Something's Got Ahold On Me (Etta James)

I don’t mind when modern artists sample other artists work. Often times the newer artist reinvents it and is able to make it their own, shielding their thievery. Cool. What grinds on my nerves, though, is that the original artist is so rarely, clearly acknowledged.

When Kanye West and Jay-Z sampled Try a Little Tenderness they were wise enough to name the track ‘Otis’ after the genius [Otis Redding]. Despite the fact that the song that the two rappers wrote has absolutely nothing to do with Try a Little Tenderness besides the repeated sample, and came off as braggy - no surprise - and mostly irritating, mutilating the best soul song ever written, at least they had enough class to credit Redding.

Musicians are constantly borrowing from other musicians. It’s easiest to do in this day with the excuse “it’s all been done before”. Within the last few years there have been some not so obvious ones; Lupe Fiasco using Modest Mouse’s bass line from Float On in his 2010 hit The Show Goes On. I thought his usage of Modest Mouse’s beat worked really well with his initial ‘Laser’ single. The two complimented each other well, and worked. There have also been instances where the references were extremely obvious; Pitbull thrives on sampling. From using Harry Belafonte in Shake Shake Senora with T-Pain and Sean Paul to sampling Mickey & Sylvia’s Love is Strange on his Men in Black 3 song Back in Time, Mr. Worldwide doesn’t shy away from a little sharing.

Until recently sampling hadn’t irked me so much. It wasn’t until a song by (arguably) one of the best female blues voices we will ever know had her song taken and remixed over and over again that I became a wee bit annoyed.

In 1962 Etta James released a self titled album matching in calibre to her album premiere At Last!. It was the blues powerhouse’s third record. On this third album James displays her vocal range and gives evidence to her songstress monstrosity. This self titled album laid out James vigor. It was dancing in the mud with a clean dress on. Dirty and so so so sweet it was sinful.

In 2011 Avicii released a song he mixed called Levels. He used Etta James Somethings Got A Hold On Me as the founding sampling of the song. He made it catchy, danceable and a perfect club scene romp. Flo Rida, riding on Avicii’s coat tails, took (seemingly) Avicii’s mix and created his own flavor for Somethings Got A Hold On Me and called it Good Feeling. Like Avicii, the song was club suitable and beyond catchy. These two weren’t the only ones to sample the blues all star, Pretty Lights is among a throng of electronic acts who followed in Avicii’s footsteps.

There is nothing wrong with any of these artists using Etta James in their jams. What bothers me is the little recognition that James is receiving. Drunk off their ass party goers likely have no clue how much the late blues goddess contributed to their party anthems.

In an attempt to educate the unknowing youth, please listen to [late] Etta James sing her song Something’s Got A Hold On Me.