"Tell Mama" is a song written by

Clarence Carter Clarence George Carter (born January 14, 1936) is an American singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. His most successful songs include " Slip Away", "Back Door Santa" (both released 1968), " Patches" (1970) and "Strokin" (1986). Ear ...

, Marcus Daniel and Wilbur Terrell (though some recordings give the sole songwriting credit to Carter). It is best known in its 1967 recording by

Etta James Jamesetta Hawkins (January 25, 1938 – January 20, 2012), known professionally as Etta James, was an American singer who performed in various genres, including gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, rock and roll, and soul. Starting her career in 1954, sh ...

. An earlier version of the song was first recorded in 1966 by Carter, as "Tell Daddy".

"Tell Daddy" - the Clarence Carter version

Carter co-wrote "Tell Daddy", and recorded it at the

FAME Studios FAME (Florence Alabama Music Enterprises) Studios is a recording studio located at 603 East Avalon Avenue in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, an area of northern Alabama known as the Shoals. Though small and distant from the main recording locations of the ...

Muscle Shoals, Alabama Muscle Shoals is the largest city in Colbert County, Alabama, Colbert County, Alabama, United States. It is located along the Tennessee River in the northern part of the state and, as of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, the populati ...

, on 4 October 1966. His recording, released on the Fame label, became Carter's first chart hit, reaching no.35 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

R&B chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

in early 1967.

"Tell Mama" - the Etta James version

Etta James was persuaded by

Chess Records Chess Records was an American record company established in 1950 in Chicago, specializing in blues and rhythm and blues. It was the successor to Aristocrat Records, founded in 1947. It expanded into soul music, gospel music, early rock and roll ...

' executive

Leonard Chess Lejzor Szmuel Czyż (March 12, 1917 – October 16, 1969), best known as Leonard Sam Chess, was a Polish-American record company executive and the co-founder of Chess Records. He was influential in the development of electric blues, Chicago blu ...

to record her second album for his company (on the

Cadet A cadet is an officer trainee or candidate. The term is frequently used to refer to those training to become an officer in the military, often a person who is a junior trainee. Its meaning may vary between countries which can include youths in ...

label) at the

: impressed by the studio's pedigree - FAME having generated a recent string of hits by the likes of

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the " Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in ''Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". With ...

Wilson Pickett Wilson Pickett (March 18, 1941 – January 19, 2006) was an American singer and songwriter. A major figure in the development of soul music, Pickett recorded over 50 songs which made the US R&B charts, many of which crossed over to the ''Bill ...

and

Percy Sledge Percy Tyrone Sledge (November 25, 1940 – April 14, 2015) was an American R&B, soul and gospel singer. He is best known for the song " When a Man Loves a Woman", a No. 1 hit on both the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and R&B singles charts in 196 ...

- Chess was also motivated to send James to rural Alabama so as to remove her from the urban environment which had recently fostered the singer's substance abuse issues to the point of hospitalization and incarceration. In sessions produced by FAME owner

Rick Hall Roe Erister "Rick" Hall (January 31, 1932 – January 2, 2018) was an American record producer, songwriter, and musician who became known as the owner of FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. As the "Father of Muscle Shoals Music", he was i ...

, with personnel including

Barry Beckett Barry Edward Beckett (February 4, 1943 – June 10, 2009) was an American keyboardist, session musician, record producer, and studio founder. He is best known for his work with David Hood, Jimmy Johnson, and Roger Hawkins, his bandmates in th ...

, David Hood, Roger Hawkins

Spooner Oldham Dewey Lindon "Spooner" Oldham (born June 14, 1943) is an American songwriter and session musician. An organist, he recorded in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, at FAME Studios as part of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section on such hit R&B songs as Percy ...

, and

Marvell Thomas Ronald Marvell Thomas (August 22, 1941 – January 23, 2017) was an American keyboardist, record producer and arranger known for his work in Memphis Soul. Biography Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Thomas's studio career started at the age of 17. He ...

(many of whom had played on Clarence Carter tracks), James recorded the album ''

Tell Mama Tell MAMA (Measuring Anti-Muslim Attacks) is a national project which records and measures anti-Muslim incidents in the United Kingdom. It is modelled on the Jewish Community Security Trust (CST) and like the CST it also provides support for vi ...

'' between August and December 1967, with the title cut recorded in the inaugural 22–24 August sessions. Rick Hall had to insist on James recording Carter's "Tell Daddy" as "Tell Mama", over James' objections such as "it's not a hit and it's driving me crazy." With the original version of "

I'd Rather Go Blind "I'd Rather Go Blind" is a blues song written by Ellington Jordan and co-credited to Billy Foster and Etta James. It was first recorded by Etta James in 1967, released in 1967, and has subsequently become regarded as a blues and soul classic. Or ...

