Too sad . . too funny . . too true . .

Dick Waterman

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Jun 27, 2009, 3:15:30 PM6/27/09

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You all know that I am a staunch skeptic of any Etta James booking. I have a mantra that says, "Etta James is not standing in front of you performing until Etta James is standing in front of you performing." That means not when she is in the city; not when she is in the hall; not what she is walking towards the stage. It means she is not "there" until she is "there."

Why do I write this?

Because she just canceled major festivals on July 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. I feel especially badly for Portland because she was the major name of the four day festival.

People wonder why Beyonce got to sing "At Last" at the Obama inauguration instead of Etta. There's your reason.

Dick Waterman

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Dennis Orr

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Jun 27, 2009, 3:43:46 PM6/27/09

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Well...she showed up for the show I saw in January.

Steve Ahola

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Jun 27, 2009, 3:57:20 PM6/27/09

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Dick Waterman wrote:

> You all know that I am a staunch skeptic of any Etta James booking. I
> have a mantra that says, "Etta James is not standing in front of you
> performing until Etta James is standing in front of you performing."
> That means not when she is in the city; not when she is in the hall;
> not what she is walking towards the stage. It means she is not
> "there" until she is "there."
>
> Why do I write this?
>
> Because she just canceled major festivals on July 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. I
> feel especially badly for Portland because she was the major name of
> the four day festival.
>
> People wonder why Beyonce got to sing "At Last" at the Obama
> inauguration instead of Etta. There's your reason.
>
> Dick Waterman
>

Dick:

Funny that you should mention that. I went to play an Etta James CD the
other day and darned if it didn't disappear when I turned my back! <g>

FWIW I just assumed that her name never came up when they were planning
the inauguration activities. And that it was Beyonce the artist who was
chosen, rather than the song specifically (which did happen to be very
appropriate so maybe I am wrong on that count).

I see that she had to cancel/postpone a tour last year and that the
guitarist Leo Nocentelli is suing her for $50k for breach of contract
(she did not tell him that she was canceling the shows in Spring 2008
and she did not include him in the band when she resumed the tour in
August).

Thanks for all of your posts here!

Steve Ahola

Blue...@aol.com

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Jun 27, 2009, 4:13:19 PM6/27/09

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possibly she's really sick and won't be with us much longer? wouldn't be
quite as funny if that were the case, surprised she's made it this far after
all she's lived through

In a message dated 6/27/2009 12:44:03 P.M. Pacific Standard Time,
dor...@shaw.ca writes:

Well...she showed up for the show I saw in January.

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Jun 27, 2009, 4:19:01 PM6/27/09

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Yes, it is a shame especially for the Portland fest as it is not a ticketed event rather a donation / fundraiser for the Oregon Food Bank. Keb Mo is able to step into that slot which is quite a feat that Peter Dammann pulled off in 12 hours. ?

Etta has performed here twice in the last year and half. ?Once with BB King at the casino and then earlier this winter at the Paramount where she made the remark about Beyounce. ?Both shows were outstanding.

Erika Olsen
Talent, Advertising, Promotions
Winthrop Music Association
a 501(c)3 non profit organization
www.winthropbluesfestival.org
www.woodstockatwinthrop.com

Jimmy Jacobs

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Jun 27, 2009, 4:41:06 PM6/27/09

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Because of her age and the possibility that I might not have another
opportunity to see her , I went to the Gentilly stage at Jazzfest to hear
her. When the band started their fourth warm-up song, I left to go
somewhere else. I heard that she did finally come out to do a show.

Jonny Meister

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Jun 27, 2009, 4:46:14 PM6/27/09

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You sound like someone who used to manage blues artists ... :-)

Hope she is actually okay ... but, they may yet be able to get a
quick sub of significant stature ...

-Jonny

Leonard Watkins

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Jun 27, 2009, 6:51:31 PM6/27/09

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I have seen her twice, once when she was younger, funky & nasty - tore the
roof off THAT is Etta James. I saw her within the last couple years and
that was NOT Etta James. I hope she is OK but canceling that many dates
makes you wonder

LW

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Lisa

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Jun 27, 2009, 8:50:43 PM6/27/09

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She showed up to the House of Blues in Houston a few months back my husband plays in Freddie Kings daughter Wanda's band and she opened for her, Wanda's band is also going to open for her at House of Blues in August.
Lisa~~

On Jun 27, 2009, at 2:40 PM, Dennis Orr <dor...@shaw.ca> wrote:

Well...she showed up for the show I saw in January.

Blues-L web site: http://www.netspace.org/~blues-l/

~Patty Keyes~

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Jun 27, 2009, 9:00:15 PM6/27/09

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The Waterfront Blues Fest site has this under "news" section that says
she cancelled because of illness.

PORTLAND, Ore. (June 27, 2009) � The 2009 Safeway Waterfront Blues
Festival is pleased to announce that Grammy Award-winning Keb' Mo' will
headline opening night, Thursday, July 2, of the 2009 Safeway Waterfront
Blues Festival, presented by First Tech Credit Union.He will replace
Etta James, who has canceled her entire West Coast tour due to illness.

