Etta James - Tramps, New York City, 11-3-1993

There are a bunch of Etta James live albums, but the vast majority of them are only the length of a single vinyl album, roughly 45 minutes. Here's a great sounding bootleg of a full show that would make up a double album instead.

One live album of hers that I highly recommend is called "Rocks the House." It's only 32 minutes long, but it dates to 1963. I've also posted a couple of her concerts from the mid-1970s. Other than that, nearly all of her live material, official or bootleg, come from the 1980s or after. This one is from 1993. She was still in full command of her musical powers, and had a minor career revival around this time with some solid studio albums. (She died in 2012.)

That revival began in 1992 with the release of the critically acclaimed studio album "The Right Time." But only one song here is from that, "Love and Happiness," and that's a cover of an Al Green soul classic. Instead, most of the songs are favorites that she did on many tours, such as "At Last" and "I Would Rather Go Blind."

This is a soundboard bootleg, and sounds as good as any of her official live albums. I did boost the volume of her comments between songs, although there weren't many of those. The one problem was that many of the songs had the applause at the end cut off after only a second or two. I did my best to fix that by patching in applause from the few songs that had a full amount of cheering. But I had to reuse the same applause multiple times, so you might notice some of the same "woo-hoo" noises and such.

By the way, the last song is actually from the previous night's concert. It was at the same venue, and also a soundboard with the same quality. The set list was basically identical with the exception of one song. So that's why I only added that one. 

This concert is an hour and 19 minutes long.

01 Feel like Breaking Up Somebody's Home (Etta James)
02 talk (Etta James)
03 I Would Rather Go Blind (Etta James)
04 Come to Mama (Etta James)
05 talk (Etta James)
06 A Lover Is Forever (Etta James)
07 talk (Etta James)
08 Your Good Thing [Is About to End] (Etta James)
09 How Strong Is a Woman (Etta James)
10 Sugar on the Floor (Etta James)
11 At Last (Etta James)
12 Baby, What You Want Me to Do - Dust My Broom - Hoochie Coochie Man - My Babe (Etta James)
13 Love and Happiness - Take Me to the River (Etta James)

https://www.upload.ee/files/15379328/EttaJms_1993_TrmpsNewYrkC__11-3-1993_atse.zip.html

The cover photo is from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame concert in January 1993.

Etta James, Dr. John & Allen Toussaint - PBS Soundstage, WTTW Studios, Chicago, IL, 6-29-1982

"PBS Soundstage" was a hour-long concert TV show created by the Chicago PBS TV station WTTW. It ran from 1974 to 1985, then again from 2003 to 2018. It was picked up and shown around the US mainly by PBS, but some other stations too. Whoever picked the artists for this show must have known and loved music, because they made some interesting choices. Occasionally, they had artists join together, such as this show, which has the inspired union of Etta James, Dr. John, and Allen Toussaint.

It you want to know more about them, I've posted individual albums by all three of them. (For Allen Toussaint, he was featured as part of my Covered series.) In short, Etta James was an acclaimed soul and blues singer, while Dr. John and Allen Toussaint were both closely associated with the music of New Orleans.

For this show, the three of them appeared on stage in various combinations, with a band backing them. For the song titles, I've only included those who could be heard singing. But it was often the case that Dr. John or Allen Toussaint were still on stage helping out by playing piano. And on some songs Dr. John played guitar instead, which was unusual for him at this point in his career. I know this because one can watch the video of the whole show on YouTube.

I did a little bit of editing and cutting. For instance, there were some short interview segments crammed in between some of the songs that clearly were filmed at a different place and time. I cut all those out. I'm sure there was more to this concert than what we have here. The makers had to fit it into an hour slot. So, for instance, it seems some of the banter before songs were cut. Even some of the songs were cut, especially the last one, "What I'd Say," which fades out after only a minute. But I figure having some of the concert is better than having none of it.

This album is 52 minutes long.

UPDATE: On March 17, 2025, I updated the mp3 download file. The music is the same. However, I figured out the exact date of the concert, so I changed the title. I also improved the cover art.