" as

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

, "Tell Mama" was released on the

label in October 1967 as its parent album's advance single. Debuting on the

in November 1967 "Tell Mama" would peak there at no.10 , while the track would afford James her all-time highest Pop ranking with a ''Billboard'' Hot 100 peak of no.23. Rick Hall would recall a backstage visit at the

Troubadour A troubadour (, ; oc, trobador ) was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages (1100–1350). Since the word ''troubadour'' is etymologically masculine, a female troubadour is usually called a ''trobairit ...

where Etta James was headlining during "Tell Mama"'s chart run: "She grabbed me and hugged me and cried:'Rick Hall, I love you! I'm so glad you made me do that damn song! It brought my career back to life and I'll always be grateful.'" However the track's success evidently did not totally assuage James' misgivings: she would state in her 2003 memoir ''Rage to Survive'':

"There are folks who think 'Tell Mama' is the Golden Moment of the Golden Age of Soul; they rant and rave about the snappy horn chart and the deep-pocket guitar groove, about how I sang the shit out of it. I wish I could agree. Sure, the song made me money. It warmed Leonard Chess's heart to see the thing cross over to the pop charts, where it lingered for a long while. You might even say it became a classic. But I have to confess that it was never a favorite of mine. Never liked it. Never liked singing it - not then, not now. I almost never perform it. It's not that I don't admire the chart and the songwriter. Clarence Carter... is great. Maybe it's just that I didn't like being cast in the role of the Great Earth Mother, the gal you come to for comfort and easy sex. Nothing was easy back then...."

Chart performance

Other versions

*The song was recorded by

Martha Veléz Martha Veléz (born in New York City on August 25, 1945) is an American singer and actress of Puerto Rican descent. Biography Veléz started singing at age five and won an opera scholarship at age 12, as a mezzo-soprano. She studied for three ...

on her 1969 album ''Fiends and Angels''. *

Janis Joplin Janis Lyn Joplin (January 19, 1943 – October 4, 1970) was an American singer and musician. One of the most successful and widely known Rock music, rock stars of her era, she was noted for her powerful mezzo-soprano vocals and "electric" stage ...

, who greatly admired Etta James, sang this song at Festival Express in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

in 1970. The song was featured in the film about the tour. *

Terri Gibbs Teresa Fay Gibbs (born June 15, 1954) is an American country music artist who is blind. Between 1980 and 2017, she has recorded eleven studio albums, including four for MCA Records and one for Warner Bros. Records. She also charted 13 singles o ...

reached No. 65 C&W with her November 1983 single release of "Tell Mama": the track was taken from Gibbs' ''Over Easy'' album which had been recorded in the spring of 1983 at FAME Studios with producer Rick Hall - the same locale and producer as the Etta James version of "Tell Mama". *The Clarence Carter version was recorded by the Soul Survivors with Duane Allman providing the session guitar work in 1969. *The song was also later recorded by

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame as the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown's most successful act during the 1960s and one of the world's best-selling girl groups o ...

, and included on some versions of her 1987 album ''

Red Hot Rhythm & Blues ''Red Hot Rhythm and Blues'' is the seventeenth studio album by American R&B singer Diana Ross, released on May 8, 1987, by RCA Records and EMI Records. It was Ross' last of six albums released by the label during the decade. It was produced by ...

''. *A cover recorded by Mersh Bros. Band is featured during credits of the 1996 comedy film

Carpool Carpooling (also car-sharing, ride-sharing and lift-sharing) is the sharing of car journeys so that more than one person travels in a car, and prevents the need for others to have to drive to a location themselves. By having more people usi ...

. *

Vaneese Thomas Vaneese Yseult Thomas (born August 24, 1952) is an American R&B, jazz and soul blues singer, best known for her 1987 US ''Billboard'' R&B chart hit single, "Let's Talk It Over". In addition, in more recent times, she has supplied backing vocal ...

- sister of

who played keyboards on Etta James' version of "Tell Mama" - recorded the song in 2009 for ''Soul Sister Vol. 1'' a tribute album to R&B vocalistes *The song was recorded by

The Civil Wars The Civil Wars were an American musical duo composed of Joy Williams (singer), Joy Williams and John Paul White. Formed in 2008, The Civil Wars won four Grammy Awards prior to their 2014 breakup. History 2008–2010 Both Williams and White h ...

on their second album.

References

{{Authority control Etta James songs 1966 songs Soul songs Cadet Records singles 1967 singles Terri Gibbs songs Songs written by Clarence Carter