Above: Etta James in 2006. File photo.
Etta James isn't half the woman she used to be. Gasps of shock cascaded through the VooDoo Lounge Thursday night when the tough soul singer took the stage. Once a plus-size woman, the 69-year-old is now razor-thin.
Thankfully, the recent gastric bypass surgery that altered James' figure left her voice largely intact. Her ear-splitting roars and intimate whispers still come loaded with James' trademark soulfulness.
The upper end of James' range may be diminished, but technical considerations are almost immaterial when one of soul music's greatest singers offers a raw and often brilliant performance like the one witnessed by a sold-out audience of 750.
During her first song, 1973's gritty "All the Way Down," James featured Mick Jagger's strut, Otis Redding's stutter and Aretha Franklin's divine wailing. All three of those stars likely learned their signature traits directly from James' brazen showmanship and long string of hit records, which began in 1955 with "The Wallflower (Dance With Me Henry)." Even with a life story that makes Keith Richards' antics seem like child's play, James has outlasted almost all of her fellow soul, blues and rock icons. Her biography is titled "Rage To Survive" for a reason.
With the exception of the Jimmy Reed shuffle that served as an encore, the fine eight-piece band stuck to a deep soul groove all night. The horn section sounded particularly sharp thanks to the VooDoo's outstanding acoustics.
"I'm in the mood to do a bunch of dirty songs," James confessed.
She wasn't kidding. Her 70-minute performance may have shocked those familiar only with James' popular wedding warhorse "At Last." She infused Randy Newman's "You Can Leave Your Hat On" with a graphic routine not even the cynical songwriter could have imagined. Similarly, Al Green's "Love and Happiness" was transformed into a lusty demand for immediate sexual gratification. James' suggestive leering and simulation of various sex acts accompanied most songs.
The only straight offering was an impassioned rendition of "Sugar On the Floor," which included a haunting litany of soul-baring confessions.
"I wasn't feeling good for a while," James admitted. "Now I feel better than I did before I got sick."
It would be easy to decry the brevity of James' nine-song set list and its lack of so many of her seminal songs. But seeing the revitalized heroine having so much fun was a spectacular treat. Even if there is less of her to love.
| Bill Brownlee, Special to The Star
SET LIST
All the Way Down; Blind Girl; I Want To Ta-Ta You, Baby; You Can Leave Your Hat On; At Last; Piece of My Heart; Love and Happiness; Sugar On the Floor; Baby What You Want Me To Do.
Just saw Etta at the House of Blues in Houston, Sat. April 25, 2009. Just about the same set list. I'll never understand why an artist with such a wonderful catalog of music decides to play a cover of "Piece of my heart." And worse, let the audience sing each chorus to give her a break. Her voice is so diminished that she does more "talk" singing, than actual long phrases of vocal lines. There were no "ear-splitting roars." Even though she doesn't have the higher register any longer, to compare her Aretha Franklin is simply untrue. Aretha can still sing. She also uses humor as more of crutch than anything else. Of course, most people would applaud/laugh at the nastiness, but it gets old after a while. This was my third time seeing her and probably my last. Saw her do a great show in Chicago about 5 years back and a pretty good one in Houston about two years ago. The show is based more on her personality than her voice. I'll keep that in mind if I decide to see her again and others should also if seeing her for the first time.
Posted by: Zyrtez | April 27, 2009 at 08:39 PM