Am I Blue

Ethel Waters | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 16, 1999)
• Original Release Date: November 16, 1999
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Asv Living Era
• ASIN: B00002JXDP
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #199,120 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #33 in Music > Indie Music > Blues > Vocal Blues

Track Listings

1. Am I Blue?

2. Sweet Georgia Brown

3. Dinah

4. I'm Coming, Virginia

5. Birmingham Bertha

6. Second-Handed Man

7. True Blue Lou

8. Shoo Shoo Boogie Boo

9. Trav'lin All Alone

10. Long Lean Lanky Mama

11. You Can't Stop Me From Loving You

12. I Can't Give You Anything But Love, Baby

13. Stormy Weather

14. Don't Blame Me

15. Shadows On The Swanee

16. Heat Wave

17. I Just Couldn't Take It, Baby

18. A Hundred Years From Today

19. Miss Otis Regrets

20. Moonglow

See all 24 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A nice introduction to the work of the legendary Miss Waters, March 25, 2001

By 

Reviewer123 "cj123" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Am I Blue (Audio CD)

Ethel Waters was the first true jazz singer, and arguably the most influential vocalist in the history of popular American music. Her only real rival for this latter title is Louis Armstrong, and it can be argued that while Armstrong was the greater musician, Waters melding of black and white singing styles was actually the more influential contribution to American jazz and popular singing. The advent of CD's has brought a very welcome re-release of some hitherto very hard to find Waters material. There are now several compilation CD's of Waters classic jazz/blues/popular music cuts available. Of these, "Am I Blue?" may be the best single compilation of the Waters oeuvre. The only real rival is the "Ethel Waters: 1925-1940" disc, and this disc presents a greater or at least more representative variety than that disc, though both are worth owning. The sides on this disc were recorded between 1925 and 1939. I am not sure how they were chosen, but they represent a nice cross-section of Waters up-tempo numbers and ballads, her hits and more obscure songs and her work with a number of different bands, including those of the Dorsey Brothers, Benny Goodman and Duke Ellington, as well as a couple of choice cuts with her long-time pianist Pearl Wright. The sound quality is good, and the hits are certainly present in abundance. Those unfamiliar with Waters' singing career may be surprised to learn that she introduced (and recorded what are still the finest versions of) "Dinah", "Sweet Georgia Brown", "Am I Blue?", "Stormy Weather", "Miss Otis Regrets", "Moonglow", "Don't Blame Me", "A Hundred Years From Today" and "Heatwave". Although all of these are marvelous, the incredible sophistication of "Miss Otis Regrets" (Waters must be the only singer who can capture the Cole Porter wit of this song and still make it sound affecting), the incredible emotion (compressed and never overstated) in "Stormy Weather" and the inventive little touches she adds to "swing" "Heatwave" are the highlights of these classics. There are also the delightful surprises - Waters' inimitable characterization of men talking about "True Blue Lou", her playful "You Can't Stop Me From Loving You", the moving "Trav'lin All Alone", the take command, bawdy "Long, Lean, Lanky Mama", the comedy of "Birmingham Bertha", and the touching confidence of "At the End of the Road". In all of the songs on this CD, it pays to listen carefully and hear how Waters plays with both the melody and rhythm of the song to sing a song "her way". When she started doing this in 1917, and on her first recordings in 1921, she was the only singer doing so, and in doing so, she changed the course of popular music in America. There are shortcomings to any single disc, of course. Among the many standards Waters introduced that are not included on this CD: "St. Louis Blues", "Taking A Chance On Love", "Happiness is a Thing Called Joe", "Cabin in the Sky", "There'll Be Some Changes Made", "Memories of You", "Sugar", "Hottentot Potentate", "Harlem on My Mind", and "Supper Time". Also missing are certain classic renditions of songs she didn't introduce, in particular her killer version of "I Got Rhythm" from 1934, a virtuoso example of early jazz singing, and some of her great blues sides, like "West End Blues". And like most compilation discs, this disc ignores all of her recordings done after 1940. There are still no CD's of her classic live performances in the 1950's (captured on the Monmouth-Evergreen album, "Miss Ethel Waters"), of her 40's, 50's and 60's recordings for small labels, of her television performances from the 50's, or of her three recordings of spirituals and hymns for Word records in the 50's, 60's and 70's. By the 50's, age had taken a great toll on her voice, but she nonetheless managed to find the heart of any song she sang and still make it very much hers. What is needed more than anything is a comprehensive box set (at least 4 CD's) that spans her entire glorious career. Until we get such a set, there are at least single disc compilations such as this one to serve as an introduction and the Classics series, which covers all her sides from 1921-1940, for which to be grateful.

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars She was a WOW!!!, January 10, 2001

By 

Charles Perkins (Connecticut) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Am I Blue (Audio CD)

Everyone should experience the voice and style that belonged to Ethel Waters. Most people remember her in movies but not everyone realizes she was a successful songstress before that. To hear her sing Dinah or Sweet Georgia Brown will send shivers of pleasure through your body. Her sense of timing and her style of blues were unique. Listen and enjoy to one of the great treasures that was Ethel Waters.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ethel Waters - Am I Blue?, November 13, 2009

By 

Stephen Indvik "sindvik" (Mineapolis, MN) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Am I Blue (Audio CD)

Growing up in the 50's, pop music from the late 20's and 30's was fairly common. There were some real classics. I never thought much about who was singing many of these songs. Alas, Ethel Waters was one of them. Also, by paying attention to the recording dates, it's possible to hear the influence of Louis Armstrong. The sound is quite acceptable for the recording technoloby in use at the time. This disc is a real classic.