Etta vs Beyonce

DaemonSeid · #1 02-05-2009, 05:52 PM

LOS ANGELES - It’s a feud that spans a generation — music legend Etta James has put modern superstar Beyonce on blast for singing her signature song, “At Last,” at the Neighborhood Inaugural Ball after Barack Obama’s presidential inauguration.

“I tell you, that woman he has singing for him, singing my song, she gonna get her ass whipped,” James told a crowd at a concert in Seattle on Jan. 28. “I can’t stand Beyonce, she had no business up there singing ... my song that I’ve been singing forever.”

But it seems the feud is one-sided. Beyonce recently portrayed the older singer in the film “Cadillac Records,” where she performed “At Last” among other songs, and the two had the chance to meet at the film’s L.A. premiere, where Beyonce sang her predecessor’s praises.

link

I don't think she was happy with her performance....neither was I.

agzg · #2 02-05-2009, 06:11 PM

It's not like Etta owns the rights to the song, though. She wasn't even the first to perform it.

I'm not going to lie, though - her version is the best - it's just causing all this controversy over a song that you don't even own the rights to is a little pointless.

RU OX Alum · #3 02-05-2009, 07:07 PM

I can't believe she said that Obama wasn't her president.

Actually, people say all kinds of crazy things. Especially old people.

MysticCat · #4 02-06-2009, 12:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alphagamzetagam

It's not like Etta owns the rights to the song, though. She wasn't even the first to perform it.

I'm not going to lie, though - her version is the best - it's just causing all this controversy over a song that you don't even own the rights to is a little pointless.

Etta may not own the rights to the song, but as far as I'm concerned, she "owns" that song, no questions asked. I don't want to hear anybody but her sing it, and when I do hear her sing it, I want my wife (whom, as you'll recall, alphagamzetagam, wins at life) really close by. Top of the romantic playlist, no contest.

DrPhil · #5 02-06-2009, 03:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MysticCat

Etta may not own the rights to the song, but as far as I'm concerned, she "owns" that song, no questions asked. I don't want to hear anybody but her sing it, and when I do hear her sing it, I want my wife (whom, as you'll recall, alphagamzetagam, wins at life) really close by. Top of the romantic playlist, no contest.

Ditto...but with my man and not your wife.

Glen Miller's original and Nat King Cole's remake are a a different vibe. Etta James made that into her signature to the point where you respect what came before it and dismiss what came after it (even Ben E. King's remake that came a year after). Dozens of singers have remade this song (some of them really good...others are oversung and undersoul like Beyonce's) and Beyonce is the first to really get a lot of attention and commercial success since Etta James.

I hate Beyonce's version and I did not enjoy listening to her sing it during inauguration ball so I turned down the volume. I have the Cadillac Records CDC and I always skip over Beyonce's At Last.

RaggedyAnn · #6 02-06-2009, 08:16 AM

I just assumed that Etta James was dead and that's why Beyonce was singing it.

MexicanMami0286 · #7 02-06-2009, 12:02 PM

Well...Etta is certainly alive and kicking! I don't agree with everything she said, like the bit about Obama, but she said she was joking, so should it even be an issue anymore?

In any case, I thought Beyonce's version was 'aight.' She was out of tune for most of the song. It would have been nice to bring James, a living musical legend into the mix for the event. I mean everyone and their irrelevant mama was performing for the president. Will.I.Am...come on...

DrPhil · #8 02-06-2009, 03:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RaggedyAnn

I just assumed that Etta James was dead and that's why Beyonce was singing it.

Really? Etta James is still performing.

I wanted to see her instead of Beyonce at the inaugration ball but Etta James was supposedly sick.

RaggedyAnn · #9 02-07-2009, 08:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrPhil

Really? Etta James is still performing.

I wanted to see her instead of Beyonce at the inaugration ball but Etta James was supposedly sick.

I don't follow celebrities and concerts have gotten awefully expensive, so I don't go very much.

I own the Etta James At Last! album though!

(and believe it or not, I only have around 40 of them.)

PM_Mama00 · #10 02-07-2009, 01:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrPhil

I agree.

She was balanced in Destiny's Child. Now there's nothing to balance her out.

Exactly. I think she's got a huge ego. I also can't stand Jay Z (but enjoy his older music) so maybe that has something to do with it.

I do however enjoy her sister Solange. I heard one of her songs and though it's not a genre I frequently listen to, I thought it was pretty good. I also loved her in that Bring it On movie.

Beyonce's True Hollywood Story is on right now.

Tippiechick · #11 02-07-2009, 08:26 PM

I am sure that this goes WAY beyond the singing of "At Last." Remember Cadillac Records? Be-a-bitch played Etta.

I think Etta does not like her -- period-- and knows she can outsing her. I don't think she liked the way she played her in the movie, either. Add insult to injury when B is asked to sing a song that Etta is famous for singing...

Etta could own Be-a-bitch by blinking her eyes. Seriously. Anyone who has any taste in music can hear the sheer talent that oozes out of Etta. No big productions on her albums. It's just that big old voice. Be-a-bitch is nothing but screechy overproduction on her songs.

I would love to see old girl kick B's ass.

Anyone ever listened to I'd Rather Go Blind, Finders Keepers, or All I Could Do Was Cry? Just wow. Etta rocks.

DrPhil · #12 02-07-2009, 08:43 PM

I saw Cadillac Records and I was okay with Beyonce until I heard her sing At Last. All of the actors sang their own songs but I really wanted Beyonce to just lip sync to Etta's At Last.

This is a fun Etta James and Chuck Berry performance. I assume that's the guitarist from Rolling Stones in the band. This is cute especially since I saw Cadillac Records: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Z2wu...eature=related

epchick · #13 02-06-2009, 04:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RaggedyAnn

I just assumed that Etta James was dead...

Ahahaha..I thought the exact same thing.

VandalSquirrel · #14 02-06-2009, 04:50 PM

I blame B's other personality, Sasha Fierce with her robo hand and strange eyebrows.

agzg · #15 02-06-2009, 12:20 PM

I would agree with that but at the same time, as much as it's "her" song, it's not! So really she's creating a big stink over something that she has no right to or control over.

Honestly - if Beyonce needs an ass whooping from her, she needs Glenn Miller to come back from the dead to whoop hers. Which, by the way, his version tops hers on the charts.