119 - Etta James - At Last! - Wayne Federman

Summary

The 500 with Josh Adam Meyers

Episode 119: Etta James - At Last! (with Wayne Fetterman)

Release Date: February 25, 2026
Guest: Wayne Fetterman
Album Discussed: Etta James - At Last!
Ranking: #119 on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Josh Adam Meyers and comedian/historian Wayne Fetterman dive into Etta James’ iconic 1960 debut album, At Last!. They explore the album’s musical influence, Etta’s turbulent life, and why this record is not just a classic of soul and pop but a cornerstone in American musical history. The conversation is laced with warmth, humor, and both personal anecdotes and music history deep-dives.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Etta James’ Place in Music History

• Etta James is heralded as a crossover icon, bridging blues and pop (36:40).
• Josh: “You get this grit and then this, like, elegance ... there’s something just very real in her voice” (37:16).
• Fetterman details her biography: Raised in Watts, LA, born to a 14-year-old mother, shuffled between households, and influenced by her church-singing origins (24:28, 31:06).

2. The Album’s Unusual Structure & History

• At Last! title track placed as the second song on Side B, not in the album’s opening or closing slots—an odd structure for such a monumental hit (21:54).
  • Fetterman: “I can't think of an album—again, I'm sure there is an example—where the title track is the second song on the B side” (21:54).
• Recorded for Chess Records’ subsidiary, Argo—known for a “lush” sound and string arrangements, a pivot from Chess’s usual raw blues aesthetic (23:29, 34:05).

3. Songwriting, Standards, & The Soul-Pop Fusion

• Many album tracks are reworks of jazz and pop standards from the ‘30s and ‘40s, set to “lush” arrangements (34:05–36:36).
• The album’s musical DNA is described as “pop soul” (37:34).
• Etta’s songwriting is minimal; Wayne admits the one self-written track, “Tough Mary,” is his least favorite (59:22).

4. Etta James’ Tough Life & Personality

• Experience with addiction, incarceration, and ongoing disputes with Chess Records (24:38).
• Josh: “But known, you know, known for being fiery, funny and completely unfiltered. She was a firecracker.” (24:39)

5. Crossover & Representation

• Discussed as a pivotal record for taking a “blues singer” into pop spaces—an essential case of Black artists reaching wider, mainstream white audiences (34:43, 34:56).
• Reference to Motown’s simultaneous push for Black acts in Vegas and TV (27:33–29:44).

6. Tracks, Favorites, & Notable Versions

• “At Last” is celebrated as “the greatest wedding song of all time,” but never grows old for Wayne: “Never gets tired” (17:37–18:52).
• “I Just Want to Make Love to You” traced from Willie Dixon, through Muddy Waters, and on to the Rolling Stones and Foghat (52:10–53:55).
• “A Sunday Kind of Love” and “Anything to Say You’re Mine” highlighted as emotional standouts (54:16, 55:01–55:35).
• Fetterman: “[Anything to Say You’re Mine] is as emotional as you can get as a singer…I would beg you to listen to it one more time” (55:01).

7. Etta’s Legacy and Modern Echoes

• Her massive influence on Beyoncé, Amy Winehouse, Mariah Carey, Alicia Keys, and others (62:22–63:00).
• Story of Beyoncé performing “At Last” for Obama’s inaugural ball and the resulting friction with Etta (37:53–38:59).
• Wayne’s concise pitch: “If you like emotional soul singers singing standards, this is your jam” (61:10).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On “At Last”‘s enduring magic:
  Wayne Fetterman [18:45]: “No, no, I disagree. I just think ‘At Last’ never gets … I never get tired. She—”
• On overplayed songs:
  Wayne Fetterman [19:52]: “You can't blame a song for being popular and getting a lot of airplay. That's stupid.”
• On Chess Records vs. Motown:
  Josh Adam Meyers [26:05]: “They were like the anti-Motown…the sound wasn’t polished like Motown…it was loud amps, the bleeding microphone, you could hear room noise, urgency.”
• On Etta’s turbulent life:
  Wayne Fetterman [32:45]: “She is a real street urchin kind of woman … hardscrabble life, no question.”
• On female vocalists then and now:
  Wayne Fetterman [46:18]: “Female vocalists were—this is a big era for female. And by the way, I feel like we’re in the female vocalist era now. No questions asked.”
• On the essence of the album:
  Josh Adam Meyers [62:22]: “If you want to hear a masterclass in singing … and why Etta James is even remotely talked about or in the Rock and Roll hall of Fame: listen to this.”
• On “Anything to Say You’re Mine”:
  Wayne Fetterman [55:01]: “It is as emotional as you can get as a singer, in my opinion. That song. That song.”

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Music History Context

• At Last! was recorded in the early ‘60s “in-between” period: after rock and roll’s first wave, before the Beatles’ breakthrough. The album stands among pop standards, girl group hits, and the rise of Motown (40:04–41:20).
• The Chess/Argo “sound” and label’s legendary roster (25:33): Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry, Howlin’ Wolf.
• Etta’s roots in the chitlin' circuit, church, and her relationship to the evolving spaces for Black artists (34:34–34:43).

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Timestamps for Important Segments

| Timestamp | Segment | |------------|------------------------------------------------------| | 04:56 | Introductions, banter, setting the episode | | 12:33 | London trip/Amy Winehouse/Etta’s influence | | 21:54 | Odd placement of “At Last” on Side B | | 23:28 | Chess Records/Argo, the album’s “lush” sound | | 24:28 | Etta’s biography: Watts, tough childhood | | 27:33 | Motown vs. Chess discussion | | 34:09 | Why this album matters on the list | | 37:53 | Beyoncé, Obama, and “At Last” legacy | | 40:04 | State of pop and R&B in 1960 | | 52:10 | “I Just Want To Make Love To You” and its lineage | | 54:16 | Sunday Kind of Love, album highlights | | 55:01 | Anything to Say You’re Mine: Fetterman’s standout | | 58:55 | Lightning round: favorites, least favorites, summary | | 61:10 | How would you sell someone on this album? | | 62:22 | Etta’s modern influence and summing up the record |

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Track-by-Track Favorites

Wayne Fetterman

• Favorites: “At Last,” “Anything to Say You’re Mine” ([58:58])
• Least Favorite: “Tough Mary” – Etta’s lone songwriting credit ([59:22])

Josh Adam Meyers

• Favorite: “At Last,” “A Sunday Kind of Love” ([59:05])
• Both praise “Stormy Weather,” “I Just Want to Make Love to You,” and the consistent “lushness” of the album’s arrangements.

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Tone and Language

The conversation is playful, loose, and peppered with jokes, inside references, and musical deep-cuts. Fetterman brings dry wit and encyclopedic knowledge while Meyers supplies energy, personal anecdotes, and relatable asides about weddings, DJing, and pop culture.

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How Would You Sell This Album?

• Wayne Fetterman [61:10]: “Monster standard called ‘At Last’ featuring the vocals of Etta James. If you’d like to hear her interpret some other songs at this point early in her life, check out the album. Almost every track is beautifully arranged … If you like emotional soul singers singing standards, this is your jam.”
• Josh Adam Meyers [62:22]: “If you want to hear a masterclass in singing … and why Etta James is even remotely talked about or in the Rock and Roll hall of Fame: listen to this...all the female singers you love now, the black ones? Yeah. Etta.”

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Final Takeaway

At Last! is a landmark debut that paved the way for soul-pop crossovers, blended elegance with "hardscrabble" authenticity, and cemented Etta James as a vocal icon whose influence runs through generations of musicians. This episode is a deeply informed, heartfelt conversation for both music nerds and casual fans.

