer Gabriel Mekler, who had worked with Steppenwolf and Janis Joplin, who had admired James and had covered "Tell Mama" in concert. The album, known for its mixture of musical styles, was nominated for a Grammy Award.[20] The album did not produce any major hits; neither did the follow-up, Come a Little Closer, in 1974, though, like Etta James before it, the album was also critically acclaimed. James continued to record for Chess (now owned by All Platinum Records), releasing one more album in 1976, Etta Is Betta Than Evvah! Her 1978 album Deep in the Night, produced by Jerry Wexler for Warner Bros., incorporated more rock-based music in her repertoire.[14] That same year, James was the opening act for the Rolling Stones and performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival. Following this brief success, however, she left Chess Records and did not record for another ten years as she struggled with drug addiction and alcoholism.

The members of the Blues Foundation, a nonprofit organization set up in Memphis, Tennessee, to foster the blues and its heritage,[57] have nominated James for a Blues Music Award nearly every year since its founding in 1980; and she received some form of Blues Female Artist of the Year award 14 times since 1989, continuously from 1999 to 2007.[58] Her albums Life, Love, & the Blues (1999), Burnin' Down the House (2003), and Let's Roll (2004) were awarded Soul/Blues Album of the Year,[58] and in 2001 she was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame.[53] 2b1af7f3a8