ETTA JAMES - STORMY WEATHER

STORMY WEATHER

ETTA JAMES

SONGWRITERS: Mack Gordon & Harry Warren

COUNTRY:

ALBUM: AT LAST

LABEL: ARGO RECORDS

GENRE: BLUE

YEAR: 1961

"At Last" is a song written by Mack Gordon and Harry Warren for the musical film Sun Valley Serenade(1941). Glenn Miller and his orchestra recorded the tune several times, with a 1942 version reaching number two on the US Billboard pop music chart.

In 1960, rhythm and blues singer Etta James recorded an arrangement by Riley Hampton that improvised on Warren's melody. James' version was the title track on her debut álbum At Last!(1960) and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999. Celine Dion and Beyoncé also had chart successes with the song.

Etta James (Born Jamesetta Hawkins; January 25, 1938 – January 20, 2012) was an American singer who performed in various genres, including blues, R&B, soul, rock and roll, jazz and gospel. Starting her career in 1954, she gained fame with hits such as "The Wallflower", "At Last", "Tell Mama", "Something's Got a Hold on Me", and "I'd Rather Go Blind". She faced a number of personal problems, including heroin addiction, severe physical abuse, and incarceration, before making a musical comeback in the late 1980s with the album Seven Year Itch.

James's powerful, deep, earthy voice bridged the gap between rhythm and blues and rock and roll. She won six Grammy Awards and 17 Blues Music Awards. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993, the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999 and the Blues Hall of Fame in 2001. Rolling Stone magazine ranked James number 22 on its list of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time; she was also ranked number 62 on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

James possessed the vocal range of a contralto. Her musical style changed during the course of her career. At the beginning her recording career, in the mid-1950s, James was marketed as an R&B and doo-wop singer. After signing with Chess Records in 1960, James broke through as a traditional pop-styled singer, covering jazz and pop music standards on her debut album, At Last! James's voice deepened and coarsened, moving her musical style in her later years into the genres of soul and jazz.

James was once considered one of the most overlooked blues and R&B musicians in the music history of the United States. It was not until the early 1990s, when she began receiving major industry awards from the Grammys and the Blues Foundation, that she received wide recognition. In recent years, she was seen as bridging the gap between rhythm and blues and rock and roll. James has influenced a wide variety of musicians, including Diana Ross, Christina Aguilera, Janis Joplin, Bonnie Raitt, Shemekia Copeland, and Hayley Williams of Paramore as well as British artists The Rolling Stones, Elkie Brooks, Paloma Faith, Joss Stone, Rita Ora, and Adele, and the Belgian singer Dani Klein.

Her song "Something's Got a Hold on Me" has been recognized in many ways. Brussels music act Vaya Con Dios covered the song on their 1990 album Night Owls. Another version, performed by Christina Aguilera, was in the 2010 film Burlesque. Pretty Lights sampled the song in "Finally Moving", followed by Avicii's dance hit "Levels", and again in FloRida's single "Good Feeling".

Don't know why

There's no sun up in the sky

Stormy weather

Since my man and I ain't together

Keeps raining all of the time

Oh yeah

Life is bare

Gloom and misery everywhere

Stormy weather, stormy weather

And I just can't get my poor self together

Oh I'm weary all of the time

The time, so weary all of the time

When he went away

The blues walked in and met me

Oh yeah if he stays away

Old rocking chair's gonna get me

All I do is pray

The Lord will let me

Walk in the sun once more

Oh I can't go on, can't go on, can't go on

Everything I have is gone

Stormy weather, stormy weather

Since my man and I, me and my daddy ain't together

Keeps raining all of the time

Oh, oh, keeps raining all of the time

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah raining all of the time

Stormy stormy

Stormy weather

Yeah.