Etta James
TeNi II--
TeNi II-- Unseelie
James: "I sing the songs that people need to hear."
James: "Most of the songs I sing have that blues feeling in it. They have that sorry feeling. And I don't know what I'm sorry about. I don't."
James: "I was a sloppy kid, wanted to be just wild."
James: "And as I started reaching deeper I realized that most of the blues of that day was done by men. Women just didn't have the nerve."
James: "Even as a little child, I've always had that comedian kind of attitude."
James: "See, I don't like places where people can't dance - don't like clubs or theatres where a bunch of bourgeois people sit around tip, tip, tipping their fingers."
James: "I still get nervous before I go onstage."
James: "What happens is, when I perform, I'm somewhere else. I go back in time and get in touch with who I really am. I forget my troubles, my worries."
James: "It feels so good to be happy."
James: "When I sing for myself, I probably sing for anyone who has any kind of hurt, any kind of bad feelings, good feelings, ups and downs, highs and lows, that kind of thing."
James: "I was originally like a punker, know what I mean, like the punks are today, I'd spit in a minute."
James: "When I look out at the people and they look at me and they're smiling, then I know that I'm loved. That is the time when I have no worries, no problems."
James: "I took back my life."
James: "I wanna show that gospel, country, blues, rhythm and blues, jazz, rock 'n' roll are all just really one thing. Those are the American music and that is the American culture."
James: "The only time that I am really truly happy - when I feel at my best - is when I'm on the stage."
James: "You can't fake this music. You might be a great singer or a great musician but, in the need, that's got nothing to do with it. It's how you connect to the songs and to the history behind them."
James: "I'm not a bourgeois person, never will be."
James: "To me, country music is like the blues, but it's something very hip and - I don't want to say commercial - but it's very worldly and good listening."
James: "Long as I was riding in a big Cadillac and dressed nice and had plenty of food, that's all I cared about."
James: "They said that Etta James is still vulgar. I said, Oh, how dare them say I'm still vulgar. I'm vulgar because I dance in the chair. What would they want me to do? Want me to just be still or something like that? I've got to do something."
James: "I like to shop, but I don't like to go out to dances."