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"...At Last My Love Has Come Along..."
Between 1988 and 1991 on MCA/Chess - Howlin' Wolf, Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley and even Bassist and Songwriter Willie Dixon all had their LP-Sized multiple CD Box Sets released in "The Chess Box" series. But because it came late to the reissue dancehall (June 2000 in the USA) – when Etta James finally did get her "Chess Box" set - it turned out to be 3CD Digibook presentation that few seemed to notice at the time or even care about.
Which is a damn shame because Etta's 'Chess Box' is chockers with goodies and boasts stonkingly great Remastered Audio by ERICK LABSON – an Audio Engineer with over 1000 credits to his name including almost all of the famous Chess Records catalogue. I seek out Erick Labson transfers - see my reviews for Buddy Holly, Steppenwolf, The Crusaders, The Mamas & The Papas, Three Dog Night, Neil Diamond, Bo Diddley, Bill Haley & His Comets, Bobby Bland, The Dells, John Lee Hooker, The Who and loads more. This is the very best you have ever heard the 1960 Etta James classic "At Last" in all its romantic swooning passion. Despite its title - "The Chess Box" may only be a book, but it rocks like something bigger. To the pain-drenched details...
US released 27 June 2000 - "The Chess Box" by ETTA JAMES on MCA/Chess Records 088 112 288-2 (Barcode 008811228828) is a 3CD Long Digibook of Remastered 1960 to 1974 Argo and Chess Mono and Stereo Recordings that plays out as follows:
CD1 1960-1962 (75:58 minutes):
1. All I Could Do Was Cry (March 1960, Argo 5359, A-side)
2. My Dearest Darling (August 1960, Argo 5368, A-side)
3. If I Can't Have You (Etta James and Harvey Fuqua, July 1960, Chess 1760, A-side)
4. I Just Want To Make Love To You (December 1960, Argo 5380, B-side of "At Last" – for A-side see Track 9 on CD1)
5. Anything To Say You're Mine (March 1961, Argo 5385, B-side of "Trust In Me" – for the A-side see Track 11 on CD1)
6. In My Diary (from her 2nd album "The Second Time Around" released September 1961 in the USA on Argo Records LP 4011 (Mono) and Argo LPS 4011 (Stereo) - the MONO mix is used)
7. Spoonful (Etta James and Harvey Fuqua, November 1960, Chess 1771, A-side)
8. A Sunday Kind Of Love (July 1961, Argo 5393, B-side of "Don't Cry Baby" – for the A-side see Track 12 on CD1)
9. At Last (December 1960, Argo 5380, A-side – for B-side see Track 4 on CD1)
10. Stormy Weather (from her Debut Album "At Last!" released November 1960 in the USA on Argo Records LP 4003 (Mono) and Argo LPS 4003 (Stereo) – MONO Mix is used)
11. Trust In Me (March 1961, Argo 5385, A-side – for the B-side see Track 5 on CD1)
12. Don't Cry Baby (July 1961, Argo 5393, A-side of– for the B-side see Track 8 on CD1)
13. Fool That I Am (May 1961, Argo 5390, A-side)
14. One For My Baby (And One More For The Road) (from her 2nd album "The Second Time Around" released September 1961 in the USA on Argo Records LP 4011 (Mono) and Argo LPS 4011 (Stereo) - the MONO mix is used)
15. Waiting For Charlie (To Come Home) (January 1962, Argo 5409, B-side of "Something's Got A Hold On Me" – for the A-side see Track 19 on CD1)
16. Don't Get Around Much Anymore (from her 2nd album "The Second Time Around" released September 1961 in the USA on Argo Records LP 4011 (Mono) and Argo LPS 4011 (Stereo) - the MONO mix is used)
17. Next Door To The Blues (September 1962, Argo 5424, A-side)
18. I Don't Want It – PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED (Recorded Dec 1961)
19. Something's Got A Hold On Me (January 1962, Argo 5409, A-side – for the B-side see Track 15 on CD1)
20. Stop The Wedding (July 1962, Argo 5418, A-side)
21. These Foolish Things (Remind Me Of You) (from her 3rd studio album "Etta Sings For Lovers" on Argo LP 4018)
22. You Got Me Where You Want Me – PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED (Recorded June 1962)
