#191 Etta James, 'At Last!' (1961)

The Chess brothers felt that James had major crossover pop appeal and so added orchestral arrangements alongside a lot of the tracks on this record. But the orchestra plays second fiddle to James’s incredible voice (that pun was truly not intended, but I’ll take it). Her voice is husky and powerful, full of emotion and sounds like it’s lived 20 lives by the time it made it to this record.