Posted on 09/06/2009 8:04:10 PM PDT by kingattax
Beyoncé's rendition of "At Last" at the presidential inauguration hit a sour note with at least one person - the woman who made the song famous.
At a concert last week in Seattle, legendary crooner Etta James slammed Beyoncé for serenading President Obama with her signature song.
"I tell you that woman he had singing for him, singing my song, she gonna get her ass whupped," James told an audience at the Paramount Theatre, sarcastically calling her "The great Beyoncé."
James didn't finish there.
"I can't stand Beyoncé," she spit out on an audio clip posted on Allhiphop.com, adding that Beyoncé "had no business ... singing my song that I been singing forever."
On inauguration night, Beyoncé kicked off the Neighborhood Ball with an emotional performance of "At Last."
As Beyoncé fought back tears, Obama and his wife, Michelle, swayed cheek-to-cheek in their first dance of the night, creating one of the lasting images of the evening.
Two weeks ago, James' son told the Daily News his mom, who has suffered health setbacks after gastric bypass surgery, was moved by the performance.
And the pair didn't seem to have a problem with each other last year when they posed together at the premiere of "Cadillac Records," in which the younger singer portrayed James.
The audio clip also reveals that the 71-year-old James apparently isn't very fond of Obama, either.
"You know your President, right? You know the one with the big ears?" she asked the audience. "He ain't my President."
A spokeswoman for Beyoncé said she had no comment.
LOL, this is getting confusing! Follow me here...I didn't say that you said YOU sounded better than Miller's recording. I said you sounded condescending because you were mocking Question Liberal Authority's use of "Um" in your post 24 (note that it was not MY use of "Um", but QLA's). I didn't think QLA was being condescending in his/her use of "um". He/She was essentially directing the post to Etta James, herself, because Etta was mad that Beyonce "sang my song." QLA was pointing out that "At Last" was actually Miller's song, not Etta's, so how silly for Etta to be mad that someone used "her" song. To me, QLA sounded like this: "Um, Etta...you do remember that it's not actually YOUR song, right?" I thought it was a perfectly reasonable post.
In your very next post (25), you called out teletech on a dinky mistake (which he/she had already fixed, anyway).
No big deal, I was just noticing that you posted two horsey/picky/whatever-you-want-to-call-it comments in a row. It is certainly your prerogative to do so, but it does sometimes draw the attention of other FReepers.
Now I've seen this additional post of yours (38) to QLA:
She has a right to be wrong and ignorant, and so do you.
You can't tell me that isn't a condescending remark! This just isn't your night! :)
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz................
Yes, it was. And, Um, it sucked. Etta James made it, Um, one of the great moments of pop vocal history. I love Glenn Miller. But he and the male singer who did the recording didn’t get the song. The ring and soulful expression of Etta’s voice (it comes from her TOES, man) turned a ho-hum chart into a classic.
Like it or not, music can be political, and you are in left field. Artie Shaw, a big liberal, was so upset that Miller's "In the Mood" was more popular than his that he denigrated Miller's music as plebian and said that he wished Miller had died before he recorded "In the Mood". Shaw said that his version was "Blacker", "more soulful" and "in the tradition of jazz". Shaw's version leaves me cold. I haven't a clue what he was talking about, except to puff himself up. Shaw went on to create "symphonic jazz" which he deem more "serious". Of course, his sales went down.
As for "At Last", you have both Miller's and James' on YouTube. Miller's is in 4/4 time and danceable (a hobby of mine). James' is a blues/soul/R&B creation, related to Harry Warren's 1941 composition only in the melody. I can't dance to it, but there's lots of wailing going on. To me, it is so much kitsch. The 1942 original is faithful to Warren's composition.
Etta James Kidding About Beyonce Remarks
Friday February 6, 2009
http://64.90.166.18/news/etta-james-kidding-about-beyonce-remarks
Yeah, and Respect by Aretha was originally an Otis Redding song, All Along the Watchtower is a Dylan song, and Clapton’s Cocaine is a J.J. Cale song.
Etta “owns” At Last because she recorded a definitive version of it. Happens all the time.
Charles said that on TNT. Imagine if a white boy said that?
Sometimes, ‘Ol Charles gets it right!
Oh, no question Beyoncé is one of today's best examples of what two X chromosomes can become. Vive l'estrogen!
Well, I will support Etta James by creating a station on my http://www.pandora.com internet music website. Go Etta.
I have both recordings on my ipod, and have listened to them many times, side by side. If you want to dance, all you need is a steady beat. That isn’t singing. Etta James interpreted the song as a ballad, and gave it life and spirit. This has nothing whatsoever to do with politics!! it’s music, it isn’t liberal or conservative, or black or white.
You have a lot of information, but it isn’t organized in a meaningful way, and you have no musical taste. Etta’s recording is vastly superior, and that’s that.
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