23. I Want To Be Loved (But Only By You) (from her 3rd studio album "Etta Sings For Lovers" on Argo LP 4018)
24. Prisoner Of Love (from her 3rd studio album "Etta Sings For Lovers" on Argo LP 4018)
25. Pushover (March 1963, LP 4018)
26. Be Honest With Me (July 1963, Argo 5445, B-side of "Pay Back" – for the A-side see Track 3 on CD2)
NOTES:
Tracks 18 and 22 are PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED
Track 26 is Previously Unreleased on Album
CD2 1962-1969 (76:56 minutes):
1. Would It Make Any Difference (December 1962, Argo 5430, A-side)
2. Look Who's Blue? (March 1964, Argo 5465, B-side of "Loving You More Every Day" – Previously Unreleased on Album – A-side is Track 7 on CD2)
3. Pay Back (July 1963, Argo 5445, A-side – for the B-side see Track 26 on CD1)
4. Two Sides (To Every Penny) (September 1963, Argo 5452, A-side)
5. At Last (Live) – PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED (Recorded September 1963 at The New Era Club in Nashville, Tennessee)
6. Baby What You Want Me To Do (Live) (From the 1963 US LP "Etta Rocks The House" on Argo LP 4032)
7. Lovin' You More Every Day (March 1964, Argo 5465, A-side – the B-side is Track 2 on CD2)
8. I Wish Someone Would Care (from the 1964 US LP "Queen Of Soul" on Argo LP 4040)
9. Bobby Is His Name (November 1964, Argo 5485, B-side of "Mellow Fellow")
10. Only Time Will Tell (January 1966, Argo 5526, A-side)
11. (I Don't Need Nobody To Tell Me) How To Treat My Man – PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED (Recorded 4 August 1965)
12. In The Basement, Part 1 - with SUGAR PIE DeSANTO (July 1966, Cadet 5539, A-side)
13. Lover Man (Oh, Where Can He Be?) (First issued on the 1995 US CD compilation "These Foolish Things: The Classic Balladry Of Etta James" on Chess CHD-9354 – originally recorded September 1965)
14. Do I Make Myself Clear – with SUGAR PIE DeSANTO (December 1965, Cadet 5519, A)
15. I Prefer You (December 1966, Cadet 5552, A-side)
16. It Must Be Your Love (May 1967, Cadet 5564, A-side)
17. 842-3089 (Call My Name) (July 1967, Cadet 5568, A-side)
18. I'd Rather Go Blind (October 1967, Cadet 5578, B-side of "Tell Mama" – see Track 19 on CD2)
19. Tell Mama (October 1967, Cadet 5578, A-side – for B-side see Track 18 on CD2)
20. Do Right Woman, Do Right Man (First issued on the 1993 US 2CD Chess Masters Compilation "The Essential Etta James" on MCA/Chess CHD2-9341 – November 1967 recording)
21. Security (February 1968, Cadet 5594, A-side)
22. I Worship The Ground You Walk On (May 1968, Cadet 5606, B-side of "I Got You Babe" – PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED on Album)
23. You Took It – PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED (recorded 2 August 1968)
24. Almost Persuaded (December 1968, Cadet 5630, A-side)
25. You Got It (September 1968, Cadet 5620, A-side)
26. Light My Fire – PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED (Doors cover version, recorded 29 and 30 April 1969)
NOTES:
Tracks 2 and 22 are PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED on Album
Tracks 5, 11, 23 and 26 are PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED
CD3 1969-1974 (76:16 minutes):
1. Slow And Easy – PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED (Recorded 29 and 30 April 1969)
2. The Soul Of A Man – PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED (Recorded 29 and 30 April 1969)
3. Miss Pitiful (September 1969, Cadet 5655, A-side)
4. Losers Weepers, Part 1 (September 1970, Cadet 5676, A-side – also on the December 1970 US LP "Losers Weepers" on Cadet LPS 847 in Stereo)
5. I Found A Love (March 1972, Chess 2125, A-side)
6. W.O.M.A.N. (May 1972, Chess 2128, A-side)
7. Never My Love – PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED (Recorded March 1973)
8. I Never Meant To Love Him (First issued on the 1993 US 2CD Chess Masters Compilation "The Essential Etta James" on MCA/Chess CHD2-9341 – March 1973 recording)
