I love the songs everyone loves, At Last, A Sunday Kind of Love, Fool That am I, Trust in Me, All I Could Do is Cry. These songs speak truth to a woman's powerlessness. What I noticed after playing this album over, and over, and over is that she sounds like a horn, a sassy, jazzy blues horn. When she goes wanh, wanh, wanh, in Jimmy Reed's, Baby, What you Want Me to Do, she is the perfect vocal instrument. Anyone who wants to meet Etta, must have this cd. I have the two cd box set and other "essential" cds, but this is simply THE BEST!

45 of 45 found the following review helpful:


Best Single Disc Compilation Of Etta's Music  Sep 09, 2004 By "The Woj"
For someone on a budget who is interested in the music of this legendary artist, look no further than this single disc album. The sound and track selection here are excellent. Anyone interested in the blues needs to have at least one Etta James album in their collection and you can't go wrong here. For those of you have a few extra dollars around, I strongly suggest 2 disc set "The Essential Etta James" on the MCA/Chess label. "The Essential" boasts 44 tracks an is more comprehensive than this release, but also twice the price.

29 of 29 found the following review helpful:


Etta James Singin' Away  Jun 10, 2000 By Matthew Calcara "writer"
Though I'm an admitted jazz-and-blues fan, it doesn't take a hard-core fan to appreciate the beauty and richnesss of Etta James. "At Last" remains her most well-known song for good reason: it's an eloquent, evocative, soulful masterpiece. Her voice is absolutely entrancing here and on the admittedly saccharine "A Sunday Kind of Love". Etta's voice ranges from bluesy sass in "Next Door to the Blues" to gospel power in "Something's Got a Hold on Me" to the smooth and smoldering notes of "Don't Cry Baby".

But while her voice is easy to like, this is a blues album. It's great for those who like the blues but aren't hard-core fans of the genre. The album is easy to listen to and has several recognizable songs. But fans of James won't be disappointed either. With 20 songs of pure Etta, even they should get their fill. For those who aren't well-acquainted with her, Etta's voice is a rough mixture of Aretha Franklin and Janis Joplin. And when she's wailing the blues, you can feel her raw strength and conviction. This album really is Etta at her best.

15 of 15 found the following review helpful:


Etta at Her Best; Disappointing Fade-Out Cuts.  Oct 16, 1999 By Stan Wasilik
This re-master of some of Ms. James' best works is a memorable, must-have for any fan. Her soaring vocals and intricate, symphonic arrangements produce an angelic combination. WARNING: The decision to shorten many cuts on this CD by prematurely fading out of song selections, however, is a travesty akin to "editing" a great work of fiction -- and greatly diminishes the listener's enjoyment. For shame!

12 of 12 found the following review helpful:


Essential to any R&B, pop or rock collection!  Sep 06, 2002 By Dan Cutrer
There's a wonderful story of "All I Could Do Was Cry" from an ancient book on musicians of the 50's and early 60's: paraphrasing Ms. Etta "That old Leonard Chess didn't know nothing about music. He'd see me patting my foot to a tune and holler 'That's it. That's the hit.' Sometimes I'd pat my foot to a piece of junk just to mess with him. He never caught on."

The story I won a bet with was how Leonard used to get into the audio booth at the Chess studio WITH Etta (tight squeeze, no doubt), would pinch, poke, tickle her at places in the song where he thought she ought to "squall." (If you don't know what "squall" is ...) With that background, "All I Could Do" makes much more musical sense. When Etta sings "and now, the wedding is over, rice ... RICE has been tossed over their heads ..." You can bet the farm that Leonard has just goosed Etta. "I'd come out of a session black and blue from all the hitting and pinching he'd done on me."

If you are a fan of Etta, you should also meet Big Maybelle, for my two cents the greatest female singer ever! Give some of her "torch songs" a listen, I've always thought of Etta as a latter-day Big Maybelle.

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