ETTA JAMES - ALL THE WAY DOWN

ALL THE WAY DOWN

ETTA JAMES

SONGWRITERS: TREVOR ANTHONY LAWRENCE; GABRIEL MELKER & CATHERINE C. WILLIAMSON

COUNTRY: U. S. A.

ALBUM: HER BEST – THE CHESS 50^TH ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION

LABEL: RCA VICTOR

GENRE: BLUES

YEAR: 1997

 

               Jamesetta Hawkins (January 25, 1938 – January 20, 2012), known professionally as Etta James, 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.

             All the Way is the twenty-eighth studio album recorded by American R&B singer Etta James. Two years after she released Blues to the Bone, James went to the recording studio in 2005 with a set of songs that share little association with her career.

Out on the street

The summer heat

Boys playing games

Changing their names

Pulling tricks

Getting their kicks

All the way down

Let it ride

 

Meetin the stars

In funky bars

Shiny new cars

And back door lies

Trying to hike

Or any other type of ride

All the way down

Let it ride

 

Trying everythank now

Gotta check it out

Trying everythang now

Gotta check it out

Hey girl!

You want a blow?

Why not?

I got nowhere to go.

 

Benny the Albino

Says don't be a whino

Try these here flakes

They got what it takes

To make you a star

All the way down

And change who you are

Let it ride

 

Tell me were you satisfied?

Did you mix it?

Did you like it?

Oooh! Tell me was it good to you.

I wanna know did you make enough money?

Did you make enough money to do down in style?

Or did you find yourself just dying, dying, dying

After a while?

 

Got to get off!

Got to get off!

I got to go, got to, got to, got to get off!

Please help me, help me!

To git off now, now!

Before I freeze, and before I can come up off my knees

And lose my key to freedom.

And I go, All the way down, All the way down.