Complete As & Bs 1955-62 (CD) – Etta James

Etta James is widely regarded as one of the finest female blues, R&B and soul singers of the modern era, second only in some eyes to Aretha Franklin – Atlantic’s Jerry Wexler called her “the greatest of all modern blues singers”. After a chequered early life, she was discovered in Los Angeles singing with a vocal group at the age of 16 by Johnny Otis, who signed her to Modern, and she scored an R&B No. 1 in 1955 with her debut recording “The Wallflower (Roll With Me Henry)”, a re-working of Hank Ballard’s “Work With Me, Annie”, following it up with another Top 10 R&B hit “Good Rockin’ Daddy”. After recording briefly for Modern subsidiary Kent, she signed to the Chess label, and began recording material that combined the intensity of R&B with the accessibility of pop and the Polish of jazz, switching to the Chess sister label Argo in 1960, and hitting the pop and R&B charts with more than fifteen records between 1960 and ’62, including Top 5 successes like “All I Could Do Was Cry”, “My Dearest Darling”, “At Last”, “Trust In Me” and “Something’s Got A Hold On Me”, before aspects of her life began to unravel in subsequent years. This great-value 52-track 2-CD set comprises all her A & B sides during those first important years of her career, plus a bonus album version of “Dance With Me Henry”, so it’s a comprehensive overview of her early work.

Track List

1. The Wallflower (Roll with Me Henry) – Etta James ; the Peaches
2. Hold Me Squeeze Me – Etta James ; the Peaches
3. Hey Henry
4. Be Mine
5. Good Rockin Daddy
6. Crazy Feeling
7. W-O-M-A-N
8. That’s All
9. Number One
10. I’m a Fool
11. Tears of Joy
12. Shortin’ Bread Rock
13. Tough Lover
14. Fools We Mortals Be
15. Good Lookin’
16. Then I’ll Care
17. Market Place
18. The Pick-Up
19. By the Light of the Silvery Moon
20. Come What May
21. Sunshine of Love
22. Baby Baby Every Night
23. I Hope You’re Satisfied – Betty ; Dupree
24. If It Ain’t One Thing – Betty ; Dupree
25. How Big a Fool
26. If I Can’t Have You – Etta James ; Harvey Fuqua
27. My Heart Cries – Etta James ; Harvey Fuqua
28. Spoonful – Etta James ; Harvey Fuqua
29. It’s a Crying Shame – Etta James ; Harvey Fuqua
30. All I Could Do Was Cry
31. Boy of My Dreams
32. My Dearest Darling
33. Tough Mary
34. At Last
35. I Just Want to Make Love to You
36. Trust in Me
37. Anything to Say You’re Mine
38. Fool That I Am
39. Dream
40. Don’t Cry Baby
41. Sunday Kind of Love
42. It’s Too Soon to Know
43. Seven Day Fool
44. Something’s Got a Hold on Me
45. Waiting for Charlie to Come Home
46. Stop the Wedding
47. Street of Tears
48. Next Door to the Blues
49. Fools Rush in
50. How Do You Speak to An Angel
51. Would It Make Any Difference to You
52. Dance with Me Henry