In 1961, I was 6 and remember being drawn to a new song with piano triplets on my transistor radio. This was Etta James, and she unhinged me with her first two climbing notes, “At laaaaaaaaaaaast.”
Those two notes were my invitation to the blues. Instantly, I was in love with that blue sound, and this powerful woman. Certainly those mysterious notes were seeds planted for a songwriting future. Surely to reduce her incredible career to two notes is a travesty, but has there ever been two words in music history that said so much? Thank you, Etta
Chris LeRoy