Etta James - Tell Mama: The Complete Muscle Shoals Sessions

Tell Mama: The Complete Muscle Shoals Sessions

Not my favorite piece, but Etta always pleases. November 10, 2006

Lord Have Mercy

Tell me mamma... I love this CD. I think it should come with a warning label. "Caution: You will wake up the neighbors". Buy it. I can't play it quiet... I can't not sing along with it... I can't stop dancing when it is on. March 16, 2006

4 1/2 stars. A wonderful, varied soul record

More soul than blues, Etta James' "Tell Mama" originally came out in 1968 as a twelve-track LP. And here it is in its remastered 2001 incarnation, bolstered by no fewer than ten bonus tracks which earns the reissue the subtitle "The Complete Muscle Shoals Sessions".
The sound is terrific, clear and realistic, as is the production by Rick Hall. And those who feel that Etta James' Chess recordings featured too many violins and not enough power need to pick up "Tell Mama" right away!

The original album was top-notch in its own right, featuring the all-time classic soul ballad "I'd Rather Go Blind", excellent covers of Ed Townsend's "I'm Gonna Take What He's Got", Otis Redding's "Security" and Jimmy Hughes' "Don't Lose Your Good Thing", and a couple of driving up-tempo numbers, most notably Don Covay's "Watch Dog" and the magnificent title track.
Etta James never sounded better than during these four 1967-1968 sessions, and the various musicians never set a foot (or a finger) wrong.

There really isn't a single weak track among the twelve songs originally issued. Even practically unknown songs like the swaggering soul stomper "My Mother In Law" and the slow "It Hurts Me So Much", which have never been covered by anyone and don't appear on any of Etta James' compilation albums, are highly enjoyable, and Etta's rendition of "Just A Little Bit" (AKA "I Just Want A Little Bit") is a supremely funky slice of soul-blues.

And the bonus tracks aren't rejects by any means. They include "Almost Persuaded", "Misty", the rocking "You Took It", a very good interpretation of Sonny Bono's "I Got You Babe", and two soulful takes on "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man", a song which has been interpreted by everybody from Aretha Franklin to the Flying Burrito Brothers.
I'm no big Etta James fan, actually, but this album is something special. I completely fell for it the first time I put it on, and to me "Tell Mama" is the best record Etta James has ever made, one of the finest, most cohesive soul and R&B records of the late 60s.
You really ought to give it a listen. June 11, 2005

What a re-issue should be!

In addition to the 12 re-mastered original tracks, there are 10 more (including 2 versions of "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man"). There are some good songs here that are not included on either "Her Best" or "The Chess Box", including "Watch Dog", "My Mother In Law", "It Hurts Me So Much", "I've Gone Too Far", and her funked-out Soulful rendition of "I Got You Babe". This is a must-have for Etta fans.
February 23, 2005

Blistering, bluesy R&B

The ever-vivacious Etta James is one of R&B's true greats, an artist whose work will always stand the test of time and this album, originally released in 1968, is one of her best-known and most powerful. More dynamic than expressive, James was a gal who clearly knew how to rock, capable of the same sort of expansiveness as Jimmy Rushing or even jump blues shouters such as Wynonie Harris, but also with a touch of the sleekness seen in Dinah Washington and Ella Fitzgerald. The "Tell Mama" album is a flawless, timeless crowd pleaser, packed with upbeat, compact material, a tailormade showcase for James' mousy snarl. Backed by the best of the Muscle Shoals crew, this is music that can't easily be faulted; with ten bonus tracks added on for good measure, this CD edition is pretty hard to resist. January 14, 2003

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