Etta James was born Jamesetta Hawkins in Los Angeles to a 14-year-old mother and a father who was never officially identified, though she later explored rumors that he was the billiards player Minnesota Fats. Raised by a series of foster parents, she began singing in a Baptist church choir at five, where choir director James Earl Hines punched her in the chest to force her voice from her gut, and her foster father Sarge dragged her out of bed to perform for drunken poker games. This episode argues that her contralto was forged like iron on an anvil, hardwired as a survival mechanism rather than joyful expression, and explains why she carried a lifelong hatred of being told to sing on demand.

The conversation follows her discovery at 14 by Johnny Otis, her 1955 number one rhythm and blues answer song whose title was changed for radio censors ...