Etta James, R.I.P.

Etta James used to tell a story about meeting Billie Holiday in which Holiday told her — fatherless wild child to fatherless wild child — not to let the bad men and drugs that were going to come her way destroy her. Something about that brief conversation must’ve stuck, because despite many misadventures with drugs and men over the years, James was sober by the time I met her in the early ’90s and carefully planning the comeback which won her new contracts, tours, awards, and laurels. James lived to see her role as a musical pioneer boldly re-inscribed in America’s public memory, then capped her legacy with a magnificent final album mere months before her death in Riverside, Calif., on January 20, just five days short of her 74th birthday. Continue reading “Etta James, R.I.P.”

Pazz & Jop 2011: Carol Cooper on Keny Arkana’s Rebellion, Chart Pop’s Disco Revivalism, and Voters’ Fear of Gospel

These days American pop music sounds too fat and happy, so full of its own global importance that would-be anthems like “Born This Way” and “Run the World (Girls)” come across as insular and petulant, rather than triumphantly universal. Even their companion videos look more like carnival rides than artistic expression. Which is not to say that contrived artistry never works — the country scene is notorious for overthinking how certain singers, concepts, and songwriters might go together. Acts like the novelty trio Pistol Annies hit a sweet spot between humor and truth that brought to mind the Roches and inspired longing for the Dixie Chicks. Big & Rich, meanwhile, gave teens their own hip-hop hillbilly theme song with “Fake I.D.,” replete with bluegrass fiddle and banjo riffs. I also love the typically country juxtaposition of soft voice/hard lyric as illustrated by Ronnie Dunn’s mournful pragmatism on “Cost of Livin'” and Sunny Sweeney’s deceptive bravado on “Drink Myself Single.” It’s hard for my r&b homegirls to match country candor when singing through so much routine signal processing, but Nicki Minaj’s Rihanna-assisted “Fly” proves how sweet two bionic babes can sound once they unleash their inner TLC on the perfect power ballad. Continue reading “Pazz & Jop 2011: Carol Cooper on Keny Arkana’s Rebellion, Chart Pop’s Disco Revivalism, and Voters’ Fear of Gospel”