Etta James - All The Way (2005)

Tracklist

01. All the Way
02. Stop On By
03. Strung Out
04. Somewhere
05. Holding Back the Years
06. Imagine
07. I Believe I Can Fly
08. It's a Man's Man's Man's World
09. Purple Rain
10. What's Going On
11. Calling You


With a range of material that would render most singers helpless, on All The Way, the truly legendary three-time Grammy winner Etta James shows that when it comes to music that speaks to the soul, she is virtually peerless. After all who could tackle Leonard Bernsyein's classic 'Somewher', Prince's 'Purple Rain' and John Lennon's Imagine' in the space of one record.

Occasionally the force of James's distinctive, compelling voice overpowers the syrupy backing, but, for the most part, the plain-vanilla arrangements diminish and even enervate her typically spicy vocals. Unlike the classic "At Last," on which James pushed the romantic song into overdrive, she remains in neutral for the majority of these tracks. There's no interplay with the band, and she makes a few missteps, such as the lackluster version of West Side Story's "Somewhere" (that goes nowhere). Those seeking low-key yet accomplished background music versions of James Brown's "It's a Man's, Man's, Man's World" and Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" will find this just what the elevator operator ordered. The rest of James's fans may feel the woman who could once sing the phone book and make it sound riveting has dialed a wrong number.

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