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Transcript

[Josh Adam Meyers]

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[Wayne Fetterman]

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[Josh Adam Meyers]

Meetings, workshops.

[Wayne Fetterman]

One more Celsius. No slowing down.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Working late, but obviously still meeting the

[Wayne Fetterman]

girls for a little dancing. Celsius live fit.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Go grab a cold refreshing Celsius at

[Wayne Fetterman]

your local retailer or locate [e-mail]. The 500 the 500 JM been walking us down through that 2012 edition, so it ain't nothing too new.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Hundreds more to go.

[Wayne Fetterman]

And in need of a friend. The king of peaceful angelo.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Talking the 500 until he end Talking the 500 until the end with my

[Wayne Fetterman]

man J

[Josh Adam Meyers]

on the 500 Talking the

[Wayne Fetterman]

500 until the end at last.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

My love has come along.

[Wayne Fetterman]

My lonely days

[Josh Adam Meyers]

that is at last the title track Meta James record from 1968 and it's number 119 out of the 500 on the 500 with me. Jam Jam Jam Jam Slam. And I'm going through Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest. All right. As usual, I'm in a hurry. I gotta get on a plane to get out of New York, beat the snowstorm so I can get the Tampa so I can go to Cozumel with the workaholic guys. So I'm having a party everybody. I love you guys. I hope you guys are staying warm. We're having the time of our lives over here on the 500. I got some eggs about to boil. I got lekka. I don't know if she's getting sick, nor do I know if I have enough food for the weekend. But we are going to rock out

[Wayne Fetterman]

with our sock out.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

You can see me live coming up. I'll be in Winnipeg. I will be in Plano, Texas I will be in Nashville. Dates are coming in. Go to Josh Adenmeyers.com for tickets. Oh, and Atlantic City. I will be there April 23rd at the Caesars Casino. Go to my website, Josh ademeyers.com Big shows for Josh. Lots of stuff going on. Josh Ademiers on all social media. Let's get to the podcast, guys. Patreon.com backslash the 500 podcast. Support the show. You know Wayne Fetterman, you love him. He's our favorite. We didn't mean to double dip, but I have to go on this cruise and it fucked up when we could record this, so I promise you it's. It's. Dude, I love me and Wayne. You guys do too, but we. We're not trying to overload you. It just. It's just the way it worked out. It's a hard show to do sometimes. Emily's working her ass off, so thank you, Emily, for being understanding. JT's on his honeymoon. Alex is awesome. Adam doesn't work for us anymore. And Peter, I don't even know. Peter died. Peter's dead, everybody. So, yeah, Wayne Fetterman's all we got. Mel Brooks, 99 year old man, out on HBO. Mizzaks. Go see it. Raid. Review and supportly supportly subscribe to the 500 Listen free on all platforms, anywhere you get your pods. Follow me at Josh Adam Myers and also at the 500 podcast. Email the [e-mail] Follow the Facebook group run by Crazy Evan. And for all things 500, go to the website the500podcast.com not left to say. But here we go with number 119 out of 500 with Etta James. At last. I. Dude. First of all, good morning. Good morning. Morning to you. We were on time, right?

[Wayne Fetterman]

Yes. 9:15am Here, so it's like.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Jesus. Well, it's 12:50. It's early for me. I woke up three minutes ago.

[Wayne Fetterman]

That's what it sounds like. All right, let's do this.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Wait, what? Does it really sound like that?

[Wayne Fetterman]

No, it's fine.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

How does it sound? Good morning to you. All right, you ready to talk about Etta James? Hold on, let me clear my throat. How great was the. The last episode we did improved The.

[Wayne Fetterman]

That was a good one. That was a good one.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Getting together, being in the room, smelling each other's smells, you know, not talking about the Epstein scandal for once. Finally, finally, it's all the rage. It's the new Chipotle.

[Wayne Fetterman]

The Fetterman files.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

What would be in the Fetterman Files, Moby Grapes, Moby Graves, and Professor Long Hair are on the list.

[Wayne Fetterman]

What was that one thing? It was like the.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Wait, dude, you didn't get anything on that? Nothing on that. Nothing on the names. Bobby Blue Bland, is it?

[Wayne Fetterman]

I know. No, but I was trying to think. What was the name of that, like,

[Josh Adam Meyers]

female band on the Fetiment Files?

[Wayne Fetterman]

There's a lot.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

All the records you did, all those people from the past keep popping back up. Suddenly it was connected the whole time this was written. This was written in the Sanskrit from Nebula, the God that the Illuminati worship and drink baby blood too. It has all been written.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Drink Bobby Blue Bland blood. Blood.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Get your green. Green. Because this story is gonna get. This story is gonna get. Cree, Cree. Grab your gree. Gris. It's gonna get creep. Creep.

[Wayne Fetterman]

All right, let me ask you this quick question.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

This question. What's a question? All right, go ahead, hit me.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Someone told me that you used to do a show called Straight Jacket Comedy. Is that true?

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Oh, interesting blast from the past.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Yeah.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

So there was a. There was a sketch group that. That. That Sarah Tiana.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Yeah, that's what I heard.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

You and Sarah pushed me and Byron Bowers and John Huckindu, and we were young comics, and they were more of a. Can I speak freely Sidebar or what? Is it not sidebar? Yeah, sidebar. Sidebar. I want to press the button.

[Wayne Fetterman]

I'll allow it.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

It was kind of a cult. It was kind of like a Ponzi scheme to get the older people to be able to do their sketch group. So we would put the money in, and I think that funded the better sketch group.

[Wayne Fetterman]

You had to pay to be in this thing. How much did you pay? How much did you pay?

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Oh, I think it was like 200 for the year.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Oh, okay. All right. And then. But yeah, yeah, I got it.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

You tally that up between seven, eight members. And I don't think any of the. I mean, it was to rent the studio space, but I think it was mostly just so the older people could have. The older statesman could have their show. How did that get brought up?

[Wayne Fetterman]

I ran into this guy. I can't think of his name. Right. Cameron. Cameron is. He was a comic. I don't know if he still does it, but I was at the Grove last night watching the Baz Luhrmann Elvis movie. It was. Just came out in imax.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Good. Or is it.

[Wayne Fetterman]

You know about any of this?

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Yeah, I mean, I saw it. I thought it was. I don't like Baz. Luhrmann's a little.

[Wayne Fetterman]

No, no, no, no. This is not, this is not the biopic. This is the documentary.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Oh, about the making of it or just about Elvis?

[Wayne Fetterman]

Okay, you don't know anything, obviously. This is huge news in the music world. This documentary is coming out. It's in IMAX right now. Last night it opened up, it's called Epic and it's just lost. It's, look, there's a lot of Elvis footage that's not lost.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Oh, I saw it. I, I, I've seen the things about it. Yes.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So I saw that last night and then I ran into him and I said, I was doing this podcast with you today. He's like, oh, yeah, I used to see him over at the, I don't know what was called the Compost Theater.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Yeah, the straight jacket society dude. We were.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Yeah, I never heard of this side of you. I didn't even know.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

I was like, I mean, I barely, I barely did it, bro. I, I gave the name to the group. I gave the name to the group which was, which was Girth, Wind and Fire.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Okay. Love it, love it, love it.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Yeah, it was me, Byron. I mean, it was so bad. Oh, God, the sketches were garbage.

[Wayne Fetterman]

You're going to go see this Elvis movie or no, you don't care?