9. You Lost That Lovin' Feelin' – PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED (Righteous Brothers cover, Barry Mann, Cynthia Well and Phil Spector song, recorded March 1973)
10. Sail Away (from the July 1973 US LP "Etta James" on Chess CH 50042 – Randy Newman cover version)
11. Down So Low (from the July 1973 US LP "Etta James" on Chess CH 50042 – Tracy Nelson cover version)
12. All The Way Down (September 1973, Chess CH 2144, A-side)
13. God's Song (That's Why I Love Mankind) (from the July 1973 US LP "Etta James" on Chess CH 50042 – Randy Newman cover version)
14. Feelin' Uneasy (from the July 1973 US LP "Etta James" on Chess CH 50042 – Also July 1974 US 45-single on Chess CH 2153, B-side of "Out On The Streets, Again" – Track 19 on CD3)
15. St. Louis Blues (from the June 1974 US LP "Come A Little Closer" on Chess CH 60029 – W.C. Handy cover version)
16. Let's Burn Down The Cornfield (from the June 1974 US LP "Come A Little Closer" on Chess CH 60029 – Randy Newman cover version)
17. Gonna Have Some Fun Tonight (from the June 1974 US LP "Come A Little Closer" on Chess CH 60029 – Trevor Lawrence and Gabriel Mekler song)
18. Sookie Sookie (from the June 1974 US LP "Come A Little Closer" on Chess CH 60029 – a Steppenwolf cover version)
19. Out On The Street, Again (from the June 1974 US LP "Come A Little Closer" on Chess CH 60029 – Trevor Lawrence and Gabriel Mekler song)
20. Lovin' Arms (April 1975, Chess CH 2171, A-side)
NOTES:
Tracks 1, 2, 7 and 9 are PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED
The look on the outside of the tall Digibook is almost of Hessian – that famous publicity photo of a young Jamesetta Hawkins centring the text – the whole set compiled and produced by ANDY McKAIE – a trusted name associated with loads of archival Box sets and Anthologies. Inside is a rather lovely and carefully put-together 40-page attached booklet with a History of her career by LEE HILDEBRAND (Pages 3 to 19) with the rest taken up by Track-By-Track info and Discography Details. Etta died January 2012, so she was still alive when the set was compiled and contributed new interviews to Hildebrand that were in turn wrapped around new photos from her own archive and that of Chess. But the big news is ERICK LABSON Transfers and Remasters from Mono and Stereo Tapes which are amazing. The crooner material of the early Sixties did not really suit – so you will (like say Sam Cooke) struggle a tad with material not up to her potential. But make no mistake – it will at least sound beautifully clean and present and it adds so much enjoyment to the music. To the chunes...
Of the overall seventy-two tracks, 10 are Previously Unreleased, 3 Previously Unreleased on Album and 3 from later MCA/Chess CD Compilations - the remainder are Single and LP-sides - many being rare Non-LP B-sides and so on. The overall listen as regards songs is not all great as I said already, but when she the material matched the passionate voice, sparks flew. Tracks on CD1 like "Don't Get Around Much Anymore" are too close to bad cabaret – but then you get tingles from the Bluesy almost female Sinatra vibe to "Fool That I Am" – and in beautifully clear audio. The unreleased "I Don't Want It" on CD1 is OK and you can hear why it was canned – better unreleased is the Brassy Bopper "You Got Me Where You Want Me" – a genuine find – gorgeous Stereo Audio too. The orchestra swirling around "I Want To Be Loved (But Only By You)" is beautifully presented here even if the sentiment is a tad too syrupy for Etta. Better is the punchy Organ-driven Tony Clarke/Billy Davis kitty-kitty-purring bopper "Pushover" (look out Romeo). A Gene Autry/Fred Rose Country shuffler gets the Etta piano R&B treatment from Etta on "Be Honest With Me" – a single side that has never been on an album until this 2000 Anthology.
