Columnist Joe Delaney: James has influenced performers of all genres

Joe Delaney

Friday, Nov. 30, 2001 | 9:45 a.m.

Joe Delaney's column appears on Thursdays and Fridays. Reach him at 259-4066 or joe@lasvegassun.com

Etta James, appearing Saturday at 8 p.m. at the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay, has been a major contributor to rock 'n' roll, rhythm 'n' blues and contemporary pop music for the better part of five decades ... Born Jamesetta Hawkins in Los Angeles on Jan. 25, 1938, she was in her early teens when she was discovered by bandleader, songwriter and record producer Johnny Otis.

James was singing with a group called the Peaches ... It was in the living room of Otis' home that he and James co-wrote "The Wallflower" in 1955 ... The song was an answer to Hank Ballard's off-color hit "Work With Me, Annie" ... The James version went to No. 2 on Billboard's R&B charts ... Her plea in the song was "Roll With Me, Henry."

Georgia Gibbs had a No. 1 pop single with a watered-down version of the James song entitled "Dance With Me Henry" ... The James version was retitled to compete with the Gibbs' version and wound up with sales equal to Gibbs ... "Good Rocking, Daddy" was James follow-up hit and this one was hers alone ... She toured with Otis in the mid-1950s.

James' recording hits came in rapid succession and she left Otis in 1960 to tour with Little Richard ... The strain of spending most of the year on the road got to her, and she was forced to seek help, spending the years between the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s in rehab ... Her comeback began with a stellar performance in the 1977 Montreux (Switzerland) Jazz Festival.

This led to James opening for the Rolling Stones on their 1978 U.S. tour ... This, in turn, led to a reunion with Jerry Wexler, Aretha Franklin's producer, on the Atlantic label ... Dinah Washington was James' earliest influence, primarily for the way Washington sang a ballad such as "What A Difference A Day Makes" ... Franklin was a later influence.

Although you may occasionally hear traces of both Washington and Franklin, James also ranks as an original source and influence on so many singers in various categories ... James is a member of the Rhythm 'n' Blues Hall of Fame and was awarded a Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Performance on "Mystery Lady," an album tribute to Billie Holiday.

A recent release, "Love Has Been Rough on Me," has a great deal of truth in it, but so has everything she has ever sung these past five decades ... Despite her setbacks, James is a soul survivor, a living legend, still at full strength and, apparently, growing stronger.

Advance notice

It is rather late in life for me to be going out on a limb, but there is always the special circumstance -- and this is one (see below) ... Tibor Rudas, producer of the Three Tenors concerts worldwide, is off to Beijing next week to finalize arrangements for the Chinese National Opera to tour in September and October with a full Chinese cast performing Puccini's "Turandot."

Rudas has produced major events in such unusual settings as London's Hyde Park, New York City's Central Park, the Mayan Ruins at Chichen Itza, Mexico, the Eiffel Tower in Paris and, most recently, the Forbidden City in Beijing ... It was there that he conceived the idea of having the Chinese National Opera tour with an all-Chinese production, including sets and costumes.

Joel Fischman, president of First Class Productions, is working with Rudas on this project ... While having fish and chips at Shuck's, near Interstate 215 and Eastern Avenue, on Monday, he gifted me with a CD, not presently available in the United States ... It was by a young tenor who will tour with the Chinese National Opera, Yu Qaing Dai ... Rudas flew him to Italy to meet Pavarotti.

Rudas played Dai's CD for Pavarotti, who was impressed ... Pavarotti's father walked in, listened for a few moments, and said the Italian equivalent of "This is the next one" ... Rudas always does things first-class ... The Chinese National Tour will be a huge success, but my prediction is that Dai will then take his place among the operatic tenor greats.