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James could often be irascible. Ritz remembers when he was working with her on the autobiography, touring with her around the country, one time he approached her with his tape recorder and she barked: "If see that tape recorder again I'm going to cram it up your (expletive)." But at other times, she'd be effusive and warm and anxious to talk. "Once she did talk, she was always candid and unguarded. She was a free spirit," Ritz said. While Ritz put her in the category of other greats like Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin and Marvin Gaye, she never enjoyed their mainstream success. Though "At Last" has become an enduring classic, there were times when James had to scrounge for work, and while she won Grammys and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, she did not have the riches, the multitude of platinum records or the hits that some of her peers enjoyed. "She at least enjoyed a great resurgence like John Lee Hooker did and B.B. King, (and) has had some great decades of appreciation from new generations around the world," said Raitt. "There's no one like her. No one will ever replace Etta." And Ritz said the lack of commercial success does nothing to diminish her greatness, or her legacy. "Marvin certain knew it and Ray knew it ... the people who know that she was in that category," he said. "Whatever the marketplace did or didn't do or whether her lack of career management didn't do, it has nothing to do with her talent." And on Friday, the Queen of Soul was among those who paid tribute to James greatness, calling her "one of the great soul singers of our generation. An American original! "I loved 'Pushover,' 'At Last' and almost any and everything she recorded! When Etta SUNG, you heard it!"
[Associated
Press;
AP Entertainment Writer Chris Talbott and AP Writer Mesfin Fekadu contributed to this report.
Nekesa Mumbi Moody is the AP's music editor. Follow her at http://twitter.com/nekesamumbi.
Copyright 2012 The Associated
Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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