Tag Archives: johnny otis

Etta James & Johnny Otis

  January 26, 2012 - 4:14 am | , , , ,
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It’s been more than a week since the deaths of those two giant figures of American R&B: Johnny Otis, and his greatest discovery, Etta James. My initial comments on Otis’ death are in a post below, and they’ve both received significant media coverage, especially James, although Lynn Crosbie in the Globe & Mail this week wondered why it took her death for James to receive such wide recognition. “But if she is such a legend, why was she not pushed forward more in her life?” There was nothing simple, or easily mainstreamed, about the way James sang. Pure soul is … Continue reading →

RIP, Johnny Otis

  January 20, 2012 - 4:26 am | , , , ,
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A giant of American popular music died on January 17 at the age of 90. Johnny Otis discovered, produced, recorded Big Mama Thornton, Etta James, Esther Phillips and so many others; He helped create the R&B sound in the 1950’s and kept many of its early stars touring and performing through the 60’s and 70’s. Otis was the son of Greek immigrants, but as an obituary in the LA Times noted, ” in the 1920s, Otis decided as a youth that he’d rather be black”, and, according to one YouTube commenter he claimed “I was Greek by birth but black … Continue reading →