Etta James....WHO???

SORRY for you who know who she was (dying today at 73).... but I'D NEVER HEARD OF HER!!!

She was my generation (as I'm 70 on September 11th this year).

BUT I'D NEVER HEARD HER NAME UNTIL TODAY ON THE EVENING NEWS.

She was never even in the top 20s hit parade music in Britain (and that top 20s covered all types of music) in the 1950s when I was a teen.

Came to Canada at 18 and still until today NEVER heard of Etta James.

Well maybe part of the answer is I'm NOT a blues guy. Don't listen to it, never have, never will. Just not into "the blues" singers. So never heard of Etta James.

She is supposed to have "revolutionized" singing and been the kinda founding figure of many "gal" singers today. Well I don't listen either to "modern" singers .... don't care for the modern female (and men also) singers, so I guess no wonder I never heard of Etta James.

Let's be honest here, if you asked the British, the Canadians, the Australians, the Europeans who Etta James was, unless you're asking a "blues" person, no one would know!!!

There is a thing that is a "culture" thing with the USA, they makes "stars" out of who they want to make stars out of, even if the rest of the world has no idea who they are, or never has them on their "hit parade" ...... well sorry, maybe Etta James was a "blues singer" and popular or known in the "blues world" but famous around the world JUST NOT SO!!

Now if you want to know WHO was the GREATEST female singer of the USA in the 20th century, and WAS KNOWN AROUND THE WORLD .... it is CONNIE FRANCIS!! The variety of songs she could sing, did sing, from pop, to love, to jazz, to country, to rock'n roll ..... CONNIE is the QUEEN. No one comes close to her in the female singing world.

Ah, okay, for you younger ones who ain't heard of Connie Francis, then go to my Youtube (1horsesrcool) and you'll find a few hundred of her songs there.

Now you listen to them all, and tell me if any female singer comes even close to all that Connie could do with her voice.

Sorry that Etta James had to die so relatively young .... but who did you say she was?

And while we are at this singing issue, today January 20th is the birthday of the GREATEST male singer of the 20th century.....SLIM WHITMAN, who is 88 years young today. And he was and is WORLD FAMOUS!! And has been worldwide known since the early 1950s. And had a HUGE "come back" in the USA from 1980-83. Selling MILLIONS of LPs from TV ads, more than any TV singing ad for anyone (Elvis or anyone advertised on a "TV advertisement").

Oh for you younger ones there are hundreds of songs of Slim on my Youtube (1horsesrcool) .... now you go and listen and tell me if any man can sing that kind of VARIETY of songs. Slim's talent was and is UNQUE!! Oh yes and some "modern" singers going into a "falsetto" ... well it was Slim they got it from, but though some have tried to imitate it, there is only ONE Slim Whitman!!

Connie and Slim are still alive today.

Now when they die, do not be surprised if the USA TV news people do not even mention it, there is this "strange" thing about the USA and who they make heros .... Connie and Slim lived "hero" "good clean respectable lives" "good role models" and the WORLD knows it .... but who did you say Etta James was?
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