Customer Reviews

Life Love & The Blues

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

There are far worse ways to spend an hour than letting Etta James wail and croon her take on the blues and R&B numbers she appropriates on "Life, Loves, & the Blues." Still, one has to concede that her takes are not really all blues or all R&B but a hybrid propelled by lots of bluesy sounding guitar riffs and plenty of horns to fill out the songs. Her band and guests musicians cook up a thick gumbo that bubble along mostly in the background.

Solid throughout but never quite spectacular, this session is largely driven by formula, for neither Ms. James nor her band take many chances with the arrangements and delivery no such chestnuts as Spoonful. A few tracks, such as the overly long reworking of Marvin Gaye's Inner City Blues and Hoochie Coochie Gal, overstay their welcome.

On the other hand, Ms. James and her band sound vital and fresh on the title track, the one original number. And it's impossible not to tap along with the infectious energy of If You Want Me to Stay. Even if this recording does not win Ms. James many new fans, it should satisfy her core fans and make a few converts.

Of every 10 blues CD's in buy, I usually hate 9 and like the tenth, simply due to the diversity of the music and artists. This Etta James album is a work of art and only came my way, due to a chance listening at a friends drunken party. Thankyou to that friend for playing it that night and to Etta for a truly magnificent album, where EVERY single track is listenable and 5 are truly awesome. Put this one in your shopping cart ahead of all others...... it is simply one of the very very best.

5 STARS IS NOT ENOUGH!! There is no greater blues recording by a female artist than this! I have played it over & over again and still, a year later, I listen to it every day. It is in my car, my wife has it it her car. I have it in both of my CD jukeboxs in my home stereo systems (bedroom and main room). Everyone who hears it wants to have it. I have an extensive Blues & Jazz collection and have been an avid blues fan since the early 60's. I recommend that you don't even think about buying another blues recording until you own this. People who don't enjoy or listen to the blues always ask what it is that I am playing. If I stop at a traffic light, pull into a parking lot or just drive down the road I constantly have to answer the same question. WHO IS THAT??? I turned a friend of mine onto this recording. She works nights in a convienience store and plays it continuously. She told me that the customers rave about the music. They stop in their tracks frequently and hang out listening until a song or the CD ends. This is the BEST. This is Etta James at her best. The recording is "Life, Love & The Blues". Simply stated, if you have LIFE and are still breathing, whether or not you know LOVE or the BLUES, you will be deeply moved by this recording.

Etta James is fantastic. She has made a great contempory Blues album while still retaining an authentic rootsy sound. Only someone with the experience and chops of the very talented lady could pull this off. She is backed by musicians equally talented and experienced on this Cd. Bobby Murray plays a wide variety of styles and always sounds tasteful. Great stuff, keep it up!

This is one of the best Etta CD's I own. As you can see by the other Etta fans here, you really need to check this one out. I had the honor of seeing Etta sing live, and listen to her sing "I Want to Ta Ta You Baby" on this CD brings me right back to that magical moment in time. What a fabulous artist she is!

Fabulous album, highly recommended. It's not really "the blues," but highly enjoyable. Great for your entertaining needs.

"Life, Love & the Blues" is modern classic, which no blues collection should be without. It's a Magnum Opus from a woman who has lived the life she sings about. Etta was there at the birth of rock 'n roll, performing from the age of 15 with Johnny Otis, the Moonglows, Chuck Berry and others too numerous to mention. Her career hasn't stopped since, despite battling heroin adiction, abusive relationships and being cheated out of songwriting royalties for such standards as "Dance With Me, Henry". She has taken the best and the worst the world has offered, survived both, and has stayed true to her music! She does one thing better than anyone else in the world and that's belt out the blues. Take a ride with Etta James and get educated.

This is a Very Solid Disc.Etta James Still SOunds Fantastic.Her Voice is TImeless here.Her Take On The Genius Sly Stone's If You Want Me To Stay is a Must alone.The Music Just Grooves with Her Soulful pipes.Everything Here is Tight.

I was one of the lucky ones to see Etta debut this CD "live" in San Francisco a few months ago. A Breath-taking highlight that she closed her concert with that night remains Breath-taking within this soulful cd: I'll Take Care of You is worth the price of admission -followed by the sensuous I Want to Ta Ta You, Baby, and just about every rockin cut here (not a throwaway in the bunch)...A 1970's record cover title was Nothing Is Betta Than Etta and the 1998 Etta is Betta Than Evah. This incredible cd says it all! Do yourself a favor and get sexy with Etta's Life, Love & the Blues!

kudos to etta james for continuing her life-long relationship with the blues on _life, love & the blues_. an accomplished vocalist who has acheived success in a variety of genres--rock, soul, r&b, country and blues--etta james makes a bold statement with this collection. at a time when she could be resting on her artistic laurels, collecting lifetime acheivement awards and releasing mediocre albums that fans would buy simply because she is etta james, this diva chooses to continue to produce music as fresh and alive as any of the work being recorded (with less skill) by newer talent. that's not to say, however, that james' legend status is not being used. by releasing a blues album at a time when there are fewer active blueswomen than ever, james serves to shed some light on up-and-coming blues talent, such as zakiya hooker. _life, love & the blues_ may or may not be some of etta james' best work (with such a vast legacy of recordings, who's to say?), but it clearly reaffirms her position her as a musician's musician in the vein of those to whom she pays homage in her autobiography. an indominable singer renowned for her fire and energy, james pour every ounce of all her years of hard living into the words of these songs with tremendous results.