Audio: Etta James — “The Sky is Crying”

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“The Sky is Crying” is included in the 2004 CD Blues to the Bone.

The sky is cryin’….look at the tears roll down the street
I said, the sky is crying….look at the tears roll down the street
I’m waiting in tears baby
Looking for my baby
And I wonder wonder wonder where can he be

I saw my baby one mornin’….he was walking down the street
I saw my baby I saw my baby one mornin’….he was walking on down on down the street
Made me feel so good
‘Til my poor heart would skip a beat….

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Etta James (born Jamesetta Hawkins; 1938 – 2012) was an American singer who performed in a wide variety of genres, including blues, R&B, soul, rock & roll, jazz and gospel. Starting her career in 1954, she gained fame with hits such as “The Wallflower”, “At Last”, “Tell Mama”, “Something’s Got a Hold on Me”, and “I’d Rather Go Blind.” Because of heroin addiction, she faced a number of personal, professional, and legal problems before making a musical comeback in the late 1980s with the album Seven Year Itch. James is often given credit for bridging the gap between R&B and rock & roll. She won six Grammy Awards and 17 Blues Music Awards. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993, the Blues Hall of Fame in 2001, and the Grammy Hall of Fame in both 1999 and 2008. She is widely regarded as one of the most influential American singers of the twentieth century.

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Etta James records at Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama (Photo credit: House Of Fame LLC/Michael Ochs Archive)

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The CD cover art of Blues to the Bone.