At Last!

エタ・ジェイムスのデビュー作にして代表作
180g重量盤、ステレオ&モノラルの2バージョンセット

オリジナルはアメリカのブルース&ソウル・アーティスト、エタ・ジェイムスのスタジオ・デビュー・アルバム。1960年11月にアルゴ・レコードから発売。ビルボードトップカタログアルバムチャートで12位にランクイン。ローリング・ストーン誌の「500 Greatest Albumsof All Time」で119位にランクイン、ピッチフォーク誌の「1960年代のベストアルバム」で62位にランクインなど、ジャンルを超越した名盤として名高い一枚。

同時期録音の2曲をボーナストラック収録。

After spending a few years in limbo after scoring her first R&B hits "Dance With Me, Henry" and "Good Rocking Daddy," Etta James returned to the spotlight in 1961 with her first Chess release, At Last. James made both the R&B and pop charts with the album's title cut, "All I Could Do Was Cry," and "Trust in Me." What makes At Last a great album is not only the solid hits it contains, but also the strong variety of material throughout. James expertly handles jazz standards like "Stormy Weather" and "A Sunday Kind of Love," as well as Willie Dixon's blues classic "I Just Want to Make Love to You." James demonstrates her keen facility on the title track in particular, as she easily moves from powerful blues shouting to more subtle, airy phrasing; her Ruth Brown-inspired, bad-girl growl only adds to the intensity. James would go on to even greater success with later hits like "Tell Mama," but on At Last one hears the singer at her peak in a swinging and varied program of blues, R&B, and jazz standards. ~ Stephen Cook