Track Listing

1. Introduction
2. Come to Mama
3. I Just Want to Make Love to You / Born to Be Wild
4. I'd Rather Go Blind
5. All the Way Down
6. At Last
7. You Can Leave Your Hat On
8. Something's Got a Hold On Me
9. Your Good Thing is About to End
10. Rock Me Baby
11. Love & Happiness / Take Me to the River / My Funny Valentine
12. Sugar on the Floor

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #47699 in Music
• Released on: 2002-05-07
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Live
• Dimensions: .21 pounds

Amazon.com
Just when it seems that the purr has left Etta James's estimable voice, about halfway through this live concert recorded in 2001 at L.A.'s House of Blues she begins her eternally romantic ballad "At Last," and the years tumble away. James's singing becomes flexible as a tenor saxophone, building to a lovely, serpentine diminuendo, which she caps with an arching phrase that dissipates in a misty exhalation of breath. It's such a beautiful, brilliantly executed performance that it's suddenly clear that for most of this show, the 64-year-old diva played dirty on purpose. So her signatures, "Tell Mama" and "I'd Rather Go Blind" (really, just about everything), are raw and earthy, moan-and-groan R&B milked for every smile and tear. Raunchy, too, since James deploys plenty of her bawdy stage patter and picks numbers like the striptease fantasy "You Can Leave Your Hat On" and the even more obvious "I Just Want to Make Love to You." Her impetuous nature leads her into unpredictable improvisations, like the weird bird calls she warbles during the intro to the ghetto-rocker "All the Way Down," with it's wah-wah guitar and "Theme from Shaft" vibe. And her Roots Band are perfect accompanists. James's sons Donto and Sametto are the rhythm section, and the five horns and two guitarists play with the loose precision of the classic Stax or Muscle Shoals studio crews. Since James has made few live albums, she might have included more of her own gems in this set. But James has the command to transform numbers like Kiki Dee's "Sugar on the Floor" into soulful diamonds. --Ted Drozdowski

Customer Reviews

Burnin Down the House Smokes!!
I have several Etta James titles and this one definitely kicks some serious .... Etta shows no fear whilst tackling a couple monumental rockers, (e.g. Take Me to the River, and Born to be Wild), and once again demonstrates her remarkable versatility. For the younsters in the crowd who were not around at the time of the Talking Heads release of Burning Down the House, let me assure you it definitley made the scene in a big way. Etta's rendition of Take Me to the River is energetic and inspired. Truthfully speaking, I would have a difficult time choosing between Etta and David Byrne. This CD is recorded live in 5.1 surround (if i recall correctly). The sonics and mixing are quite good and I routinely find my mid-fi 2 channel stereo system cranking out 60-70 watts per channel by the end of this cd. Talk about imaging! Next best thing to being there. Anyhow, I rarely post reviews at Amazon.com, so you won't find my name in a top xxxx list. I do know something about the blues, however, and felt obligated to comment upon this cd, as I was totally blown away to see the negative reviews of this recording. Burnin Down the House is a live set that more than lives up to it's title. Buy it!!

Etta James STILL rocks the house.
In 1963 Etta James recorded a superb live set entitled "ETTA JAMES ROCKS THE HOUSE". In 2002, thirty nine years later, this Lady can still rocks and even set the house on fire with "BURNIN'DOWN THE HOUSE". Etta outdid herself this time, she sounds powerful and confident, with almost fifty years in the music business, her expertise is evident. The musicians in the ROOTS BAND are terrific and give her a phenomenal back up. In such a long career, the songs associated with Etta James are so many, that makes this selection a very eclectic album. On track eleven, instead of "My funny Valentine", I would like to hear "Here I am (come and take me)" and it would be a totally Al Green's medley of the Al's songs recorded by Etta. Listen carefully this new live version of "At last", and you fall in love again with Etta's voice. The art of the album is quite good, but I wonder why there's only one shot of Etta, for a hardcore fan like me, it would be nicer to see more pictures of her performing on stage. To have Etta James' latest album, it's a must for every fan.

Tasty Set!
Some of the other reviews attack this on the basis that it is not as soulful as the 60's and 70's sets that we all know and love. Sure this is not 1962, but the band is on and it is a powerful well produced saucy set. The fact that she can put it out this strong after all of these years is a testament to her artistry. It is a nice blues rock sound and it never dissapointed anyone that has heard it with me. I understand the argument for purity but in this world everything evolves and this one gets a well deserved spot on my shelf next to the classics.