Leela James - Loving You More in the Spirit of Etta James - Music & Performance - CD

LOVING YOU MORE IN THE SPIRIT OF ETTA JAMES finds Leela paying tribute to her namesake, the legendary Etta James. Leela delivers fresh, contemporary interpretations of nine Etta James songs, including such all-time hits "Good Feeling," "I'd Rather Go Blind" and "At Last" along with two new compositions "in the spirit of Etta James".

After one album for Stax, Leela James returns to Shanachie, the label that facilitated the all-covers set Let's Do It Again. One could be forgiven for glancing at the back of Loving You More...In the Spirit of Etta James, recognizing that all but two songs were once recorded by Etta, and feeling let down that Leela, once more, is leaning on music from an era that predates her birth. After all, her previous album was her best yet and showed that she was coming into her own as a songwriter. However, Loving You More is both reverent and imaginative. It's not just the range of the source material, which roams from the earliest part of Etta's career (including 1961's "At Last" and "Sunday Kind of Love") to the later years (Johnny "Guitar" Watson's "I Want to Ta-Ta You Baby," covered by Etta in 1998). It's also the boldness that comes with the number of drastic rearrangements, the most excellent of which is the transformation of the blues-gospel ballad "I'm Loving You More Every Day" into late-'70s/early-'80s-style soul-disco. The two originals -- "Soul Will Never Die" and "Old School Kind of Love" -- are sturdy enough to be mistaken for covers. Leela honors her hero and, yes, makes nine old songs her own. That's not easy to do. ~ Andy Kellman, Rovi

Performer	Leela James
Music genre	R&B / Soul
Music subgenre	CD - Urban
Media format	CD
Original release date	2012-07-31
Edition	Standard Edition
Language	English
Is collectible	Y
Number of tracks	11
Has parental advisory label	N
Number of discs	1
Series title	Leela James - Loving You More in the Spirit of Etta James COMPACT DISCS
Track listing	Soul Will Never Die, Something's Got a Hold on Me, It Hurts Me So Much, I'm Loving You More Every Day, I'd Rather Go Blind, I Want to Ta-Ta You Baby, Damn Your Eyes, Nobody Loves You Like Me, Old School Kind of Love, Sunday Kind of Love, At Last
Record label	Shanachie
Target audience	Adult
Composer	Leela James
Songwriter	Etta James
Music producer	Leela
Number in series	1
Occasion	All Occasion
Track name	Good Feeling
Duration	37.63 min
Digital audio file format	CD
Music media format	CD
Is edited	N
Is enhanced	N