[Josh Adam Meyers]

I mean, I'm leaving in, in literally four hours to go to Tampa to get out of New York. It's about to snow again, by the way. Yeah, by the way. I mean, talk about the good luck that I've had. I mean, I'm out. I was out in Calgary, but able to go to California for the first snowstorm here and there is a snowstorm hitting tomorrow. Is going to go for two days. It snow, it just melted here in New York. I showed up and I was like, holy shit, it looks like a regular city again. We're getting a foot of snow on, on Sunday over to Monday.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Oh, good.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

And I'm going to Cozumel now.

[Wayne Fetterman]

No snow there.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

No snow. No snow. But that's where Bobby Blue Bland used to go to, to the Fetterman Island. That's where the Fetterman island was. Yeah, I something even more interesting and I think the, I think the fans will, will really flip out about this. I got, I flew in last night from Los Angeles to New York. I got in at like 8 o' clock and I ran a car because I'm like, oh, it'd be cheaper for me to rent a car. Just go home and then I'll drive to the airport the next day. Dude. As I pull into my street, fire trucks everywhere. The building across the street, on fire. Like, on fire. Not like.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Tell me why the fans would love this. Tell me why. Comedy music.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Look behind the curtain.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Oh, I thought it was gonna be something about a musician, something that fans.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

You know who started it? Dr. John's Grigris.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Oh, I see. I see.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

He said he was disposing of old Grigris, setting them on fire like you do during the. During the Dragon New Year.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Oh, okay. Yeah, yeah, okay.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

He had one of the gre. Burned a lot faster than he thought it would. Caught the curtain on fire.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Was there? Yeah. Okay. Got it.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

John Landow, all the people from the podcast we've learned about over the years. Oh, man. You want to do it or.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Yeah, let's start.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Funny enough, while I. I haven't, you know, ipso facto, I haven't really been listening to Etta James until this record. One of a song that she sang that made famous that Amy Winehouse and Paul Weller had sang called Don't Go to Strangers has moved up. And I just found out that she sang this when I started researching her. She sang the original version of it. It's arguably one of my favorite songs of all time. And have you ever heard that? Don't Go to Strangers?

[Wayne Fetterman]

I only know the Amy Winehouse version. I don't know the other.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

How good is that?

[Wayne Fetterman]

Yeah, very well.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Oh, God. It's like. You might be one of my favorites. She might be. Oh, my God. I'm a. I'm a. I love her. One of my favorite parts of the whole Europe trip. I think I talked about this with you on one of the four straight podcasts we did when I did. When I was in Europe. Remember when you had a residency?

[Wayne Fetterman]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

You were the. You were the Largo. Every Tuesday. Marin show you? Yeah, I. I was taken to a bar in London that was called the Dublin Castle. Oh, yeah, it's Dublin Castle. And it was in Camden Town. And that was, like. That was like, a place that Amy Winehouse had, like, you know, started. Spent a lot of time.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Yeah.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

You know, you said that was where she used to perform, like, once a week. She had a residency there, and I was just so happy. Is that weird that I would like Amy Winehouse?

[Wayne Fetterman]

No, my. She's. She was incredible.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Yeah.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Do you feel like she was too, like, old schooly for you?

[Josh Adam Meyers]

No, I think that's why she was cool. I don't know. I just think it was adding to the mixture of like, you know, I seem like a grizzled old rock star, but in actuality, I know you like Stardust.

[Wayne Fetterman]

I know you like that song.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

I am a crooner, dude. Give me those croons. That sounds weird.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Well, before we go on with Amy Winehouse, it's very interesting. There's a documentary they were doing on the. Her backup band for that Back to Black album called the Dap Kings. Are you familiar with that?

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Oh, it's Sharon. Wasn't that. Yes, I am. I'm. I'm 100. Like ranam salami or something. And Mark Ronson.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Yeah, Ron. Yeah, yeah. So they're in New York, a band. And the reason that you see Amy Winehouse in that documentary, recording with them is because somebody else was doing a documentary about them and recording with. I can't remember the name of that blind singer they used to record with. And they were not impressed with her. They thought she was, like, too much of a knockoff and not a real thing. It was really interesting. Very interesting. And then she becomes an international. I don't want to say superstar.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

She was a superstar from that album, no question.

[Wayne Fetterman]

And there it was just so. It's just always fascinates me, like, when, like, people break for a number of reasons, because she's like a knockoff. This is like Elvis doing the black songs. You know what I mean? This is some Jewish girl from London or out outside London. I think she's. From doing these songs cut to winning Grammy Awards.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

I know, I know.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Doing drugs with her boyfriend and then ultimately dying.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Well, that's the saddest part, is that, you know, it's like. Should have been enormous. She would have been so much. Should have been. Because I think she just would have, like, kept going more into, like, the Tony Bennett and she, like. And. And would have turned into that kind of a, you know, a performer, like, almost like a. Like a rock and roll Adele, you know, where she got, like, a badass streak to her and stuff.

[Wayne Fetterman]

And I mean, obviously she was doing, like. She had the Ron at haircut. She had the, you know, the makeup, the 60s, early 60s look that she adopted as well. So I just. Anyway, it's just a sidebar, but go ahead. You were in London or.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

No, I just. We went to that place. It just was very special. And then when I did one of those, like, Rock and Rol, where the guy is like, you know, this is the home of where rock and roll started. Right here in 1955. A guy buys a Rick and Parker guitar that turns into Ted Panelli and he makes a joke. One of you in this. This lineup could be a rock star. I'm looking at you, grandpa. You look like you've got some rock star in you. What's everybody's favorite band? You, right there. Queen. Great band. What about you, Jumbo Wamba.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Stunning. Stunning.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

All right.

[Wayne Fetterman]

But anyway, it's interesting you bring up Amy Winehouse because she is connected not only through that song, but that she is a vocalist and. But Amy also ended up writing songs which sort of added another whole level. And there's one song on this album called At Last. The name of the album is called At Last that Etta James co wrote. And it's. It's again, I don't want to spoil it, but it's going to be my. The one you should skip over. Of all the songs.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Oh, bro, bro, I don't want to do it.

[Wayne Fetterman]

I'm not saying the name of the song. So unless you know the track list thing.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

You're talking about the. You're talking about the greatest wedding song of all time. Are you talking about the song that I had on a playlist on a CD? Every wedding I DJed, I would get a CD from Mike and Steve Lampiris. The DJ, ultrasound DJ. I told you about those guys, right? Yes, the two Greek guys that were like super religious, but they also didn't think they'd be like, you know, Jesus. The Jesus is real. And just so you know, evolution didn't happen.

[Wayne Fetterman]

So wait, what are you saying? The Greatest Loves. Is it anything?

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Are you kidding? You don't me. You want me to say it?

[Wayne Fetterman]

Yeah.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

At Last.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Yeah, I'm not talking about At Last. She didn't write At Last.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

No, I know, but I'm just. Oh, I thought that's what we were talking about. You're saying that's. Oh, okay, okay.

[Wayne Fetterman]

I'm sorry if I said that wrong. Yeah, yeah.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

You made me think that's who you were talking about. I was talking about the greatest wedding song of all time.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Oh, At Last is. What do you. It's her most famous iconic song and I'm happy to talk about it last a little bit when we get there.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

You don't have to get in there, but I was just saying that that is like. That is such an important song. I thought that would be the one you skip over because you've heard it so much because it's closed more open bars than the Last call in Boston.

[Wayne Fetterman]

I understand it's closing time. Who did that?

[Josh Adam Meyers]

That is actually a biggie. Yeah.

[Wayne Fetterman]

What is that song? Who did that?

[Josh Adam Meyers]

That's super. I also like Last Dance by Donna Summers.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Yeah, that's a good.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

The last dance. But then last day. Imagine writing. I'd imagine writing, like, the perfect joke, and it kills for 40 years. And then so every show, somebody's like, do the wedding song bit thing. Do the. That's what. That's like. That's what Etta James is.