01 Groove Me (Etta James, Dr. John & Allen Toussaint)
02 Such a Night (Dr. John)
03 Right Place, Wrong Time (Dr. John)
04 Something's Got a Hold on Me (Etta James)
05 talk (Etta James)
06 Tell Mama (Etta James)
07 talk (Etta James)
08 Sugar on the Floor (Etta James)
09 I'd Rather Go Blind (Etta James & Dr. John)
10 What Do You Want the Girl to Do (Allen Toussaint)
11 With You in Mind (Allen Toussaint)
12 Life (Dr. John & Allen Toussaint)
13 Amazing Grace (Etta James, Dr. John & Allen Toussaint)
14 What'd I Say (Etta James, Dr. John & Allen Toussaint)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/eGXtY8Vk

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/YsnE5MhNKXFQQgQ/file

For the cover, I took a screenshot from the YouTube video. From right to left, that's James singing, Toussaint on piano, and John on guitar. In March 2025, I updated the image with the use of the Krea AI program.

B. B. King and Friends - A Night of Blistering Blues, Ebony Showcase Theater, Los Angeles, CA, 4-15-1987

Hopefully, if you're a fan of the blues, you'll take a look at the list of artists mentioned on the cover art, say, "Wow!" and download this immediately. This concert mainly features B. B. King, who does all the talking, but his special guests are: Paul Butterfield, Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, Dr. John, Etta James, Albert King, Chaka Khan, Gladys Knight, Billy Ocean, and Stevie Ray Vaughan.

Why did all of these big names of soul and blues get together for this concert? I don't know if there was some special occasion or anniversary, but this show was filmed for a TV special shown on Cinemax, alternately called "A Night of Blistering Blues" or "A Blues Night." I've gone with the former name because it's more interesting.

Generally speaking, King did the lion's share of lead vocals. But he shared vocals with Albert King, Etta James, Billy Ocean, Gladys Knight, and Chaka Khan. I believe Phil Collins played drums on all the songs, along with another drummer. Paul Butterfield did all the harmonica playing. Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughan played lead guitar, and on more songs than just the ones they're credited on below. B. B. King and Albert King played lots of lead guitar as well.

This really was a once in a lifetime gathering of musical greats, and they rose to the occasion. I don't know why this has never been officially released as an album. The only flaw is that the last song was a blues jam with all the lead guitarists: B. B. King, Albert King, Eric Clapton, and Stevie Ray Vaughan. But unfortunately, it fades out after only a minute of guitar soloing from B. B. King. If you watch the video of this on YouTube, you'll see the credits are rolling and the recording ends when the show finishes.

This album is 56 minutes long.

01 Why I Sing the Blues (B. B. King, Albert King, Etta James, Billy Ocean, Gladys Knight & Chaka Khan)
02 talk (B. B. King)
03 Please Send Me Someone to Love (B. B. King & Gladys Knight)
04 talk (B. B. King)
05 The Thrill Is Gone (B. B. King with Eric Clapton & Phil Collins)
06 talk (B. B. King)
07 I'd Rather Go Blind (B. B. King, Dr. John & Etta James)
08 talk (B. B. King)
09 When Something Is Wrong with My Baby (B. B. King, Chaka Khan & Billy Ocean)
10 talk (B. B. King)
11 The Sky Is Crying (B. B. King, Paul Butterfield, Albert King & Stevie Ray Vaughan)
12 talk (B. B. King)
13 Something's Got a Hold on Me (B. B. King & Etta James)
14 talk (B. B. King)
15 In the Midnight Hour (B. B. King & Billy Ocean with Paul Butterfield & Stevie Ray Vaughan)
16 talk (B. B. King)
17 Ain't Nobody's Business (B. B. King, Etta James, Chaka Khan & Gladys Knight)
18 talk (B. B. King)
19 Let the Good Times Roll (B. B. King, Albert King & Etta James)
20 Take My Hand, Precious Lord (B. B. King, Etta James, Chaka Khan & Gladys Knight)
21 talk (B. B. King)
22 Blues Jam [Instrumental] (B. B. King)

https://www.upload.ee/files/16687605/BBKNG1987_NghtofBlistrinBlusEbnyShwcseThetr__4-15-1987_atse.zip.html

I haven't seen any good photos from this concert. So I took a screenshot from the YouTube video. The quality is rather low-res, but this is all there is. From right to left, you can see: Stevie Ray Vaughan, B. B. King, Albert King, Eric Clapton, and Etta James.

Etta James - Miss Pitiful - Non-Album Tracks (1968-1969)

I have to admit that I find Etta James' music hit or miss. She's had lots of really great songs, but plenty of duds too. I mostly like her at the box set level. A problem is that her personal like was messed up for much of her career, including pretty much all of the first half. She had lots of problems with drugs and dealings with shady people who brought her down. On top of that, she often got saddled with subpar production and mediocre songs.

