Matriarch of the Blues
The mark of great singers is their ability to turn a trifling song into an emotional masterwork. R&B; legend Etta James has done it live for nearly 20 years withKiki Dee's "Sugar on the Floor" and a few others. But what's really sublime is hearing James sink her teeth into numbers that stand up to her own greatest work--"At Last" and the other Chess hits that built her reputation. James ignites such sparks all over this new disc of mostly well-chosen covers, wrapping her deep, supple, and saucy pipes aroundOtis Redding's "Try a Little Tenderness" and "Hawg for You"; replacingMick Jagger's flippancy with real heart on theRolling Stones' "Miss You"; putting the gospel fire intoBob Dylan's "You Got to Serve Somebody"; and digging down 'n' dirty intoO.V. Wright's "Don't Let My Baby Ride." The straight-ahead arrangements and undistinguished playing leave James to carry the album herself, but at 62, she's still a fireball and more than up to the task.--Ted Drozdowski