~Patty~

Kevin Kiley

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Jun 28, 2009, 4:29:19 PM6/28/09

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On Sat, 27 Jun 2009 15:12:07 -0400, Dick Waterman <jinx...@aol.com> wrote:

>
>Because she just canceled major festivals on July 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. I feel especially badly for Portland
because she was the major name of the four day festival.
>
>People wonder why Beyonce got to sing "At Last" at the Obama inauguration instead of Etta. There's
your reason.

Dick
I don't know enough about her past cancellations to comment on that, but sometimes people do get
sick. It may be better to wait and pass judgement after fuller disclosure comes forward.

Ron Weinstock

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Jun 29, 2009, 5:58:31 AM6/29/09

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Kevin, Etta has done this (canceling gigs at the last minute) that anyone
booking her has to risk a no show. She even canceled at the last minute the
4th of July at the Washington monument back in the 1990s.

>=========================================================================

Deb Lubin

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Jun 29, 2009, 6:37:18 PM6/29/09

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Ahh, shades of Lucky Peterson.� You just never know.
Deb

--- On Sun, 6/28/09, Ron Weinstock <rbl...@YAHOO.COM> wrote:

From: Ron Weinstock <rbl...@YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Re: Too sad . . too funny . . too true . .

Jef Jaisun

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Jun 30, 2009, 12:21:13 PM6/30/09

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Etta must be confusing herself with Sly Stone.

Nothing against Keb, but he was just here in
Seattle a couple nights ago. I'll probably defer til Friday.

Jef

>The Waterfront Blues Fest site has this under "news" section that says
>she cancelled because of illness.
>
>
>PORTLAND, Ore. (June 27, 2009) � The 2009 Safeway Waterfront Blues
>Festival is pleased to announce that Grammy Award-winning Keb' Mo' will
>headline opening night, Thursday, July 2, of the 2009 Safeway Waterfront
>Blues Festival, presented by First Tech Credit Union.He will replace
>Etta James, who has canceled her entire West Coast tour due to illness.

Blues-L web site: http://www.netspace.org/~blues-l/

George Willett

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Jun 30, 2009, 3:52:26 PM6/30/09

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I was used to Lucky's mercurial ways (He live in the Tampa Bay area for some
time) but when he bailed on the '07 Pocono 'Fest I presumed that it was
career suicide..

George

Gregory Johnson

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Jun 30, 2009, 4:17:54 PM6/30/09

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And with Lucky you just never know what you're going to get when he is there. I have seen him where he's been absolutely thrilling, and then other times where he has stood on the stage staring off into nothingness looking bored out of his mind, which came across in what he was playing, too.

Greg

> Subject: Re: Too sad . . too funny . . too true . .
>

> I was used to Lucky's mercurial ways (He live in the Tampa Bay area for some
> time) but when he bailed on the '07 Pocono 'Fest I presumed that it was
> career suicide..
>
> George
>
> On Mon, Jun 29, 2009 at 6:36 PM, Deb Lubin <debl...@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>
> > Ahh, shades of Lucky Peterson. You just never know.
> > Deb
> >

Blues-L web site: http://www.netspace.org/~blues-l/

Deb Lubin

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Jul 1, 2009, 3:54:40 AM7/1/09

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Well, he did show at Monterey this past weekend, but the�set was�not as exciting as a typical Lucky show.� (I've never seen him as "off" as you describe, Greg, but I've seen him�belligerent.)� He had his wife sing with him on several songs and it just wasn't the energy of a Lucky show.� Plus, no Rico this time.� Agreed, George, that no-show at Pocono definitely hurt him in some circles.� But he's still in demand.� I talked with him after the gig Saturday night, and he seemd�pretty together.�
Deb

--- On Tue, 6/30/09, Gregory Johnson <sliml...@hotmail.com> wrote:

Tom Holland

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Jul 1, 2009, 10:50:22 AM7/1/09

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Rico's been working with Sugar Blue on the road lately, as well as pickin
up work around CHicago when he's not out w/ Blue.

George Willett

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Jul 1, 2009, 12:01:48 PM7/1/09

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I saw Rico with Jimmy Johnson at Pococno '07, too. i used to love to watch
him head up the band during Lucky's shows..

George

Blues...@aol.com

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Jul 3, 2009, 3:15:12 PM7/3/09

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She was 'on' last time I saw her in Dallas!
Joanna
southwestblues.com

In a message dated 6/27/2009 7:51:01 P.M. Central Daylight Time,
aberd...@yahoo.com writes:

She showed up to the House of Blues in Houston a few months back my
husband plays in Freddie Kings daughter Wanda's band and she opened for her,
Wanda's band is also going to open for her at House of Blues in August.
Lisa~~

On Jun 27, 2009, at 2:40 PM, Dennis Orr <dor...@shaw.ca> wrote:

Well...she showed up for the show I saw in January.

Blues-L web site: http://www.netspace.org/~blues-l/

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