Song Premiere: The Frightnrs Cover Etta James’ “I’d Rather Go Blind”
It’s strange to hear a reggae remix of one of the most painful love songs of all time, but somehow The Frightnrs totally make it work — and makes me…
By Rachel Reynolds • • 1 min readThe Frightnrs totally make it work — and makes me want to slow dance with my head on someone’s shoulder…on a Caribbean beach…at midnight…with a full moon shining down on us.
No matter what you’ve been through in your life as far as love and loss, there is NO WAY you can avoid feeling deeply when you hear those lyrics.
There’s even heartbreak in how the song came about – as the story goes, Etta James heard an early version of the song when she went to visit his friend Ellington “Fugi” Jordan in prison and she later completed the track. However, for tax reasons, gave her songwriting credit to her partner at the time, Billy Foster (also a singer with a group called The Medallions)
It was originally recorded in 1967 and Beyonce gave it new life with her interpretation when she played Etta in Cadillac Records.
Fugi later recorded his own version of the song (changing the lyrics slightly). This version lays the groundwork for what the Frightnrs have done here.
The song is being released as a 7” by Daptone Records on June 30. The label calls them “The Reigning Rocksteady Kings of Queens, New York” and my guess is there are lots more goodies in store.
It’s worth noting that the B-side is a dubbed-out ‘VER- SION’, expertly produced by long time Daptone ringer, Victor ‘Ticklah” Axelrod
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