Etta James: Tell Mama CD Track Listing

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Etta James Tell Mama (1968)
Originally Released 1968\nCD Edition Released 1988 ?\nRemastered +Expanded Edition Released Apr 24, 2001 \n\nAMG EXPERT REVIEW: Leonard Chess dispatched Etta James to Muscle Shoals in 1967, and the move paid off with one of her best and most soul-searing Cadet albums. Produced by Rick Hall, the resultant album boasted a relentlessly driving title cut, the moving soul ballad "I'd Rather Go Blind," and sizzling covers of Otis Redding's "Security" and Jimmy Hughes' "Don't Lose Your Good Thing," and a pair of fine Don Covay copyrights. The skin-tight session aces at Fame Studios really did themselves proud behind Miss Peaches. -- Bill Dahl\n\nAMG EXPERT REVIEW: (The Complete Muscle Shoals Sessions) As the title suggests, this is the definitive edition of Etta James' Tell Mama long-player. For this single-disc release the original album is augmented with five previously unissued tracks -- documented during James' four Muscle Shoals sessions circa '67-'68. The question of why a rural Alabama town became a conduit for some of the most memorable and instantly identifiable grooves may still be up for debate. The evidence exists in droves and Tell Mama could certainly be considered exhibit A. These sessions feature the same impact that would redirect several first ladies of soul. Notable among them are Dusty Springfield's Dusty in Memphis, Aretha Franklin's I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You) and to somewhat lesser acclaim, Jackie DeShannon's Jackie. Tell Mama showcases some of the unique and admittedly darker qualities of what might best be described as R&B noir. "I'd Rather Go Blind," "Steal Away," "I'm Gonna Take What He's Got" all exemplify the essence of the blues -- making the best of a bad situation. The flipside of the sombre subject matter is the satisfying conviction in the music -- which is where the remastering becomes particularly noticeable. No longer does the brass section sound alternately muffled or harsh as it has on previous releases. Likewise, the churning Hammond B-3 organ swells with rich textures. Perhaps the most sonically evident improvements are the subtle ones, such as the supple fretwork on "Sweet Dreams," "I'd Rather Go Blind," and the jazzy percussive shuffle of "The Same Rope." -- Lindsay Planer \n\nEditoral Review From Grove Press Guide to Blues on CD\nCalifornia singer, then plagued with personal demons, went to record her best 1960s Southern soul outpost Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, was where the work. Accompanied by the same house bluesmen who'd roweled Aretha Franklin just months earlier, James unleashes "Tell Mama" (a Top Forty hit in 1967), "I'd Rather Go Blind" (her magnum opus), and ten pearls of slightly lower luster. Her vocals throughout are paragons of female virility. --

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