[Wayne Fetterman]

No, no, I disagree. I just think at last. Never gets. I never get tired. She.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

She got tired of singing.

[Wayne Fetterman]

She doesn't. Who. Look, the Eagles get tired of singing. Take it easy. It's like, that's. That's the nature of having a hit song. Here's something you should know about me. I never blame a song for being popular. Like, some people are like, I can't listen to Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit because I've heard it too many times. Like that. You're an idiot for saying that. Just stop. Just turn off the radio if you don't want to hear it. But it's. You can't blame a song for being popular and getting a lot of airplay. That's stupid. Yeah, that's stupid. Like, oh, that song sucks. Why? I've heard it too much. All right, well, now we're not even talking. Now I'm talking to an idiot. And so I would never say. I would never say I've heard that song too many times, and that's why it's no good.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Now I'm talking to an idiot.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Now I'm talking to.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

That's the most I've ever heard you cuss.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Sorry.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Now I've got.

[Wayne Fetterman]

I'm early. This is why you don't like to do podcasts this early in the morning.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

You think I do? I Woke up at 12.

[Wayne Fetterman]

I woke up at 7. Okay, here we go.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Do you have breakfast already?

[Wayne Fetterman]

Let's keep moving. Let's keep moving.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

But did you have. I haven't had breakfast yet. Or coffee.

[Wayne Fetterman]

I don't drink coffee, so there. No, I haven't really. Never touch. Go. I don't drink any, like, really adult beverages. As a rule. As a rule. Drink alcohol. You ever see me drink beer? Can you imagine me drinking beer? Just think about it. Just think about it. Like, oh, let me. There you go. There you go.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

I can see you.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Really? You can see me like, oh, let me have a Tom Collins. Yeah, fix that up. I love that.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

That's the drinks you're going for?

[Wayne Fetterman]

I don't know. Let me think of another one. Let me.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

I'll Do a sarsaparilla.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Gin and ton. I don't know.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

You know, it's like you're not drinking a gin and tonic. That's a man drink. You're drinking a Foo Foo daiquiri. You have more fruit in your glass coming out of it.

[Wayne Fetterman]

I don't drink alcohol and I don't drink coffee.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

And yet. And yet. And yet. And yet. You're going to smoke crack with me. According to.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Yeah. As we get closer to the when, May, maybe for the number one, because

[Josh Adam Meyers]

when Paul McCartney drops out of Sergeant Pepper, who you're going to call Wayne Fetterman. When a black guy dropped out and you need a guest. Who could it be? Wayne Fetterman. Bobby Blue Bland. Ain't nobody know him. All right, so who would get the call?

[Wayne Fetterman]

Let's get to this album. Let's get to this album because you got a flight to catch.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

I have to. I have to. I packed pretty much last night, but. Okay. What do you think would be the best way to start this? How do we. What do you want to. What do you want to dive into?

[Wayne Fetterman]

I'd like to start with that last. Let's start with that last. The type. Which is weird. And I can't think of an album again. I'm sure there is an example where the title track of the album, the album is called At Last is the second song on the B side of the record. It just doesn't make any sense. Not even the first song on the album is not the second. It's on the B side. Second side, second song. What do you make of that?

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Oh, I mean, maybe. Maybe they. She didn't think it was going to. It had the legs.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Or maybe it's the name of the album.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

I guess you're right.

[Wayne Fetterman]

I don't know what to say. It's not even.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

It's a little early for me. I just.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Okay, okay, okay.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

I.

[Wayne Fetterman]

It's like Sgt. Peppers, if it was. Yes, there's a reprise of it on side B, but it kicks off the album.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

You know, I don't know. Why would they do that?

[Wayne Fetterman]

All right, well, first of all, you know, this is a. This is Chess Records. There's two Polish Jewish guys in Chicago who recorded all those great blues artists that we've talked about many times. Muddy Waters and stuff. Willie Dixon, right there, was the house songwriter, the whole thing. And so when they recorded her, they started a subsidiary to Chess Records, because this has a slightly different feel than the blues records, which is what they were known for.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Yes.

[Wayne Fetterman]

So. So this is On. I don't know what the name of the label. Argo or something. Is it. Or. I think it is Argo or Go.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Argo subsidiary.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's on Argo. So it was. So this is not a Bo Diddley record. This is not a Howlin Wolf record. This is like. Oh. This is a vocalist very much in the. In the tradition of Ella Fitzgerald and Dinah Washington and Peggy Lee and later our buddy, you know, Amy Winehouse. Like, it's. It's all part of that world of a vocalist. They don't really write. Although Amy did write some songs. They mainly interpret songs. And she's from that. That side of it. And that's our Etta James, who, by the way, I mean, you just think about how hard these life. She's from. She's from LA. She was born in Watts. Her mom was 14 years old when she had her pregnant at 13.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Jesus.

[Wayne Fetterman]

The dad didn't know the dad, so I don't know if it was just.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

She had tough life. Yeah. I saw, like. Struggled with heroin addiction during parts of her career.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Yeah, yeah.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

But. But known, you know, known for being fiery, funny and completely unfiltered. She was a. She was a. She was a firecracker.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Yeah.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

She also had tension with Chess over creative direction and money. So she'd been fighting a lot. I think that's why you then resent this song, because this is the one that made you. And you're fiery and feisty and unfiltered again.

[Wayne Fetterman]

I mean, the Chess, right, they would do this thing where they would. If one of their artists had a number one hit or something, they buy them a Cadillac or something, like, very. But then take it out of future royalties. The cost of that car. That was their move. Leonard and his buddy, his brother. Well, Leonard Chess out of Chicago. But again, they, you know, they laid down some of the most important tracks in the history of music.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

James, Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry, Little Walter, Howlin Wolf, Muddy Waters. I mean, without that, you don't have the British Invasion.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Yeah. I mean, the Rolling Stones are named after a Muddy Water song.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

So it's all obsessed with them. All. They love. They love.

[Wayne Fetterman]

It was the electrified. Remember we talked about it. The electrified blues from the Delta came up. Even though B.B. king is like. We were doing our own electrified blues in Memphis. Don't overlook what we were doing as well.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Yeah. And I. And I did. You're surprised. But I did do a little bit of research about Chess, and they were like the anti. They were like, for everything I Read is like they were like the anti Motown. You know what I mean?

[Wayne Fetterman]

Instead of like Motown.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

I know, but there. But the sound wasn't polished like Motown, like you would say. It was like. It was like loud amps, the bleeding microphone. You could hear. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Room noise, urgency.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Yeah. No question. Very raw. Raw is the word I would use to describe, which is why this album is so lush and filled with strings. Is like. It's on the Argo. Did you ever see that movie Argo?

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Who didn't?

[Wayne Fetterman]

Come on.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Oscar winner Ben Affleck really come into his own as a director. Oh, I'm all about. I love Ben Affleck, dude. I love bearded Ben Affleck when he has the beard that, you know. You know it's going to be a good movie.

[Wayne Fetterman]

He's good. He's good. I love that movie. But the big line, it was Argo yourself. Do you remember that?

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Oh, my God. I can't believe. No, no adult drinks and no swears.

[Wayne Fetterman]

I don't like to swear, but I. I'm quoting a movie, so I have to.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

That's the loophole. So that's so Edda. Edda would. Would, you know, fit in that way? I guess.

