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Etta James: Mama tells us all about it

Barney Hoskyns, The Times, 26 July 1989

WHEN ETTA JAMES was a 17-year old glamour puss with drug-store-peroxide blonde hair and a lewd rock 'n' roll hit called 'Roll With Me Henry' she had a brief encounter with her idol Billie Holiday that she will never forget. Escorted into a radio station by two men because her feet were so swollen she could not walk, the 40-year-old heroin addict turned to her teenage admirer and said "Don't ever let this happen to you".

Total word count of piece: 744

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