Etta James is famous for bridging a myriad of genres with her music, but this collaborative effort takes the cake. On New Years Eve of 1982 Etta James and Tower of Power’s famous horn section joined Jerry Garcia’s Grateful Dead on stage for a 30+ minute set at the Oakland Auditorium! It just doesn’t get much better. The Oakland Auditorium is now known as the Kaiser Convention Center, and though pretty dormant these days, used to host some of the best acts in the country.
This collaborative effort featuring legendary Bay Area bands is dope enough to warrant posting in it’s own right, but of course with the recent passing of Ms. Etta James, this is also intended as a tribute to her life and legacy. For those of you who know Ms. James only as the lady who sang “At Last,” this might seem like a most random collaboration, but she was never confined to wedding song balladry. She dabbled in rock, blues, soul, jazz, rockabilly and gospel over the course of her career, earning most of her accolades on the strength of the music she made later in her life.
Her expansive career provided the world with a wealth of amazing music, but it also took it’s toll on her. In fact, both her career and personal life took a tumble during the 1970s and 80s due to her drug addiction. Her husband even did a 10 year heroin bid for her, getting out of prison the year of this infamous NYE show. You can tell at certain parts of this performance that her habit was still in full effect; one can only imagine the drug buffet she had access to at a Grateful Dead show. Drugs or no however, Etta James is musical royalty and to see her get down with such amazing local talent is a treat!
The Dead were playing 3 sets this New Years Eve, each a little under an hour long. Both Etta James and Tower of Power’s horn section hit the stage for the last set of the night. ToP comes out at the 2:17:15 mark and Etta James commandeers the mic at 2:22:26 just in case you want to fast forward. Yup, that means the whole 3 hour show is right below! Shout out to youtube! Watch the whole concert if you have time, or play it as back ground music at work. The track list is below.
RIP Etta James & Jerry Garcia
Set 1
Cold Rain and Snow
C.C. Rider #
Cumberland Blues
Far From Me
Cassidy
Ramble On Rose
Looks LIke Rain
Day Job
Set 2
New Year’s Countdown
Sugar Magnolia
Sugaree
Women Are Smarter
Ship Of Fools
Playing In The Band
Drums
Not Fade Away *
Deal*
Sunshine Daydream
Set 3
Lovelight
Tell Mama
Baby What You Want #
Hard To Handle
Midnight Hour
E: Brokedown Palace
# w/ Matt Kelly
* w/ John Cippolina
Set 3 w/ Etta James and Tower of Power Horns