[Wayne Fetterman]

No, no. They saw in her. I think they saw in her a Dinah Washington is what I. That's my.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Maybe they. They thought she would be their crooner. Like, this will be our. This will be our. This will be our. Our beauty that we can, like, put forward and. Or Diana Ross almost. But I mean.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Yeah. And then later. Yeah, yeah. But it's interesting because one of the tracks on this album is written by Barry Gordy, who goes on to found Motown Records in Detroit.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Good old Barry, dude.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Yeah. So I'm just saying there is a connection to that. To that world. To that world a little bit. But, yes, Motown was all about getting Black Ax into Vegas, onto the Ed Sullivan show, all of that stuff. Yeah. I don't think Muddy Waters did the Ed Sullivan show, although Bo Diddley did do a couple, so. But they were very polished. That sound over there in Detroit. No question. Yeah. So, yeah, So I think they were trying. They found this singer and she. She had already recorded in la. I mean, she already had like, a little. There's one of her songs is in the movie. Oh, man. Can't remember the name of it, but I'm sure you've seen the movie Back to the Future. It's a Robert Zemeckis movie.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Heard of it?

[Wayne Fetterman]

Yep. But it's playing in that. When they go back to the 50s. I don't want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it, but when they go back to the 50s, there's a scene in that, like, not coffee shop, like that pop shop or what is, what is it called? Like, you know where.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Oh, that, like the soda shop. Like a soda shop.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Yeah, exactly, exactly. Well, the whole story is he meets his, his own dad, who he sees him as a teenager and gets, Tries to get him to obviously date the girl. I'm trying to think of his mom.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

His mom.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So he writes this thing, you are my destiny. And he messes up. But the song playing is a Etta James song from the 50s, before she was with Argo Records. And in the background of that movie. You are my destory. Or what is it? What does he say in that scene? If you have any idea what I'm talking about.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Destiny, Destiny. There is no escaping me. Destiny. That's from.

[Wayne Fetterman]

It's not it at all. Okay.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Do you know that, you know what that's from, though? Wait, do you know what that's from?

[Wayne Fetterman]

No. What is that?

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Did you just work on a Mel Brooks documentary?

[Wayne Fetterman]

Yes. Is it a Mel Brooks?

[Josh Adam Meyers]

It's from, it's from Young Frankenstein.

[Wayne Fetterman]

What?

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Destiny. Destiny. Gene Wilder yelling at a young Frankenstein. He has the nightmare. Okay, let's say it. Destiny. I. Never mind. You don't even. Never know what I'm talking about.

[Wayne Fetterman]

I know it is very familiar with that movie for some reason. I don't know. I know that.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

I was so happy to see this record, especially after some of the muck we've had coming up. I mean, it's, it's just, what a great, great record, you know? Are you a fan of Etta James, or are you just doing this because I needed you to, to step in and really, I am.

[Wayne Fetterman]

I, I, I didn't know the. I only knew the single. I didn't know this album. So I dived into it a little bit. And of course, I'm always fascinated by where these songs came from. And like I said earlier, the one song you're going to skip is Etta James, the song Etta James wrote on this album, which we'll get to later as we go track by track, if we want to.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

I don't know if we'll get there, but let's. I feel like we should tell everybody about who Etta James was, you know, Bourne. James. Etta Hawkins.

[Wayne Fetterman]

James. Etta. One word.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

James. Etta Hawkins. Yep.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Yeah, yeah.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Brands it, flips it to Etta James.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Yeah. She flips that name and again, she doesn't know her dad. Her mom's 14. Eventually she has to go up to San Francisco, I think, to live with like cousins and things like that. She was just like tossed around a lot as a kid. But I think up in San Francisco, or maybe probably Oakland, she meets up with other people who can sing. Obviously, all of these people learn to sing in church. Elvis Presley learns to sing in church. Of all the. I know people have a lot of anti religious bent, but come on. The music that came out of church is just. Is it worth it? Maybe not. Maybe not. But. Oh, my God, is so good.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Is. Yeah. It's like. I mean, I am looking at just like a little timeline of her life. It's like. So she's. You see, you mentioned the father. Her father's a pool shark. Yeah. They push our legend. Rumored she's The Prodigy. At 17, she records the Wallflower.

[Wayne Fetterman]

That's the song. That's the song that's in Back to the Future.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Okay. Yeah. An answer to a song, Hank. Ballad's Work With Me Annie. What is that? What does Work with me? It's roll. It's like AKA Roll With Me, Henry. In answer to Hank Ballard's Work With Me Annie.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Yeah. Another song. Yeah. I don't know either one of those songs.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Suggestive enough to cause radio controversy. She started her career mildly scandalous, it says. And then in the early 60s, already is battling heroin, in and out of rehab.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Wow.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

She's got like a really.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Yeah. She ends up going to jail. She was arrested for stealing. She's like. Yeah. She is a real street urchin kind of woman who just had a. I mean, just. There's a word called hardscrabble. I know that sounds like. Obviously scrabble is hard. There's words in it. But hardscrabble life, no question. No question.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

It's a hard scrabble life to me. Let's go sing the wallflower and sing. And we're gonna fight and do heroin. Come on, James. James Hawkins.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Yeah. So that's. And. And then she gets discovered. Not just. I mean, she was discovered already for. I think she recorded for Monarch Records here. And then the Chess brothers decide to sign her. And this is her debut album. This is it. This is how they launch it. But I really feel like they're like, okay, we're going to use a local bandleader to create these. Very lush. Would you describe these arrangements as lush? They're all loaded with strings and the kind of almost like. Yeah, yeah. So almost like something Columbia Records would do.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

So. So my question to you.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Yeah.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Which we have to ask every show.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Yeah.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Is why. Is this on the record? Is this. Is this because this turned. Is this because it turned Chess Records into like, a More. What's the word I'm looking for? Like, they at least solidified them. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, if they're doing. All those other guys are still on the. On the black. You know, I don't call the chitlin circuit, but you know what I mean? With the equivalent of that. Or is that. Is that the truth? Is that the chitlin circuit?

[Wayne Fetterman]

Yeah. All of those guys are howlin wolf. All of those guys are playing a

[Josh Adam Meyers]

chitlin circuit, so I assume she has to, too. But now she is.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Yeah.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

But she's got a hit that, like, white people like. And when white people like it, you know, that's what. That's how the world goes round. If a white person likes you, you'll be just fine.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Yeah. And again, there was another singer at the time called. Who Had Her.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Who.

[Wayne Fetterman]

One of her arrangers was young Quincy Jones, called Dinah Washington. And they cover the same songs a lot, so they all do the same. A lot of them are standards from the 40s and the 50s, even earlier. Last, I believe is. No, that's from the 40s, but there's songs she does from the 30s. It's really. It's really interesting, like what they grabbed from the past to make new. And also in these arrangements, there's always underneath it a piano going, like, in six, eight, time, like, That's in At Last. And most of the songs on this album. So that was a very 50s kind of sound. Even though the song this all came out in 1960. Blue moon. Yeah, that's. That was like, very much the trope of the day for kids music, for young people's music. So they. It was like a merge of those two sounds. And I think the guy's name I'm looking at right now, not Lionel Hampton, but Riley Hampton, was the arranger and the orchestra leader. And I believe Floyd Morris was the piano player, like, a lot of that.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

But. But. Yeah, but I still.

[Wayne Fetterman]

So.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

So, you know, I guess there is, like. You know, there's a. I would say it's the. We mentioned the Cross records. She's turning a blue. They're turning a blue singer into, like. I guess. And this makes her a cultural icon, a crossover icon. Crossover. She's. It's taking blue singers into more like, pop space and, you know, she's like. We said, it's a. You could be like. Because you get, like, especially feeling what she's saying and knowing what she has been through. You get this grit and then this, like, elegance.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Yeah, it was that combination very well. Very well placed. Yeah.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

So. And then you get something very real about her.

