Long Live Ms. Etta James
Like any self-respecting Chicano vato loco from the barrio, I love oldies. Which is to say, I love me some Etta James.
That woman can sing, is probably the understatement of the century. I know I'm usually pretty focused on policy on this blog, but oldies was part of my upbringing. When my dad was under a car fixing something on the weekend (our cars always needed fixing) and I could only see him from the waist down, we usually had a radio on and were listening either to mariachi or oldies.
I never learned how to fix cars, but I sure as hell picked up a love for Etta James along the way.
Who could forget At Last when the President and the First Lady danced on Inauguration Night? Who could ever forget I'd Rather Go Blind?
But my favorite is My Dearest Darling.
Everytime I hear this song at home, I grab my wife, pull her close to me and dance with her. She sings it to me in my ear and move around the living room and make our kids wanna puke. Listen to the words. If you don't have a woman who feels that way about you, vato you just ain't found love yet.
Etta sings that song like she's singing to the lover her life. Like she's a woman who's been through some rough times with love, like some vato broke her heart, but she's not an amarga. She sings it like she's been hurt but isn't afraid to love again.
Good songs make you feel something. This song does it for me.
Don't get me wrong, Aretha is the Queen of Soul, but I always preferred Etta.
To paraphrase something I once heard my friend Mark Alvarado once say, Aretha's singing is like food at the best Mexican restaurant in town. But Etta, that's like eating food at your Mom's house.
Etta's music was like my Mom's Chile Colorado, my Nana Garcia's tamales, and my Grandma Abeytia's menudo all in one. Tasty, memorable, life-changing, can't be copied, but eventually you will have to live without.
But thanks to my oldies collection and The Fox Jukebox with Mike Guerrero on Sundays, they'll always be plenty of Etta in the 'fridge.
I'm a dee jay and the great thing about oldies, especially in El Paso, is that its music that is safe for everyone. No matter the audience, its always okay to play oldies.
My kids have a healthy appreciation for oldies too. I hear the echo of my dad's voice singing under the car in my daughter's voice when she's singing in her room while I make her clean it.
It means my dad's not really gone.
And Etta never really will be either.
That woman can sing, is probably the understatement of the century. I know I'm usually pretty focused on policy on this blog, but oldies was part of my upbringing. When my dad was under a car fixing something on the weekend (our cars always needed fixing) and I could only see him from the waist down, we usually had a radio on and were listening either to mariachi or oldies.
I never learned how to fix cars, but I sure as hell picked up a love for Etta James along the way.
Who could forget At Last when the President and the First Lady danced on Inauguration Night? Who could ever forget I'd Rather Go Blind?
But my favorite is My Dearest Darling.
Everytime I hear this song at home, I grab my wife, pull her close to me and dance with her. She sings it to me in my ear and move around the living room and make our kids wanna puke. Listen to the words. If you don't have a woman who feels that way about you, vato you just ain't found love yet.
Etta sings that song like she's singing to the lover her life. Like she's a woman who's been through some rough times with love, like some vato broke her heart, but she's not an amarga. She sings it like she's been hurt but isn't afraid to love again.
Good songs make you feel something. This song does it for me.
Don't get me wrong, Aretha is the Queen of Soul, but I always preferred Etta.
To paraphrase something I once heard my friend Mark Alvarado once say, Aretha's singing is like food at the best Mexican restaurant in town. But Etta, that's like eating food at your Mom's house.
Etta's music was like my Mom's Chile Colorado, my Nana Garcia's tamales, and my Grandma Abeytia's menudo all in one. Tasty, memorable, life-changing, can't be copied, but eventually you will have to live without.
But thanks to my oldies collection and The Fox Jukebox with Mike Guerrero on Sundays, they'll always be plenty of Etta in the 'fridge.
I'm a dee jay and the great thing about oldies, especially in El Paso, is that its music that is safe for everyone. No matter the audience, its always okay to play oldies.
My kids have a healthy appreciation for oldies too. I hear the echo of my dad's voice singing under the car in my daughter's voice when she's singing in her room while I make her clean it.
It means my dad's not really gone.
And Etta never really will be either.
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