Despite all that, there were times when she was firing on all cylinders and consistently came up with excellent performances. One of those times was in 1968 and 1969. James' career had been on the decline, with only a few minor hits in the previous few years. In my opinion, her turnaround in 1968 was inadvertently due to Aretha Franklin. Franklin was hugely talented, but her career had been foundering, due to a record company that misunderstood her and saddled her with the wrong production and songs (similar to James's problems at the time). But in early 1967, she got a new record company and a new producer who tried a new approach. They paired her up with a soulful backing back in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, and basically let her be soulful instead of trying to push a more mainstream sound on her. The result was a bunch of hits that immediately turned Franklin into a big star.

Perhaps not surprisingly, James's record company tried to duplicate Franklin's model for success. They took her to Muscle Shoals and had her work with that exact same group of musicians, who by the way went on to play on tons of other classic records. (They're celebrated as "the Swampers" in the lyrics to Lynyrd Skynrd's song "Sweet Home Alabama.") Exactly like Franklin, James' soulfulness was unleashed. The result was a hit song in 1968, "Tell Mama," and an acclaimed album by the same name. If you don't have that album, I suggest you get it, because it's solid all the way through.

So, finally, we get to this album. It turns out the songs for the "Tell Mama" album weren't the only songs James performed with the Swampers in Alabama. After finishing that album in 1967, she went back there for a number of sessions in 1968 and early 1969. It had the same high level of quality, due to the sympathetic backing and letting her be more soulful. But for whatever reason, these songs weren't put on an album. Instead, her next album, called "Funk" and released in 1969, would come from other sessions recorded elsewhere, and she wouldn't play with the Swampers again.

What I've done is simply gather up all the other songs James played with the Swampers. That makes up 36 minutes of music, which was a typical album length at the time. (The "Tell Mama" album actually is even shorter, only 29 minutes long.) Some of the songs came out as A- and B-sides at the time, and one, "Miss Pitiful" was a minor hit and popular enough to make it on most of her best of collections, so that's why I've titled the album after it. But about half of them remained unreleased until coming out on archival releases decades later.

01 I Got You Babe (Etta James)
02 I Worship the Ground You Walk On (Etta James)
03 Do Right Woman, Do Right Man (Etta James)
04 You Got It (Etta James)
05 Fire (Etta James)
06 Almost Persuaded (Etta James)
07 You Took It (Etta James)
08 I've Gone Too Far (Etta James)
09 Misty (Etta James)
10 Miss Pitiful (Etta James)
11 Slow and Easy (Etta James)
12 Light My Fire (Etta James)
13 The Soul of a Man (Etta James)

https://www.upload.ee/files/15260262/EttaJms_1968-1969_MssPitiful_atse.zip.html

The cover art photo comes from the "Tell Mama" recording sessions at Muscle Shoals in 1967. To make it look more authentic, I added the same "stereo" and record company logos as on the "Tell Mama" album.

Etta James - Montreux Jazz Festival, Casino de Montreux, Montreux, Switerland, 7-11-1975

Months ago, I posted an Etta James concert of her at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1977. Today, I'm posting her appearance at the exact same concert venue in Montreux, but two years earlier, in 1975. The sound quality and performance is excellent. Clearly, it's a soundboard, due to it being recorded for a live radio broadcast. This is a very lucky thing, because it's the earliest worthy concert recording from her that we have, with the notable exception of her officially released 1963 live album "Rocks the House."

Originally, I posted only a portion of the concert (about 45 minutes). But I have since been able to find the whole thing, an hour and 20 minutes. The only change I made was to make her comments between songs into separate tracks.

01 talk (Etta James)
02 Respect Yourself (Etta James)
03 talk (Etta James)
04 Drown in My Own Tears (Etta James)
05 talk (Etta James)
06 W-O-M-A-N - Shake Your Booty (Etta James)
07 talk (Etta James)
08 Dust My Broom (Etta James)
09 talk (Etta James)
10 I'd Rather Go Blind (Etta James)
11 talk (Etta James)
12 All the Way Down (Etta James)
13 talk (Etta James)
14 Baby What Do You Want Me to Do (Etta James)
15 Rock Me Baby (Etta James)
16 talk (Etta James)
17 Call It Stormy Monday (Etta James)
18 Tell Mama (Etta James)

https://www.upload.ee/files/15260303/EttaJms_1975_MontreuxJzzFestival__7-11-1975_atse.zip.html

I'm very happy to say that the cover art photo comes from the exact concert in question. Since this concert is so similar to her 1977 appearance at the same place, I used the same font for this cover. But to make sure the covers wouldn't get confused with each other, I used a very different color for the text.

