A time for reflection, today. Along with Jessica Mann, I was interviewed for Radio 4's obituary programme, Last Word, which aired this afternoon and which featured a tribute to Reg Hill. There were some quotes from interviews with Reg himself, and it was sad and strange to think that I won't be hearing that distinctive, civilised voice again.
And today, Etta James died. Evidently someone who had a very troubled life, to put it mildly, but a great singer. My favourite of her recordings, although it was never a hit, and is little known, is Waiting For Charlie To Come Home. It's a superb song, and you can hear it on Youtube - there is also a very good version by Trinitje Oosterhuis, and quite a good one by Karima, but Etta James' original remains definitive. How sad, again, that we won't be hearing that voice again, but at least we have the recordings.
3 comments:
Martin - I am so sorry to hear of Etta James' death, too. Thank you for featuring her here.
Thank you, Martin. I lost an older friend this week and I am happy to think of him sitting in some celestial realm in the divine presence of Etta James.
I don't see either of them with harps.
As I said on George Kelly's blog, I hope Etta is belting out "Tell Mama" up there right now!
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