At Last! – ETTA JAMES****

Anything To Say You’re Mine/My Dearest Darling/Trust In Me/Sunday Kind Of Love/Tough Mary/I Just Want To Make Love To You/At Last/All I Could Do Was Cry/Stormy Weather/Boy Of My Dreams

Etta James, known colloquially as Miss Peaches, was a highly regarded but commercially relatively unsuccessful blues and soul singer. Her albums can be inconsistent, but At Last! is considered one of her best. It was also her highest charting. (US:68)

“Every song here comes from the heart and soul. Her nuances and phrasing are unique and brilliant. She is a mighty force. I listen over and over and never get tired of this greatness.”

“This album has nothing but exquisite songs all performed by Etta. We get fine numbers like Anything To Say You're Mine; her excellent diction and sophisticated sense of timing and phrasing all combine to make this and other numbers here absolutely timeless.”

“Considering the familiarity and quality of the songs, this could serve as a 'best of' for anyone looking to get into James. This is one of Chess's finest gems. There are songs made famous by James along with some Dixon penned blues standards. Etta's music is sophisticated and jazzy; thus, one does not have to be a blues diehard to enjoy her.”

“At Last! is the crossroads between the vocal jazz prevalent in the 1950s, and the Southern soul that was picking up steam during the album's release period. As such, there is a particular, truly rare quality that makes it an essential slice of Americana: it achieves a flawless, perhaps unprecedented balance between pure class and jaw-dropping rawness.”

“Etta stakes a claim to be one of the best female singers in popular music history with this classic set of 1940s style torch songs. Her vocals are sensational on this harmonically and melodically sophisticated material.”

“Etta James had an extraordinary and powerful voice that touched your soul, and that couldn't be more evident than on her debut 60s album, which is fantastic from both a musical and spiritual standpoint. Definitely one of the best albums of its kind, which is saying a lot considering it crosses into three different genres.”