RARE BUT GREAT ETTA JAMES 78 I'M A FOOL / NUMBER ONE US MODERN HOLLYWOOD 984 EX
£
50
$
66
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Description
A REALLY EXCELLENT COPY OF THIS CLASSIC R&B 78 ON THE MODERN LABEL FROM THE GREAT LATE ETTA JAMES
I'M A FOOL / NUMBER ONE
Etta James - I'm a Fool - YouTube
? 2:38? 2:38
Jamesetta Hawkins was born in Los Angeles, California to an unmarried 14-year-old African-American mother, Dorothy Hawkins. She claimed that her mother told her that her father was pool player Rudolph "Minnesota Fats" Wanderone, who was Caucasian, and that they received financial support from him on the condition that they keep his paternity a secret. James was born in Los Angeles in 1938, at a time when Wanderone was known to be managing a pool hall in Washington, D.C.
She received her first professional vocal training at the age of five years old, from James Earle Hines, musical director of the Echoes of Eden choir at St. Paul Baptist Church in Los Angeles.
James' family moved to San Francisco in 1950 and James soon teamed up with two other girls to form a Doo-wop singing group. When the girls were fourteen, band leader Johnny Otis had them audition: they sang an answer to Hank Ballard's "Work With Me, Annie" called "Roll With Me Henry." Otis particularly liked the song, and against her mother's wishes, James and the trio went to Los Angeles to record the song in 1954. The song was recorded under the label Modern Records. By this time, the trio renamed the song "The Wallflower (Dance with Me, Henry)" and released it in 1955. James named her vocal group The Peaches. Richard Berry, a Los Angeles Doo Wop luminary is featured on some of their records.
“The Wallflower” reached number two on the rhythm and blues charts in February 1955, but was undercut in the wider market by a rushed-out cover version by Georgia Gibbs on Mercury Records; in fact, the very first time Gibbs was recorded in studio, they used the first take recorded and it became number one on the top 100 songs nationally. The song’s royalties were divided between Hank Ballard, Etta James, and Johnny Otis, and its huge success attracted the attention of the R&B world, resulting in James going on tour with Little Richard. On the tour, though, according to James, she witnessed and experienced situations to which minors are not usually privy, and she allegedly acquired a drug habit.
Soon after the success of “Wallflower”, The Peaches and James parted company, but this did not halt her career. Shecontinued to record and release albums throughout much of the decade, and enjoyed more success. Her follow-up, “Good Rockin’ Daddy”, became another fifties hit. Other songs however, such as “Tough Lover” and “W-O-M-A-N” failed to gain any significant success. James toured with Johnny “Guitar” Watson and Otis Redding in the fifties, and has cited Watson as the most significant influence on her style.
Disc details
US MODERN HOLLYWOOD 984 10" 78rpm SHELLAC
CONDITION - EX
THIS ONE WAS IN MY SET BOX UNTIL JUST RECENTLY - PLAYS REALLY GREAT!!
THIS IS A SUPERB RECORD !
TWO GREAT SIDES ON THIS KILLER ETTA JAMES 78
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