It’s easy for me to remember where I was the first time I heard Etta James sing ‘I’d rather go blind’. I was sitting on the floor of Dave Sitek’s Brooklyn loft probably 6 years ago. He said he had something I should hear and proceeded to play that song. I recall feeling paralyzed by her voice, completely stunned. When it was done I asked him if we could hear it again and again. Of course, I’d heard the classic ‘At Last’ at every wedding I’d ever been to, but beyond that I didn’t know her music. I went through a massive soul music discovery in the 90’s, Curtis Mayfield, Marvin Gaye, Nina Simone,Taj Mahal, but never found her. She was a treat that had been saved for me to find later, when I was ready. Dave turned to me and said, “You should cover this.” Little did he know the world he had just opened up to me. 

Needless to say, I fell for Etta, hard. That scorching, complicated voice, with one sassy woman attached to it. She was a classic. I have traveled all over the world and covered her song countless times, and it is always met by the same response “I love her.” 

I love her too.

They say imitation is the highest form of flattery, so below I’ve posted Etta doing the original of this song, which really no one can ever touch. Then I’ve posted my personal favorite recordings of the boys and I playing our sweaty, sometimes rocky, version of it. 

This ones for you Etta. 

Bowery Ballroom, NY Westminster Reference Library, London High Dive, Seattle, WA

Holly Miranda - I’d Rather Go Blind (Etta James Cover) - LIVE Via NYC Taper by holly miranda Recorded by NYC Taper @ Bowery Ballroom

xo