Etta JamesWho’s Blue? Rare Chess Recordings of the 60s and 70s Review

In recent years, Etta James has finally gained the respect she has so richly deserved. Previously in the shadow of other performers, James, through a variety of compilations and use of her music in adverts, has been appropriately reassessed and placed among the very greatest R&B singers.

Who’s Blue? is a look into the Los Angeles-born vocalist’s deeper catalogue, and provides a scintillating dip into the funk, blues, soul and doo-wop from her high-period Chess era. And these really are the rarities. Lesser artists would have donated their eye teeth for songs as powerful as this. James’ mastery of her material, whether on earlier R&B shuffles or later, funkier workouts, is never less than sublime.

Her strident and full-on take of Willie Dixon's Fire is one of the best here: it is a self-assured, monstrous groove. Cut with producer Rick Hall at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, it somehow failed to ignite when released in 1968. You're the Fool, from 1971's Losers Weepers album, is a big production and demonstrates her sensual vocal prowess. If there were a blind Pepsi Challenge between Aretha and Etta, James would here give The Queen of Soul a clear run for her money.

The most recent track on the collection, I've Been a Fool, dates from 1976. It owes something to Ike and Tina Turner's lurching, dirty, rock-infused later work. Working with Mike Terry, James was not going to sell her soul to the devil disco; here was a straight-ahead blues wail. However, the collection’s real diamond is Can't Shake It from 1964. This northern soul strut is bright, breezy and relentlessly upbeat. Why this was never even released at all is an absolute puzzle.

Listen to the 24 tracks of Who’s Blue? alongside James’ many volumes of hits and enjoy a deeper voyage into her splendid oeuvre. It is the sort of release that Ace do so well – finely annotated and also offering an alternative running order in the booklet should a listener wish to listen to the tracks chronologically. It’s exemplary, a gift that yields its joys readily and abundantly, and should be put in any aspiring soul singer's kit bag. And singer or not, it'll certainly brighten up your life.