Editing Etta James (section)

=== 1960–1978: Chess and Warner Bros. year ===
James' first hit singles with Fuqua were "If I Can't Have You" and "[[Spoonful]]". Her first solo hit was the doo-wop–styled rhythm-and-blues song "[[All I Could Do Was Cry]]", which was a number two R&B hit.<ref name="allmusic">{{cite web|url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p387|pure_url=yes}}|title=Etta James: Biography|last=Dahl|first=Bill|website=Allmusic.com|access-date=December 5, 2008}}</ref> Chess Records co-founder [[Leonard Chess]] envisioned James as a classic ballad stylist who had potential to cross over to the pop charts and soon surrounded the singer with violins and other string instruments.<ref name="allmusic" /> The first string-laden ballad James recorded was "My Dearest Darling" in May 1960, which peaked in the top five of the R&B chart. James sang background vocals for her labelmate [[Chuck Berry]] on his "[[Back in the U.S.A.]]"<ref name="rollingstone">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/ettajames/biography|title=Etta James: Biography|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=December 5, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081206012234/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/ettajames/biography|archive-date=December 6, 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://members.home.nl/henk.gorter/Itc6005.html |title=Archived copy |website=members.home.nl |access-date=13 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105050734/http://members.home.nl/henk.gorter/Itc6005.html |archive-date=5 November 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Her debut album, ''[[At Last!]]'', was released in late 1960 and was noted for its varied selection of music, from [[jazz|jazz standards]] to [[blues]] to doo-wop and [[rhythm and blues]] (R&B).<ref name="atlast">{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/r88822|title=Etta Hames, ''At Last!'': Review|last=Cook|first=Stephen|website=Allmusic.com|access-date=December 5, 2008|archive-date=August 17, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220817211621/https://www.allmusic.com/album/at-last%21-mw0000194402|url-status=live}}</ref> The album included the future classics "[[I Just Want to Make Love to You]]" and "[[A Sunday Kind of Love]]". In early 1961, James released what was to become her signature song, "[[At Last]]", a [[Glenn Miller]] tune, which reached number two on the R&B chart and number 47 on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]]. Though the record was not as successful as expected, her rendition has become the best-known version of the song.<ref name="rollingstone"/> James followed this with "Trust in Me", which also included string instruments.<ref name="allmusic"/> Later that same year (1960), James released a second studio album, ''[[The Second Time Around (Etta James album)|The Second Time Around]]''. The album took the same direction as her first, covering jazz and pop standards and with strings on many of the songs. It produced two hit singles, "Fool That I Am" and "Don't Cry Baby".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/r88818|title=Etta James, ''The Second Time Around'': Review|last=Unterberger|first=Richie|website=Allmusic.com|access-date=December 5, 2008|archive-date=August 17, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220817211621/https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-second-time-around-mw0000653087|url-status=live}}</ref>

James started adding [[Gospel music|gospel]] elements in her music the following year, releasing "Something's Got a Hold on Me", which peaked at number four on the R&B chart and was a Top 40 pop hit. That success was quickly followed by "Stop the Wedding", which reached number six on the R&B chart and also had gospel elements.<ref name="rollingstone"/> In 1963, she had another major hit with "Pushover" and released the live album ''[[Etta James Rocks the House]]'', recorded at the New Era Club in [[Nashville, Tennessee]].<ref name="allmusic"/> After a couple of years of minor hits, James's career started to suffer after 1965. After a period of isolation, she returned to recording in 1967 and reemerged with more gutsy R&B numbers thanks to her recording at the legendary [[FAME Studios]] in [[Muscle Shoals, Alabama]]. These sessions yielded her comeback hit "[[Tell Mama (song)|Tell Mama]]", co-written by [[Clarence Carter]], which reached number ten on the R&B chart and number twenty-three for pop. An album of the same name was also released that year and included her take on [[Otis Redding]]'s "Security".<ref name="oldies">{{cite web | url=http://www.oldies.com/artist-biography/Etta-James.html | title=''Etta James Biography'' | last=Larkin | first=Collin | publisher=oldies.com | access-date=December 5, 2008 | archive-date=August 30, 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080830035723/http://www.oldies.com/artist-biography/Etta-James.html | url-status=live }}</ref> The [[B-side]] of "Tell Mama" was "[[I'd Rather Go Blind]]", which became a blues classic and has been recorded by many other artists. In her autobiography, ''Rage to Survive'', she wrote that she heard the song outlined by her friend Ellington "Fugi" Jordan when she visited him in prison.<ref>James, Etta; Ritz, David (1995). ''Rage to Survive''. {{ISBN|0-306-80812-9}}.</ref> According to her account, she wrote the rest of the song with Jordan but for tax reasons gave her songwriting credit to her partner at the time, Billy Foster.

Following this success, James became an in-demand concert performer, though she never again reached the heyday of her early to mid-1960s success. Her records continued to chart in the [[Rhythm and blues|R&B]] Top 40 in the early 1970s, with singles such as "Losers Weepers" (1970) and "I Found a Love" (1972). Though James continued to record for Chess, she was devastated by the death of record executive [[Leonard Chess]] in 1969. James ventured into rock and [[funk]] with the release of her [[Etta James (1973 album)|self-titled album]] in 1973, with production from the famed rock producer [[Gabriel Mekler]], who had worked with [[Steppenwolf (band)|Steppenwolf]] and [[Janis Joplin]]. Joplin had admired James and had covered "Tell Mama" in concert. James' 1973 album, exhibiting a mixture of musical styles, was nominated for a [[Grammy Award]].<ref name="oldies"/> The album did not produce any major hits, however, and neither did the follow-up album, ''[[Come a Little Closer (album)|Come a Little Closer]]'', in 1974, though, like '73's ''Etta James'' before it, the album was also critically acclaimed.{{Citation needed|date=October 2021}}

In 1975, James opened up for comedian [[Richard Pryor]] at the [[Shubert Theatre (Los Angeles)|Shubert Theatre]] in Los Angeles.<ref>{{Cite magazine|date=November 1, 1975|title=Talent on Stage: Richard Pryor, Etta James|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/70s/1975/CB-1975-11-01.pdf|magazine=Cash Box|pages=35|access-date=October 6, 2021|archive-date=September 26, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210926181450/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/70s/1975/CB-1975-11-01.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

James continued to record for Chess (now owned by [[All Platinum Records]]), releasing one more album in 1976, ''[[Etta Is Betta Than Evvah!]]''  Her 1978 album ''[[Deep in the Night]]'', produced by [[Jerry Wexler]] for Warner Bros., incorporated more rock-based music in her repertoire.<ref name="allmusic" /> That same year, James was the opening act for the [[The Rolling Stones|Rolling Stones]] and performed at the [[Montreux Jazz Festival]]. Following this brief success, however, she left Chess Records and did not record for another ten years while she struggled with drug addiction and alcoholism.