ALLEN TOUSSAINT Wrote ETTA JAMES a Song. She Said No. He Told Her Why He Wrote It.

In the spring of 1970, Allen Toussaint played Etta James a demo in a second-floor studio on Rampart Street in New Orleans. He had written the song specifically for her — not for the voice she had already shown the world, but for the part of her voice she had always held back. When the demo ended, she said: no. He didn't argue. He asked her one question. She said: that has nothing to do with the song. He said: it has everything to do with the song. That is why I wrote it for you. 0:00 — A studio in New Orleans. A demo. One word: no. 1:20 — Who Allen Toussaint was and how he wrote songs differently 3:00 — What he heard in Etta James's recordings that nobody else had named 4:30 — The song he wrote — and what it was pointing at 6:00 — She said no. He asked why. 7:30 — What she said and what he told her 9:00 — She said: play it again 10:30 — The second take and the bridge she finally opened 12:00 — What the New Orleans sessions gave her that no studio had before #EttaJames #AllenToussaint #NewOrleans #SoulMusic #UntoldStory #MusicHistory #EttaJamesUntold