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If someone had told me a fortnight ago that I would be playing and waxing lyrical about an Etta James CD that included songs by Simply Red, John Lennon, James Brown and Prince then I would have told them that they were bonkers. How wrong I would have been!The CD is just great. The reworking of some classic songs works really well. Some of tracks have a jazzy feel - like the title track All The Way; some are on the funky side - Stop On By and Holding Back The Years; Strung Out is a blues track in classic Etta style; the rest are ballads wonderfully sung and beautifully arranged. Etta's version of Lennon's Imagine is one of the best I have heard for a long time and even Prince's Purple Rain works well. The pick of the tracks for me are I Believe I Can Fly and It's A Man's Man's Man's World - a brilliant choice. Even Ms James looks great. She has certainly shed a good few pounds recently and looks a lot younger on the CD sleeve than her 68 years.I only have one criticism - the backing vocals on Holding Back The Years sound like they have been recorded down the pub after a few pints. Shame, it ruins an otherwise brilliant CD.So, I was pleasantly surprised by this CD and I know you will be too.

Rating: 5 out of 5

If someone had told me a fortnight ago that I would be playing and waxing lyrical about an Etta James CD that included songs by Simply Red, John Lennon, James Brown and Prince then I would have told them that they were bonkers. How wrong I would have been!The CD is just great. The reworking of some classic songs works really well. Some of tracks have a jazzy feel - like the title track All The Way; some are on the funky side - Stop On By and Holding Back The Years; Strung Out is a blues track in classic Etta style; the rest are ballads wonderfully sung and beautifully arranged. Etta's version of Lennon's Imagine is one of the best I have heard for a long time and even Prince's Purple Rain works well. The pick of the tracks for me are I Believe I Can Fly and It's A Man's Man's Man's World - a brilliant choice. Even Ms James looks great. She has certainly shed a good few pounds recently and looks a lot younger on the CD sleeve than her 68 years.I only have one criticism - the backing vocals on Holding Back The Years sound like they have been recorded down the pub after a few pints. Shame, it ruins an otherwise brilliant CD.So, I was pleasantly surprised by this CD and I know you will be too.

Rating: 5 out of 5