[Wayne Fetterman]

There's something just very real in.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Yeah, she's got soul. She's got soul in her voice. And it's. But it. And it's. And so it could almost be. It's. It's almost like.

[Wayne Fetterman]

It's like pop soul music is the way.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Yes. It's not. And not losing any of the depth of that.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Not at all. Not at all. Yeah. And. But this was her big hit and. And what. For the rest of her career. To the point. Do you know the Beyonce Story?

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Perform this at the. At the Obama inaugural ball.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Yeah. And Etta was not happy because.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Oh, I didn't know that.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Oh, yeah, yeah. She said some very derogatory things about Beyonce at the time. She's like, I'm alive. I could be singing this. I don't know what. What you're doing here. And so. Yeah. But then Beyonce does a movie called. I think it's called Cadillac Records or something like that. That is the Etta James Story. Like, basically plays her in a movie. And I will say, with all respect to Beyonce, Beyonce never clapped back, never said anything, was above it all. I think she probably even understood where Etta was coming from. So. Yeah, Beyonce's versions of these songs are great. And in the movie, they imply that Etta James had an affair with one of the two Chess brothers.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Scandalous. Yes, I know you've heard it here first, everybody.

[Wayne Fetterman]

That's a. I know I did see that movie. So it's. It's pretty good. I mean, Beyonce freaking great.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

She's a men. She's a men.

[Wayne Fetterman]

So good. Beyonce, you're listening. I'm a fan of yours.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

So he's a huge fan. That's a. That's a big. It's a big co sign. Beyonce, you know, you really get. Getting co signed by Wayne Fetterman can take you to the next level.

[Wayne Fetterman]

And you know, you're in. The. Next thing you know, you're in the Fetterman Files. Not a charter member, but you'll be in the finals.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

The Fetterman Files. Tonight on msnbc, Rachel Maddow will go deep.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Yes. So what year. So that's 2008. Is that when he's.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Yeah, yeah. What's going on?

[Wayne Fetterman]

Yeah.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

So. But what's going on in music when this is released? You know, you've got. I'm looking over.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Well, this is the weird era of music, which is after the birth of rock and roll. And that kind of fizzles out for a number of reasons. Elvis goes into the army, Little Richard becomes a preacher. And Jerry Lee Lewis is arrested because he married a 13 year old. His 13 year old cousin or so like it was like rock and roll was sort of like, oh, this is going to be like a fad, like calypso. And so the music industry was still trying to figure out there was a lot of produced albums like betting like up on the Roof or Stand By Me or At Last. And then there was the Italian singers that were like, you know, kind of created out of Philadelphia. And then it wasn't until the Beatles came along that was like, oh, rock and roll is back. And this is how you do it. You and your buddies start a band and that. That sort of changed everything. But this is the in between era. The in between. This is when Motown starts kicking in. And Tam, they had a. Obviously we talked about Motown many times when we did Smokey. It's Smokey, Remember that?

[Josh Adam Meyers]

It's Smokey.

[Wayne Fetterman]

It's exactly. So we talked about all of that and you know, the. The voice of Young America or whatever I think was what Motown called themselves. Their Tamla records and girl groups were very big at this time. Mr. Postman. The Beatles heard those like, hey, we could do these vocal harmonies. This is awesome. So this is a very. It's kind of an in between. I actually like this era of pop music, but it's always derided as not. They always play like whenever they do A history of Music, they always play Patti Page's How Much Is that Doggy in the Window, which was just a novelty song of the time. But they always make it seem like that was all anyone was listening to. And there was a lot of incredible music.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Including Ray Charles. Right, Ray Charles. He's already starting to blend the gospel in the R and B at this point. Right, And Elmis.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Yeah, yeah. And Elvis starting to come back. But it's not like the rock and roll Elvis that he was in the. During the Chess record era. And then he starts making movies. He goes into movies and stops performing. And that's what this movie I saw last night, Elvis Epic, was all about, was him. His return to Vegas excuse. Not, I guess it was a return because he was there in the 50s. But his big residency at the International Hotel and what's Always interesting to me. You see his name up there with, you know, the backup groups and all of that, under the musical direction of so and so and then opening act Sammy Shore. It's really fun to see his name up there. I was like, what a cool connection to Josh Adam Myers, who performs in Sammy's old club quite a bit.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Oh, yeah, right. Good old Sammy Shore.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Did you know him at all?

[Josh Adam Meyers]

No, I. I performed in front of Mitzi once.

[Wayne Fetterman]

You did? Okay, okay, I did.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

I did. She was, like, out of it, though, man. Like, it wasn't.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Yeah, yeah. So, yeah, so that's the. That's the era we're. We're in where she has this much and I. It's so interesting you have this connection as a dj that you were forced to play this at almost every wedding, right? Is this correct? Is this what you're telling me?

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Yes, I used to play this everywhere. I used to play this at fucking every wedding, every retirement party, every. It's just. I. I mean, this was the. On my. On my thing. It was just the.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Give me a couple others on that list. Just that of, like.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

I mean, my dinner music. Like, dinner music. You would play, like. I would do, like, Kind of Blue. It would be like, l is for

[Wayne Fetterman]

the way you look that King Cole.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Then you would do some. Others I've seen. Might never be mean, might never be cross Tried to be boss, they wouldn't do it.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Had to be you. I assume that's the new version of it from that kid from New Orleans. What's his name?

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Harry Connick.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Yes, Harry Connick Jr. Why can't I think of that dude's name? So big. He did that great soundtrack for When Harry Met Sally.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Yeah.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Rest in Peace, Rob Reiner.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Ah, Robbie.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Yeah. What else? So those were the big ones.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

I wish I could remember. Like, let me see. Let me just take a look at, like.

[Wayne Fetterman]

No, no. Oh, I just meant out of your memory.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

If, you know, I just. I. You know, like, I just. I can tell you because if I just look at a playlist that somebody would make, you know, these are all, like. Now these are playing more of the dancey songs. It just was all over the place. I. I mean, dude, I got pretty lazy and I just had a cd. I mean, and they. Maybe they would make me, like. Like Stephen Mike would make me a CD for everybody. But it was like, sometimes I found some really good songs in there. There was one that I found called Of Fortune by. Oh, what is her name? Oh. Wheel of Fortune by K West. K West. K Star.

[Wayne Fetterman]

K Star. Another. Exactly. A great example of a vocalist from that era that was competing with Etta and Ella Fitzgerald and Dinah Washing. K Star, no question. Peggy Lee. Yeah. Female vocalists were. This is a big era for female. And by the way, I feel like we're in the female vocalist era now. No questions asked. Much more than the guys. When I look at who's selling out stadiums and doing big tours, it's mainly women, right?

[Josh Adam Meyers]

I mean, kind of Oasis.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Yes. Oasis does a reunion tour and that did great. But I'm talking about Taylor Swift and Dua Lipa. Sabrina Carpenter.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Oh, yeah, they're killing it. Women are always big, man. Because women love to go see females in concerts. Like, Lady Gaga was sold out, of course.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Yeah. She was playing stadiums. Right.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

And, bro, I wanted to go to that show too. It was so expensive. Like, it was. It was crazy. Like, I get. I get tickets through Live Nation.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Yeah.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

You know, I could go through. I have a bunch of plugs I can. People I can hit up and. And I. Usually it'll be comp. Or they'll be like, oh, they'll be like, we can't comp you, but you can pay face value for an incredible, like, ticket. Yeah, it'll be like 150 bucks, sometimes 250. The. The comp. Ticket price. $430.

