With the passing of Etta James on Friday, we lost one of the greats, a performer who crossed genres with ease while never sounding the least bit compromising of her own essential authenticity.
That's what I think of first when I think of Etta James: her authenticity, her "realness."
Since I began focusing my work on oral history and documentary film, my appreciation for the quality of "realness" in our popular culture has only grown. Let's be honest; we're a society that's being advertised to, spun to, lied to and otherwise punk'd within an inch of our lives. In an ever more artificial and virtual world, our hunger for authenticity only grows.
Take the growing obsession with reality TV, for example. This isn't just an expression of our latent voyeurism; it's a response to our human need to come into contact with that which reveals our own inner lives, our truths. Never mind that reality TV often does exactly the opposite. You have to hand it to Hollywood for at least acknowledging the popular hunger for "realness" – even if they're too often serving it up in it's most reductive form.
I don't know if Etta James set out to satisfy any such hunger. More likely she was simply living. James was that rare artist that never departed from her essential truths but instead knew instinctively how to mine them for gold. In giving her pain, longing, lust and sentiment honest expression with each performance, she made the personal universal. It's that skill – and authenticity – that will make her voice one for the ages.
Long live the voice of Etta James. Long live Her Realness.
Here's an excerpt from my True Stories Project film Inlaws & Outlaws, a cover of James' signature song "At Last" by the very talented Felicia Loud. Enjoy.
"At Last" performed by Felicia Loud. From Inlaws & Outlaws, a True Stories Project film. Written by Mack Gordon and Harry Warren. Published by EMI Feist Catalog, Inc. Produced by Eric Lane Barnes & Drew Emery. Used by permission.
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Comments
Ms. James will surely be missed.
Just Thinking: yeah, just another way she was keeping it real. One can do a cover while giving great credit to the original.
I gather she got rather testy towards the end of her life about other singers (as Bo Diddley said to Jerome Green, his maracas man) "doin her material."
and it would not come up. Well done from friend.
HUGGGGGGGGG
Linda: Thank you. And thank you for pointing out the link issue! It's fixed now (you may need to refresh). Cheers!
Great tribute and well deserved.
The Beyoncé kerfuffle is somewhat understandable; if nothing else, her displeasure at being portrayed by Beyoncé in Cadillac Records is further evidence of her desire to keep it real. That would be like having my life story played out by Brad Pitt. I'm sure many would take it as a compliment but it's easy to see that Hollywood feels the need to gussy up reality with something a bit more marketable.
Although "At Last" had been recorded by many during the 19 years before James made it her standard, I can imagine it didn't feel good to have some hot, young thing singing it for the first African-American president at his inaugural – rather than the woman who earned many scars just struggling to survive to that day. Yet she'll triumph in the end; is anyone ever going to put another's rendition of "At Last" ahead of the great Etta James? I think not.
C Berg -- Thanks for the kind words. We're on the verge of our 500th community screening of the film. It's been such a long haul but amazing progress has been made. For my money, the secret weapon all along has been telling our stories. Cheers.