As you can see from the credits on CD1 - the singles include duets with Harvey Fuqua of The Moonglows and I am fairly sure that that is his spoken voice introducing "Stop The Wedding" like a courtroom judge about to don his executioner cap. "A Sunday Kind Of Love" is a cover of The Harp-tones 1953 Vocal Group classic on Bruce Records – Etta doing it justice. What can you say about "At Last" - a song that still touches and tingles after all these decades. Other highlights include the let's get frisky "I Just Want To Make Love To You" - a Willie Dixon song made famous by Muddy Waters on Chess in 1954 and covered by hundreds of band since. But as I already said, CD1 is slightly let down by too many sappy crooner tunes clearly hustling for that female Sam Cooke/Frank Sinatra marketplace – she feels like Aretha pre Atlantic Records – waiting to be given the right material and then unleashed.
As CD2 starts with a Roy Orbison-good sounding "Would It Make Any Difference" where our EJ wonders if her man would stay away ever she was in trouble bad (he would, the snake) – you are hit with clarity that is stunning. Etta would not like any person to experience "Pay Back" – a cautionary bopper tale – another playing him for a fool in "Two Sides (To Every Story)". The Previously Unreleased live version of "At Last" was recorded in September 1962 and in some ways is bizarre – a rough and rowdy crowd where you cannot make out of they are just drunk or actively against and talk all the way through the performance – it’s like she’s singing to a crowd with a band that is just trying to get through the set. The raucous live version of "Baby What You Want Me To Do" is the same – only the crowd seems more in her boogie favour – her voice and delivery just fantastic (Janis Joplin smiling from ear to ear).
The "Etta James" Soul, Funk and Seventies R&B relaunch album from July 1973 on Chess Records saw EJ cover three Randy Newman songs - "Sail Away" from the RN album of the same name from 1972 being the first choice here (the other is "God's Song" – they left off "Leave Your Hat On"). But with just her name in block capitols on the cover of "Etta James", it is hardly surprising that this uninspired and uninspired-looking artwork did the LP no favours. Few Soul fans even knew of its existence. Hip-O Select finally did a Reissue CD of it in 2006 remastered superbly by Gavin Lurssen, but even that is hard to find and expensive in 2023. Thankfully this "Chess Box" also includes the excellent "Down So Low" from the same album – a Tracy Nelson cover version that includes Ken Marco on Guitar, William D. Smith on Keyboards and master sessionman Chuck Rainey on Bass. Another is the Gabriel Mekler (Producer) and Trevor Laurence written opening cut "All The Way Down" which Chess issued as an American 45-single in September 1972 with the album cut "Lay Back Daddy" on the flipside.
But perhaps most astonishing of all inclusions on CD3 is the gut-wrenchingly moving almost creepy "Feelin' Uneasy" where she literally sings no words but moans through the music with guttural pleas that have risen up the surface (she was in withdrawal from drugs). "Feelin' Uneasy" was not surprisingly relegated to the flipside of a July 1974 US 45 for "Out On The Street, Again" (Track 19 on this CD) – but what an astonishing moment and somehow a microcosm for her whole troubled life. Little Feat fans will probably know that amongst the guitar players for the 1974 "Come A Little Closer" album sessions was Lowell George (Danny Kortchmar – long associated with James Taylor and Carole King – was in there too as was Wah Wah Watson). Lowell George turns up on three 1974 cuts – the W.C. Handy traditional "St. Louis Blues" and another Randy Newman cover version "Let's Burn Down The Cornfield" – both from the "Come A Little Closer" on Chess. That album ably attacks the old 60ts Steppenwolf/John Kay-written chestnut "Sookie Sookie" – very cool and one that suited EJ.
"The Chess Box" is by no means all genius (hence the 4-star rating), but it has 5-star Remastered Audio and enough released and unreleased goodies to satisfy. And frankly anything by the great lady on the many fab labels around Chess Records is nectar to me. Get uneasy with this one...
