Tag Archives: Donto Metto James

Etta James: Let’s Roll

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On May 6, 2003, “Private Music” label released “Let’s Roll”, the twenty-sixth Etta James studio album. It was recorded in 2003, and was produced by Etta James, Josh Sklair, Donto Metto James and Sametto James. “Let’s Roll” won a “Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album” in 2003, and in 2004 the “W. C. Handy Award” as the “Soul/Blues Album of the Year” from the “Blues Foundation”.

Personnel:

  • Etta James – vocal
  • Josh Sklair – banjo, 12 string guitar, acoustic and electric, slide guitar, synthesizer
  • Bobby Murray – electric guitar
  • Jimmy “Z” Zavala – harmonica, tenor and baritone saxophone
  • Sametto James – bass guitar
  • Donto James – vocals, drums, percussion
  • Tom Poole – trumpet
  • Lee Thornburg – trombone

Track listing:

  1. Somebody to Love – Delbert McClinton, Gary Nicholson
  2. The Blues Is My Business – Kevin Bowe, Todd Cerney
  3. Leap of Faith – Glen Clarke, Gary Nicholson
  4. Strongest Weakness – Bekka Bramlett, Gary Nicholson
  5. Wayward Saints of Memphis – Kevin Bowe, Delbert McClinton
  6. Lie No Better – Gary Nicholson
  7. Trust Yourself – Kevin Bowe, Grady Champion
  8. A Change Is Gonna Do Me Good – Al Anderson, Bob DiPiero
  9. Old Weakness – Gary Nicholson
  10. Stacked Deck – Billy Wright
  11. On the 7th Day – Kevin Bowe, Kostas Lazarides
  12. Please, No More – David Egan, Greg Hansen

Etta James: Matriarch Of The Blues

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On December 12, 2000, “Private Music” label released “Matriarch of the Blues”, the twenty-fourth Etta James studio album. It was recorded in 2000, and was produced by Donto Metto James and Sametto James.

Personnel:

  • Etta James – lead and backing vocals, liner notes
  • Josh Sklair – acoustic and electric guitar, slide guitar, keyboards, rhythm arrangements
  • Bobby Murray – guitar
  • Leo Nocentelli – guitar
  • Mike Finnigan – Hammond organ
  • Jimmy Zavala – harmonica, tenor and baritone saxophone
  • Sametto James – bass, engineer, mixing
  • Donto Metto James – drums, engineer, mixing, percussion
  • Tom Poole – trumpet
  • Terrance Galloway – engineer assistant
  • Doug Sax – mastering
  • Julie Bruzzone – creative director
  • Sonny Mediana – design, photography
  • Rudy Calvo – make-up
  • Lupe DeLeon – executive producer

Track listing:

  1. Gotta Serve Somebody – Bob Dylan
  2. Don’t Let My Baby Ride – Deadric Malone, O. V. Wright
  3. Rhymes – Al Green, Teenie Hodges
  4. Try a Little Tenderness – Jimmy Campbell, Reg Connelly, Harry M. Woods
  5. Miss You – Mick Jagger, Keith Richards
  6. Hawg for Ya – Otis Redding
  7. You’re Gonna Make Me Cry – Deadric Malone
  8. Walking the Back Streets – Sandy Jones, Jr.
  9. Let’s Straighten It Out – Benny Latimore
  10. Born on the Bayou – John Fogerty
  11. Come Back Baby – Ray Charles, Lightnin’ Hopkins
  12. Hound Dog – Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller

Etta James: Heart of a Woman

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In June 1999, “RCA” label released “Heart of a Woman”, the twenty-third Etta James studio album. It was recorded in March 1999, and was produced by John Snyder and Etta James.

Personnel:

  • Etta James – vocals, arrangements, art direction, photography, liner notes
  • Bobby Murray – guitar
  • Josh Sklair – acoustic and electric guitar, arrangements, musical director, production assistant
  • Dave Matthews – electric piano, piano, arrangements
  • Mike Finnigan – organ
  • Sametto James – bass, drum programming, production assistant
  • Donto Metto James – drums, drum programming, production assistant
  • Pete Escovedo – conga, horn, percussion
  • Red Holloway – tenor saxophone
  • Jimmy Zavala – tenor saxophone
  • Lee Thornburg – alto horn, flugelhorn, horn arrangements, trumpet, valve trombone
  • Tom Poole – flugelhorn, trumpet
  • Jay Newland – engineer, mastering
  • Rob Brill – engineer assistant
  • Sonny Mediana – art direction, photography
  • Jeff Dunas – photography
  • Lupe DeLeon – executive producer

Track listing:

  1. You Don’t Know What Love Is – Gene de Paul, Don Raye
  2. Good Morning Heartache – Ervin Drake, Dan Fisher, Irene Higgenbotham
  3. My Old Flame – Sam Coslow, Arthur Johnston
  4. Say It Isn’t So – Irving Berlin
  5. At Last – Mack Gordon, Harry Warren
  6. Tenderly – Walter Gross, Jack Lawrence
  7. I Only Have Eyes for You – Al Dubin, Warren
  8. I Got It Bad (and That Ain’t Good) – Duke Ellington, Paul Francis Webster
  9. You Go to My Head – John Frederick Coots, Haven Gillespie
  10. A Sunday Kind of Love – Barbara Belle, Anita Leonard, Louis Prima, Stan Rhodes
  11. If It’s the Last Thing I Do – Sammy Cahn, Saul Chaplin
  12. Only Women Bleed – Alice Cooper, Dick Wagner

Etta James: Blues to the Bone

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On June 8, 2004, “RCA Victor” label released “Blues to the Bone”, the twenty-seventh Etta James studio album. It was recorded in 2004, and was produced by Etta James, Donto James, Josh Sklar and Sametto James. In 2005, “Blues to the Bone” won “Grammy Award” for “Best Traditional Blues Album”.

Personnel:

  • Etta James – vocals
  • Josh Sklair – guitar, dobro, arrangements
  • Bobby Murray – guitars
  • Brian Ray – guitar, slide guitar
  • Mike Finnigan – piano
  • John “Juke” Logan – harmonica
  • Sametto James – bass
  • Donto Metto James – drums

Track listing:

  1. I Got My Mojo Working – Preston Foster
  2. Don’t Start Me to Talking – Sonny Boy Williamson II
  3. Hush Hush – Jimmy Reed
  4. Lil’ Red Rooster – Willie Dixon
  5. That’s Alright – Jimmy Rogers
  6. Crawlin’ King Snake – John Lee Hooker
  7. Dust My Broom – Robert Johnson
  8. The Sky Is Crying – Elmore James
  9. Smokestack Lightnin’ – Howlin’ Wolf
  10. You Shook Me – Willie Dixon, J. B. Lenoir
  11. Driving Wheel – Roosevelt Sykes
  12. Honey, Don’t Tear My Clothes – Lightnin’ Hopkins