[Wayne Fetterman]

You mean the face per ticket?

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Face value, yeah.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Comp.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Ticket price.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Comp ticket means free ticket.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

No, but that's. That's like, it's. Yeah, okay. You know what I meant.

[Wayne Fetterman]

You're right.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

No, you're right.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Yeah, I'm just.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

No, you're right. No, you are. You are right. I am? Yeah, I am.

[Wayne Fetterman]

450 bucks I got. Yeah, No, I mean, how high can they go? That's my question. Like, is it going to be like an $1800 concert? Is it going to be a normal thing soon?

[Josh Adam Meyers]

I think eventually it's going to. The bubble will pop. Yeah.

[Wayne Fetterman]

I mean, it's like, it's. But they sell out. They sell these tickets. I mean, hey, free market. Free market, baby. Like, what is the demand? What is the demand for the ticket? And it's a lot to see. Lady Gaga, one of my favorites. She doesn't do Brown Eyes on the store. That's why I'm not going to see the show.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Really?

[Wayne Fetterman]

No, I'm kidding. But I do love that song. I. This is what. This is. This. This is my problem with Gaga in concert. She does the. Telling the audience what to do. And I. It really bugs me.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

What are you. What Are you talking about me?

[Wayne Fetterman]

When an artist tells the audience well how to react to her song. Get up, put your hands together. Did it. I don't. I like any of that. Just do your song, and if it's great, we'll be up and we'll be going nuts. Don't worry about. Would be like, if. Yeah.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

So you hate when somebody goes like that. I. I telling you to do that.

[Wayne Fetterman]

I don't. You know, sometimes I see the backups thing. Doing that to get the people going.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Interesting. What a weird thing to. To put a. I know, man. Get off my lawn. Don't tell me.

[Wayne Fetterman]

No, it's. Why you again? I. I kind of understand it maybe at the beginning of the concert, like when you do your. Your show and you're like, hey, we're gonna get up for the thing, for the songs and all of that, and the more energy you get, the more, like. I don't mind explaining. Especially because you do a hybrid comedy music show. Like, what this is. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about somebody who's just like. You love it when someone says, put your hands up in the air. Like you just don't care. Like, why? Well, first of all, I do care. And second, why? What if I want. What if I don't want to put my hands. What if I want to naturally put my hands up? Now I feel like I'm having to listen to you. You feel like this is wrong for me?

[Josh Adam Meyers]

I don't think so. I think you're. I think you can. You can have your.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Tell me, tell me, tell me.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Crazy, dude. It's like, with the fun we do at concerts, you're anti that.

[Wayne Fetterman]

I love concerts. I just don't like it being micromanaged. Get up, sit down, Put your hand, say, yeah, you like?

[Josh Adam Meyers]

All right.

[Wayne Fetterman]

You like all of that stuff?

[Josh Adam Meyers]

I do. I love all of it. I love a good concert. Like, throw your hands in the air. Throw your hands in the air. Come on, Potter people. Throw your hands in there. I love that kind of shit.

[Wayne Fetterman]

All right, all right. We dip. We differ. I like Aerosmith.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Is that bad?

[Wayne Fetterman]

I like Arrowsmith. They do a show, they do a show. You react the way you want to react. I was great when I met you. Now I.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

I do like Aerosmith, too. I can't lie.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Could you imagine Robert Plant going, hey, trampled underfoot. Everyone together. Come on. What are we talking about?

[Josh Adam Meyers]

All right.

[Wayne Fetterman]

I know it sounds curmudgeonly.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

All right, spell it and we're go buying A S, T, A I, R, W, A Y. Does anybody remember A I, R, Y, A Y, W? I suppose I didn't smell Stairway. Right.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Can I say another. Let's get back to edit James, for a second, instead of my ranting about put your hands in the air, like, you know, just. You don't just care. What is it? Put your hands in the air.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Your hands in the air. You just don't care.

[Wayne Fetterman]

You just don't care. Okay, there's another song she does on this album. I'm going to look at the track list right now. First song, side B. Very interesting tune called I Just want to make Love to you. Are you familiar with this song?

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Yes, of course.

[Wayne Fetterman]

I don't want to work on day. I don't want. Not only is. First of all, it's a. Willie Dixon wrote it. Muddy Water song, obviously. A blue song. Incredible, right? Like classic Chess song. Big hit.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Classic.

[Wayne Fetterman]

She covers it on her debut album, I just want to make love to you. Then the Rolling Stones cover it on their debut album, the Rolling Stones. And then my favorite version of it covered on their debut album, Fog Hat did. Also covered I Just want to make love to you. And our buddy Adam Sandler used to open those when he would do that tour. God, what years is that? When he had the band he would open his shows with. I just want to make love to you. It's one of the greatest. Willie Dixon, I know you've passed away, but Hat. Hat on half tip of my hat to you, or I just want to make love to you. And I just. I actually like. I like the Rolling Stone. I like every version of it. I like Ed, his version of it. But the muddy version is. But the Fog out version is off for me again for stupid rocker who grew up in Florida. So. So, yeah, you. And you don't know that song. That's so interesting to me.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

I know. I. No, I do know it. I said I do know it.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Oh, you do know. Okay.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Yeah, I said that.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Oh, I didn't hear it. Didn't hear it. Sorry. And is there any other songs that you like in on this album? You've only listened?

[Josh Adam Meyers]

I, I, I. First of all, a lot of it's. A lot of it sounded the same, but it's not in a bad way. I mean, it's a very, very, very chill record. I loved Stormy Weather. Obviously. I did like Tough Mary. No, no, Tough Mary. I like the one before that. I'm sorry. A Sunday. A Sunday kind of Love.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Oh, yeah. These are, these are standards. These Are absolute standards. Obviously. Louis Prima, I think you know him, right? Was one of the co writers of Sunday Kind of Love.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Mm.

[Wayne Fetterman]

I'm just a gigolo.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

That was his big love, that song, dude.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Then it goes into. With Kelly Smith. I Ain't got no but.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Yeah, I mean, it's. Dude, it's this. The movie. I keep calling the movie the. The. The. At Last is a great song. I love her. You know, it. Like I said, it doesn't feel fake at all. It feels like you're getting a real singer and it really made. I don't know, it's like. It's very, like. It's very adult love. It didn't feel childish at all in this record.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Oh, no, no, no. This is. I mean, the. The. I would. The one song I would say to beg you to listen to one more time is the first song on the album. It's called Anything to say you're mine. And it's such an aching story of this girl who's sitting, waiting for her boyfriend to write her a letter when he goes away, and she's just slowly realizing, oh, my God, he's not in love with me. Oh, it's just. It's beyond great. I thought that should have been. I don't know. I mean, obviously At Last is a simpler song, but that's my second favorite song on the album. There's nothing even close, in my opinion, to that song. That song is so pretty heartbreaking. Incredible. And you can feel. I mean, the amount of time she's been wronged or some dude slept with her and walked away. And whatever ed his life was. I mean, it all comes out. And then at points he's like, almost like, wailing in that tune. It is. It is as emotional as you can get as a singer, in my opinion. That song. That song. So that's. That's incredible. I mean, look, I. Like a Sunday kind of love. I mean, obviously it's been. I've heard 20 versions of that song, and it's. What a great lyric about, you know. You know what that song is. It's like, oh, I want to be with somebody that wants to be me with me on Sunday, as opposed to just Saturday night. That's the kind of love where you're having your coffee, your famous coffee.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

You want to do the final and get you out of here so you can go play some basketball?

