BRIAN RAY NEWSLETTER : ETTA JAMES

Dear friends, I wanted to share with you my personal thoughts on the great Etta James on this fine warm Sunday in Southern California, the day after her service here in Gardena. It's hard to improve on the moving eulogy given by Reverend Al Sharpton or the music of Stevie and Christina yesterday so I won't attempt that.  It's easy to learn about people through Wikipedia but there are so many things you won't find in there. We have lost someone irreplaceable.. someone who was a one in a million artist, performer, mother, grandmother, daughter and friend to so many. I heard her guitarist, Bobby Murray, say that Etta believed in him when he didn't believe in himself. It occurred to me that she had a way of doing that through her whole life - collecting and building character in others the way a college does. Etta was my college, music was our religion. There is no way to relay the depth of love and closeness we experienced together during her most difficult and ultimately most triumphant years, rebuilding a life in shambles following her treatment for heroin addiction. As many of you know, I first met Etta at age 19 and Etta was a tender 36 years old when I began playing with her. She believed in me before I knew there was a 'me' to believe in. She went all in, hiring me as her trusted musical director and guitarist when she couldn't afford to carry her own band with her. We traveled around California, often by car with me in the back seat, her 4 year old son, Donto at my side. We would pull into a club at 3 or 4 pm, I would meet the club owner and rehearse the local band he had assembled for Etta at soundcheck. We would then break for dinner, play 2 hot shows, and do it again in the next State or city. I grew up fast because she trusted me. With me, she had a loyal friend who would never tell her , "no" or "I can't". Yes, everybody worshipped at the Church of Etta, young and old, famous and nearly famous. All the greats wanted to be near her, to share a stage with her and to warm themselves near her fire. Because of that fact, I was playing with my idols as a kid on her stage. Because of her I learned to be trustworthy, loyal and professional. She showed me the ropes and in return I paid my dues with her. She shared her spotlight and her fire as I watched, played and learned. From Santa Barbara to San Francisco, from Boulder to Montreux, to touring with the Stones. There aren't enough words to relay the gratitude I feel for having known Etta. She is gone now, but her music and memories of us together burn bright as ever. I love you Etta, rest in peace. Love, Brian Here are some links for those of you who would like to hear and/or see Etta James (with a toe-headed me in tow) back in the day: "Live From San Francisco": Recorded at the Boarding house in 1981, released initially in 1994, (and co-produced by yours truly). This was recording during a hot run of club dates, not long after opening for the Rolling Stones on "Some Girls/Emotional Rescue" tours. Etta was on FIRE and the band was tight, lean and mean. An essential Etta James album. http://www.amazon.com/Live-San-Francisco-Etta-James/dp/B0000000LS http://www.rhapsody.com/album/Alb.128805 Video: 1982 w/ Etta James. Leading the Hollywood Rock and Roll Revue through 9 minutes of transcendent music w the Empress of R&B. This was special because the band were great friends of mine outside of Etta's music world and I got to share her with them that night. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZ0zdF0bRPM At Monterey Festival in '75..Starts w Bobby Blue Bland , then Etta at 2:07 http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=KfZvJ5mQ9r4 In Germany, for television broadcast in1977, she was 39, I was 22. #1"Misty" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhNitWAwEe8&feature=related #2 "I'd Rather Go Blind" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1adWlI7t8g&feature=related #3 "Something's Got a Hold On Me" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nqOYvkKpbc&feature=related Early clip from around 1961: US TV "Something's Got a Hold On Me" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgiDQZH0Yiw&feature=related