I'd Rather Go Blind

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"I'd Rather Go Blind"
Single by Etta James
from the album Tell Mama
A-side"Tell Mama"
B-side"I'd Rather Go Blind"
Released1967 (1967)
Recorded1967, FAME Studios, Muscle Shoals, Alabama
GenreSoul, blues
Length2:32
LabelCadet 5578
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Rick Hall

"I'd Rather Go Blind" is a blues song written by Ellington Jordan[1] and co-credited to Billy Foster and Etta James. It was first recorded by Etta James in 1967, released in 1967,[2] and has subsequently become regarded as a blues and soul classic.

Original version by Etta James[]

Etta James wrote in her autobiography Rage To Survive that she heard the song outlined by her friend Ellington "Fugi" Jordan when she visited him in prison.[3] She then wrote the rest of the song with Jordan, but for tax reasons gave her songwriting credit to her partner at the time, Billy Foster, singer with doo-wop group The Medallions.[4]

Etta James recorded the song at the FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. It was included on the album Tell Mama and as the B-side of the single of the same name which made number 10 on the Billboard R&B charts,[5] and number 23 on the Billboard Hot 100.[6] The song is also on the 1978 Jerry Wexler-produced album Deep in the Night, but there it is titled "Blind Girl" (track 10).[7] Some critics have regarded "I'd Rather Go Blind" as of such emotional and poetic quality as to make that release one of the great double-sided singles of the period.[8] Critic Dave Marsh put the song in his book The Heart of Rock and Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made. Noting that James had recorded the song during a break from heroin addiction, Marsh writes, "the song provides a great metaphor for her drug addiction and intensifies the story."[9]

Sydney Youngblood version[]

"I'd Rather Go Blind"
Single by Sydney Youngblood
from the album Feeling Free
Released1990
GenreDance
Length3:59
LabelCirca
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Claus Zundel
Sydney Youngblood singles chronology
"Sit and Wait"
(1989)
"I'd Rather Go Blind"
(1990)
"Ain't No Sunshine"
(1990)
Music video
"I'd Rather Go Blind" on YouTube

A version of the song was America/German singer Sydney Youngblood's third single release, peaking at number 44 on the UK Singles Chart.[10] It was Youngblood's only US pop chart appearance, making it to number 46 on the Billboard Hot 100 in October 1990,[11] and the first of two minor hits on the Hot R&B Singles chart, peaking at number 42.[11]

Charts[]

Chart (1990) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[12] 71
Belgium (Ultratop Flanders) 34
Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[13] 68
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[10] 44
US Billboard Hot 100 46
US Hot R&B Singles (Billboard) 42
West Germany (Official German Charts) 23

Other versions[]

The song reached number 14 on the UK Singles Chart in 1969 in a version by the British blues band Chicken Shack, featuring Christine Perfect, later to become Christine McVie of Fleetwood Mac.[10] After she left Chicken Shack, but before she joined Fleetwood Mac, Christine also recorded her own version of the song for her debut solo album, the eponymous Christine Perfect album.

References[]

  1. ^ "Ellington Jordan (Fugi) | Almost Home | CD Baby Music Store". Cdbaby.com. Retrieved 2016-07-26.
  2. ^ "Etta James - Tell Mama / I'd Rather Go Blind". Discogs. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  3. ^ Etta James and David Ritz, Rage To Survive, 1995, ISBN 0-306-80812-9
  4. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-09-27. Retrieved 2013-09-24.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. ^ "Etta James - Chart history - Billboard". Billboard.com. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  6. ^ "Etta James - Chart history - Billboard". Billboard.com. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  7. ^ "Deep In The Night". AllMusic. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
  8. ^ Matthew Greenwald. "I'd Rather Go Blind - Etta James | Song Info". AllMusic. Retrieved 2016-07-26.
  9. ^ Marsh, Dave (7 May 1999). The Heart of Rock and Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made. Da Capo Press. p. 429. ISBN 030680901X.
  10. ^ Jump up to: a b c "I'd Rather Go Blind". Officialcharts.com. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  11. ^ Jump up to: a b Sydney Youngblood: Chart History at Billboard.com. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
  12. ^ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988-2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
  13. ^ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. 5 May 1990. Retrieved 19 June 2021.

External links[]

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