[Wayne Fetterman]

Yeah, yeah. I mean, I know you got a flight to catch also, but I. I gotta.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Yeah, I've kind of packed, but I'm packing for a Cruise. So it's really not that hard to pack. You know what I mean? It's just like shorts, tank tops, like one pair of pants.

[Wayne Fetterman]

I love that you're getting out of Dodge right before this snowstorm.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

God blesses everyone, right? I mean, the universe is working in your favor. And for me, always a pleasure. Wayne.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Thank you. Thank you. No, I. Can I say one quick thing about At Last, which is, and I know this might be too deep a dive and you can cut this out, but it's written by Harry Warren, who's one of my favorite songwriters of all time, and he wrote it for a movie he was like on in contract at these big movie studios in the. Starting in the 30s, and he used to write with his partner Al Dubin, all of these like depression era songs like Shuffle off to Buffalo, 42nd street, come on Here, those Dancing, we're in the Money, all of those phenomenally catchy tunes. And. And then he ends up writing At Last for the Glenn Miller Orchestra and reinterpreted by this guy, Mr. Riley's orchestra and Etta James. And I just. I love the. Harry Warren is involved with this song on any level at all. If you, if you ever look at his list of songs he wrote, just crazy, but mainly always not out of inspiration, but out of like, oh, we need a song for this part of the movie. And then he would write something like just total work, work, working workman.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Like, we love you, buddy. Congrats, Herb Albert, everybody. His name Harry Warren.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Harry Warren. He's long dead, but yeah, yeah, Harry Warren.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Big shout out to him. All right, Wayne, you want to do the finals?

[Wayne Fetterman]

Yeah, I'm ready.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Here we go. All right. Favorite song?

[Wayne Fetterman]

Well, my two favorites are At Last and Anything to say, you're Mine. Those are my two favorite. How about you?

[Josh Adam Meyers]

At Last. At Last. I mean, it's. It's just so good. And I was.

[Wayne Fetterman]

You like Harry Warren music?

[Josh Adam Meyers]

I love him. I love her. Herb. Hal Templeton, my old wood shop teacher in high school.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Yeah.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Okay, what do you hate? You hate the Etta James song, right?

[Wayne Fetterman]

Yes. I don't like Rough what I'm looking at. Right. Tough Mary, Tough Mary. I think again, all of these tracks are excellent. Like, this is a really well curated, put together arranged album. And. But that, that one that she wrote, I don't know if she begged. It's like I gotta get some songwriting credit on this so I can get some royalties or something. But I know people like it. I was reading the comments and people love this, this song. But compared To a Sunday Kind of Love or Stormy Weather. You know, I, I just feel like it's not quite in that, but it's good. It's great.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Good song. Can you, can you, can you skid doodly do? Well, yes, yes, yes. You can neck. You can neck. You can have a pet. You can neck and have a pet. Yeah, well, I mean, I mean, literally,

[Wayne Fetterman]

there's a song called I Just Want to Make Love to you. We just spoke about it at length, and that song is about hooking up, so. Yeah.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

What is.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Yeah, that song is about hooking up. I just want to make love to you. I don't.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Yeah, this is, you just want, this is like, if you, but if you're going to make love to this album, you got to do it really on a record player. So you can hear that, you hear that little crack.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Let me hear it. Let me hear it again.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Let me do my mouth. So dry. Hold on a second.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Okay. Yeah, yeah. You know what we call that? Surface crackle.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

I love it. I think I, I. Yes, for God. I mean, I'm gonna play this hopefully on the cruise, you know, I'm gonna meet a nice little workaholic girly and fall in love. You know, we always ask the, the, the guest this, and I think we've already said it, but how would you get someone to get to listen to this? How do you sum it up?

[Wayne Fetterman]

Oh, it's an easy. That's. Couldn't be. That's the easiest question you asked all day. There's a monster standard called At Last, featuring the vocals of Etta James. If you would like to hear her interpret some other songs at this point early in her life, check out the album. Almost every track is beautifully arranged and, and sung. And if you like emotional soul singers singing standards, this is your jam. If you like Dinah Washington or Elephant Shell or anything like that, or Peggy Lee or your buddy K Star, check out this album. And, and if you happen to be a music aficionado and want to know how a record label expands its base and becomes not just a blues thing, but, hey, this is. Now we're getting into more. This is also very interesting about Chicago in 1960.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

I think, I think.

[Wayne Fetterman]

What about you?

[Josh Adam Meyers]

I would say, I would say from everything that I read, that it is, for me, this is. If you want to hear the, the, the. A masterclass in singing and you hear why it's the Etta James is even remotely talked about or in the Rock and Roll hall of Fame. And I think for, and look, I mean, look Obviously, she inspired Beyonce, she inspired Mariah Carey, she inspired all of these greats that you listen to. So of all the soul singers like Alicia Keys, everybody that you love, they loved Etta James and, and I think you.

[Wayne Fetterman]

And even Amy Winehouse. Even Amy Wine.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Oh, without a doubt. Without a doubt. And I think, I think so I'd say to a younger person that's never listened to this, I go, you want to hear all this? All the female singers you love now, the black ones? Yeah. Etta Blues elegance, raw. I love you, Wayne. Thank you for. Thank you for coming on per usual. What do you, what do you think you're going to score today in basketball?

[Wayne Fetterman]

Oh, I don't know. I'm dealing. This is a sad story.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

No, don't say it, don't say it.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Yeah, I'm dealing with some physical stuff for the first time. First time really in my life. So it's. We'll see.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Peptides, dude. Peptides, Peptides, peptides. You need BPC157. You need some. Dude, I'm telling you, I don't even

[Wayne Fetterman]

know what you're talking about.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Don't worry about it. I'll get you some. I love you, buddy.

[Wayne Fetterman]

All right. I love you too. Have a great trip. When will we see you? When will you return?

[Josh Adam Meyers]

You'll be back on next week when you do the African Singers of Nimbutu vocal group. So be prepared. Okay, I'll be back. I'll be back on Thursday. So just, just four days. So if. And I'm bringing Lekka, so.

[Wayne Fetterman]

Okay. Have a great trip, kid.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

What I tell you? What I tell you. The one and only Wayne Fetterham. Follow him on Instagram at instafetterman. Go to Wayne fetterman.com and for all his dates, check him out there. Paralyzed by Hope. The Maria Bamford Story is out now. And watch the Mel Brooks documentary 99 Year Old man on HBO Max. For new music, our proud, proud sponsors at Distrokid have brought to you. You got to Walk that Lonesome Valley by Justin Golden. You can find links to the music on our website, the500podcast.com and if you want your song played. Oh my God, I can't. I just got excited by seeing the last. The next record coming up. Holy. It's going to be a good one, guys. Send us your song, we'll play it next week. We've got Kanye west late registration from 2005. She gets my wallet. Oh, I like this one. Dig into it, guys. It's a goodie. I'LL see you then. Sam. You got to walk battle on some valley?

[Wayne Fetterman]

You got to walk it by yourself?

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Ain't nobody else walking for you?

[Wayne Fetterman]

You got to walk that valley by yourself. She's had a boat that lonesome valley?

[Josh Adam Meyers]

He has a boy walk it by himself?

[Wayne Fetterman]

Ain't nobody else walked it for him.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

He has all back fighting by himself?

[Wayne Fetterman]

Mother has a walk battling on some valley?

[Josh Adam Meyers]

She has a walk it by herself? Ain't nobody else walked it for her. She has a walk back by her. No Sam. The 500 keeping it fleecy for the

[Wayne Fetterman]

fleece nation on the 500

[Josh Adam Meyers]

the 500. Next chapter podcast.