Burnin' Down the House: Live at the House of Blues

1	Introduction / Etta James & the Roots Band 0:49
2	Come to Mama / Etta James & the Roots Band 5:13
3	I Just Want to Make Love to You/Born to Be Wild / Etta James & the Roots Band 5:21
4	I'd Rather Go Blind / Etta James & the Roots Band 6:20
5	All the Way Down / Etta James & the Roots Band 6:29
6	At Last / Etta James & the Roots Band 4:43
7	You Can Leave Your Hat On / Etta James & the Roots Band 5:33
8	Something's Got a Hold on Me / Etta James & the Roots Band 5:09
9	Your Good Thing (Is About to End) / Etta James & the Roots Band 7:39
10	Rock Me Baby / Etta James & the Roots Band 4:28
11	Love and Happiness/Take Me to the River/My Funny Valentine / Etta James & the Roots Band 9:56
12	Sugar on the Floor / Etta James & the Roots Band 10:59

Barnes & Noble

Finally!! A live set that shows singer Etta James as she is today in performance. Recorded at the L.A. House of Blues, Burnin' Down the House features James howlin’, growlin’ and cryin’ through signature tunes like “Come to Mama,” “Something’s Got a Hold on Me,” and “At Last.” From her recordings during the disco era, James revives “All the Way Down” by giving it the Curtis Mayfield treatment. Other hits are resurrected as parts of medleys: “I Just Want to Make Love to You” drives around hairpin curves at 80 miles an hour into a gritty “Born to Be Wild.” And the combo of Al Green’s “Love and Happiness” and “Take Me to the River” segues into James’s most recent ballad period for “My Funny Valentine.” The showstopper on this CD is a tune that has driven audiences wild for four decades, “I’d Rather Go Blind.” It’s an incredibly sad ballad, but James keeps it from turning maudlin with her sexually suggestive delivery. Backing James for this live date is her Roots Band which features, in addition to her sons Donto and Sametto James (on drums and bass respectively), players who have been with her for more than a decade. The result is a relaxed but vibrant Etta James recording her best album in more than a decade. Roberta Penn

All Music Guide

Playing Burnin' Down the House right after you have listened to some of Etta James' early recordings is quite revealing. The veteran soul/blues singer was only 16 when, in 1954, she made her first recordings for Modern records; she was 63 when this excellent live album was recorded at the House of Blues in West Hollywood, CA, in December 2001 -- and it is obvious that vocally, she didn't lose anything along the way. Backed by a tight and rock-solid band, James demonstrates that her big, full voice lost none of its richness between 1954 and 2001. The Los Angeles native sounds as vital as ever, and she has no problem going that extra mile on gutsy performances of "Something's Got a Hold on Me," "I'd Rather Go Blind," "At Last," and other hits. For the most part, this is a soul concert; however, James makes a triumphant detour into electric urban blues on "I Just Want to Make Love to You" (one of the many Willie Dixon gems that Muddy Waters recorded for Chess in the '50s) and B.B. King's "Rock Me, Baby." The veteran singer pleasantly surprises us with some unlikely medleys; "I Just Want to Make Love to You" is successfully combined with Steppenwolf's "Born to Be Wild," and even more intriguing is her ability to unite the standard "My Funny Valentine" with two of Al Green's '70s hits ("Love and Happiness" and "Take Me to the River"). Some longtime fans may be disappointed to learn that she doesn't perform either "Tell Mama" or "Roll with Me, Henry," aka "The Wallflower"; regardless, Burnin' Down the House is an exciting and powerful document of James at 63. Alex Henderson