Etta James

My mother always told me, even if a song has been done a thousand times, you can still bring something of your own to it. I'd like to think I did that. ”

Jazz took too much discipline. You have to come in at the right place, which is different than me singing the blues, where I can sing, 'Oh, baby,' if there's a pause in the melody. With jazz, you better leave that space open, or put in something real cool. ”

I really turned into, you know, the real street kid. I was kind of like a runaway, but I had a mother, you know what I mean, and I had a place to stay. ”

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. ”

My mother was a jazz fanatic and she wanted me to play the piano so I could play jazz tunes. I wish I had learned but I was too busy getting into trouble! ”

I was a sloppy kid, wanted to be just wild. ”

People always say 'Etta, you know what your problem is? You're neither fish nor fowl. There is no place to rack you.' When I would go in a record shop, you might find one or two records by me in different stacks. ”

I'm not starry eyed, and I'm not money crazy. ”

It feels so good to be happy. ”

Now I can stand up on the stage again like I used to after five years of sitting down while I sang. ”