She was born Jamesetta Hawkins on January 25, 1938 in Los Angeles and died Etta James on January 20, 2012 of Leukemia near her hometown of L.A. But not before I saw her perform live at least 50 times and bought every song she ever sang.

If Aretha Franklin is the Queen of Soul, then Etta James is the Grand Dutchess of Blues. She may be the best woman blues singer of the 20th Century. If there is a Blues Heaven, Etta will take her place at the head of the table with Dinah Washington, Big Mama Thornton and Koko Taylor.

The first time I saw her was in a small club in LA in the early 60's and the last time I saw her was at an Indian Casino in the California desert in 2009. In between there was San Antonio, San Francisco, Washington DC, New York, Memphis and any other cities where we both happened to be at the same time.

Etta James made you think the Blues was a magical language that found the perfect words for just what you were thinking. It is impossible to listen to her without punctuating every song with "tell the truth, Etta."

Etta James lived a Blues singer's life. She was a big star in the 60's with her signature song "At Last" and then succumbed to too much fun, too much food and too much booze and drugs. During the time when she was down, in the 70's and 80's, before she could fill the Hollywood Bowl, she would never sing her old hits. Without fail someone in the audience would always yell out "At Last" and Etta would contemptuously remind them that she was not an oldies act and would then sing "Ta Ta Baby" by Johnny Guitar Watson and drive everyone nuts.

In 1989 she put out, 7 Year Itch, a post-fun album that clearly said, "Etta's back." Then to prove she was back on top she switched up and won a Grammy in 1995 singing jazz in her superb tribute to Billie Holliday, Mystery Lady.

Seeing Etta over the years required a great deal of patience and love. In the old days, she had this annoying habit of sneaking a look at her watch like the audience was house guests who had overstayed their welcome. Some time she was great and other times I could, to quote a Tyler Perry movie, dial 1-800- choke –a- ho..

However, when she was on her game she was magnificent. In 1990 at Avery Fisher Hall in New York she closed a show that featured Ruth Brown, Irma Thomas and Koko Taylor. The three opening acts brought the house down, particularly Koko, who musically, pulled a gun on Etta and dared her to move. I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see what Etta had in store for the great Koko Taylor and her gangster band. I said to myself, "There will be no watching your watch tonight." Etta came out and sang "Sugar on the Floor" for 10 minutes reminding everyone how badly you really feel when you lose someone you love. The place was in an uproar with the audience on their feet, tears in my eyes and my friend going for the brown bag in her purse. When Etta finished my friend took a drink and said, "Tell the truth, Etta."

In 2006, before her performances were marred by bad health, Etta James recorded what I consider to be the best CD of her career, All the Way. She casually described it as just some of her favorite songs. The music moves from James Brown's, "It's a Mans World" to Simply Red's, "Holding Back the Years." It was the icing on the cake, a final tribute to her enormous talent. Neither Etta nor I will ever get over Obama playing Beyonce's version of "At Last" at his Inauguration.

I remember Etta James when she was young and slim, old and fat, sober and drunk, feeling it and not feeling it. We spent 50 years together. It's like a close friend has died, someone you can associate with milestones in your life. Etta was on stage when my father took me to my first nightclub and on stage when I got into a fight and the cops came because two drunks wouldn't sit down so I could see Etta. Like Etta, I'm sitting here feeling like "Sugar on the Floor."

Etta James, Sugar on the Floor