Etta James - Montreux Jazz Festival, Casino de Montreux, Montreux, Switerland, 7-9-1977

In recent days I've been posting mostly acoustic music, generally from 2020 home concerts. I thought it's time for something a little more lively. Also, it seems I never get to post enough soul music. So here's a bootleg of a great Etta James concert from 1977.

I'm a big Etta James fan. She had a long career that started in the 1950s and ended with her death in 2012. But, in my opinion, her music was most vital in the 1960s and 1970s. She also was an impressive live performer. However, there's very little recorded live music from her 60s and 70s heyday. There's a wonderful live album from 1963 called "Rocks the House." If you don't have it and you like her music, you should get it. But that's it in terms of official releases, even including archival releases. When it comes to bootlegs as well, there's next to no live recordings from that era.

Luckily, there's one notable exception. Starting in 1975, she began playing at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland. She didn't do it every year, but when she did, her set usually got professionally recorded and played on the local radio. This concert dates to 1977, mostly. The last song, a cover of "Take It to the Limit" by the Eagles, is from the 1978 festival, and is the only song from that show that I could find. If the website setlist.fm is correct, this is her entire 1977 performance. Her 1978 appearance largely had the same setlist, with "Take It to the Limit" as an exception, so we're lucky that one song has somehow made it to bootleg when the rest of the concert hasn't.

The sound quality on all of this is fantastic, as good as you'd expect from an official live album. For the original version of this concert that I posted, there were issues with the applause at the end of the songs, plus a lack of banter between songs. But I have since updated it with a better source that fixed those things. So, no worries. ;)

I'm going to end my comments here with a plea for help. As good as this 1977 concert is, I'm even more interested in having and sharing her 1975 appearance at Montreux. I've been able to find five songs from it. A video of four of the songs is on YouTube. But, in fact, she played 11 songs that year, a much longer set than her 1977 one. The entire 1975 concert was released in 2015 on an album simply called "1975," as you can see here:

https://www.discogs.com/Etta-James-Etta-James-1975-Recorded-Live-At-Montreux-Jazz-Festival/release/7805148

But only a 1,000 copies of that were sold, and it quickly went out of print. I can't find it or buy it anywhere. I think that should be made more widely available. So if anyone has it and is willing to share it, please let me know. 

This 1977 concert is 57 minutes long, including the one song from 1978. I suspect the 1975 Montreux show is the one and only excellent concert recording of a full concert (meaning well over an hour) that we're ever likely to be able to hear. It also would be great to have because the 1975 and 1977 set lists are very different, with only two songs played at both shows.

Note that if you're a Randy Newman fan, it's a special treat that she does two Randy Newman songs here, "You Can Leave Your Hat On" and "Sail Away." She knocks them out of the park.

UPDATE: On October 29, 2020, I was contacted by Dave Lowrey. He says he actually played bass during this concert! He shared a slightly better version of the concert. Most of it was exactly the same, including the same sound quality. But it had one song that had been missed, "I'd Rather Go Blind." It also had all the banter between songs, and the proper audience reactions after each song. That added 12 minutes to the length of the album. Furthermore, I was able to fix the location of one of the songs. ("Tell Mama" started the concert instead of ended it.) So thank you very much, Mr. Lowrey!

01 Tell Mama (Etta James)
02 talk (Etta James)
03 I'd Rather Go Blind (Etta James)
04 Groove Me (Etta James)
05 talk (Etta James)
06 At Last - Trust in Me (Etta James)
07 A Sunday Kind of Love (Etta James)
08 talk (Etta James)
09 You Can Leave Your Hat On (Etta James)
10 talk (Etta James)
11 Sail Away (Etta James)
12 Rock Me Baby (Etta James)
13 talk (Etta James)
14 Take It to the Limit (Etta James)

https://www.upload.ee/files/15260283/EttaJms_1977_MontreuxJzzFestival__7-9-1977_atse.zip.html

The photo comes from the actual concert in question, I'm happy to say.