It's Etta James' birthday (January 25, 1938)

Etta James' powerful, earthy voice bridged the gap between rhythm and blues and rock and roll. She was born Jamesetta Hawkins in Los Angeles, California.

        Click Etta's image to hear one of her first hits, "Good Rockin' Daddy"

When she was 14 she formed the Creolettes with two other girls. They tracked down Johnny Otis ("Hand Jive"), a bandleader and promoter. On the strength of the Creolettes' audition for him, Otis arranged for the girls to tour.

Otis renamed the group The Peaches and reversed Jamesetta's name. The girls started off earning ten dollars per night for their work with Otis's revue. James first recorded with The Peaches in 1955. The song, “Roll with Me Henry,” was her own composition and was a coarse response to a song by Hank Ballard and the Midnighters called “Work with Me, Annie.”

Clicking Etta's photo opens her first hit, "Roll with Me, Henry."

Click Etta listening to a studio playback to dig one of her biggest hits, "Something's Got a Hold on Me." (The band leader, Phil Harris, introduced her as Miss Peaches, using the name of her earlier 'girl group.')

Click the Etta photo-quote to see her bring her power to Chuck Berry's "Rock and Roll Music" from the Taylor Hackford rockumentary, Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll. ... with Keith Richards, Robert Cray, and Eric Clapton - guitars; Johnnie Johnson, piano; Steve Jordan, drums.

Clicking the Etta-meaning-business pic plays her belting out "Tell Mama" with Carlos Santana on guitar and John Lee Hooker working with her on the vocals and the great blues harp man, Paul Butterfield.