Etta James

With her decidedly risque and impassioned Blues and R & B renditions, James thrills her audience with fire and zest.

Etta James was discovered as a teenager by Johnny Otis, Jamsetta Hawkins was no stranger to the stage. At the age of five, she was a singing sensation in the Echoes of Eden, the Saint Paul Baptist Church choir. At the age of thirteen she had her own band, The Peaches, and her first hit song with 'Roll With Me Henry', later retitled 'The Wallflower'. Soon after, however the Peaches disbanded. Etta went on as a solo artist and in late 1955, her second big hit, Good Rockin' Daddy, peaked on the charts at number six. After that, however, Etta didn't return to the charts until 1960, thanks in part to an addiction to heroin.

In 1960, she joined the Chess organization, and over the next 16 years she had 28 R&B chart hits, nine Top 10 records, and 20 Pop chart placements. She finally kicked her drug habits in the late seventies, and in 1995 she won a Grammy award for her album MYSTERY LADY, a tribute to Billie Holliday.

Bonnie Raitt

Killer slide player. Bonnie Raitt can play many types of music wonderfully, play beautiful leads and solos, sing excellent vocals while she does it and still play without sounding like a man. You don't need to sound masculine to play with all the talent in the world. Bonnie Raitt proved that one. "If Bonnie Raitt has slipped deep into the mainstream, it is because so many people sense that honesty in performances like these."-Robert Beverley

Early in her life Raitt had become interested in the blues. By 1967 she had moved to the East Coast, where her amazing bottleneck acoustic guitar work and forceful blues singing drew many of the blues artists she admired to perform with her. She credits rhythm & blues as her greatest influence. "Without rhythm & blues," says Raitt, "there wouldn't be any
rock & roll. That's just the way it is."

from: music.com

Lady Day - Billie Holliday

Inspired by her love of singing, she talked the manager of a club into letting her sing a few tunes with the house band - she made $57.00 in tips. She used the name "Billie Holiday" because of her admiration for film star Billie Dove. Sshe was discovered by John Hammond, and In 1933 Hammond organized her first recording session with Benny Goodman. At one time her sidemen included: Benny Goodman Roy Eldridge. Billie joined the Count Basie band in 1937. Basie let her go for being too independent and tempermental. In 1939 she introduced "Strange Fruit" & "God Bless the Child"

Billie was portrayed in the movie "Lady Sings The Blues". She married Johnnie Monroe in 1941 and became an opium user. She also married trumpeter Joe Guy and during this marriage became a heroin addict despite her addictions, she sang well and earned as much as$1000/week. In 1946 she gave a triumphant concert at Town Hall and appeared in the film "New Orleans", and in 1947 she was arrested on a drug charge and served 8 months in prison. At age 36 she married a third time - Louis McKay, also abusive, toured Europe succesfully in 1954 but was arrested again in 1956 and entered a clinic. Her recovery was temporary - her lifestyle claimed her life on July 17, 1959

Bio by Mike Day

more blues women coming soon - Koko Taylor