"The stellar Bluesoul Belles spotlights Betty Lavette and Carol Fran, two of the more criminally underrated singers from soul music's mid-'60s golden era. Unearthing two dozen tracks from the Calla, Port, and Roulette vaults, many of them previously unreleased alternate takes, the set offers a persuasive argument that, while never earning the critical respect or commercial kudos of their contemporaries, both women deserve consideration alongside the greats of the period. Lavette's opening "Let Me Down Easy," a staple of the Northern soul scene and the countless anthologies it's yielded, is far and away the most recognizable cut here -- the song is her masterpiece, a blisteringly poignant requiem for romance gone bad distinguished by its unique, tangolike rhythm and sweeping string arrangement.
The remaining seven tracks don't reach the same peaks, but from the Motown-inspired stomp of "What I Don't Know (Won't Hurt Me)" to the gospel-inflected "Cry Me a River," Lavette's versatility and raw power ring through loud and clear. Although Lavette receives top billing, Fran's contributions comprise fully two-thirds of the disc; best known for her latter-day blues efforts with guitarist husband Clarence Holliman, the aching beauty of her mid-'60s soul sides is revelatory. Though rooted in the blues, her crystalline vocals were nevertheless ideally suited to the uptown style and sophistication of her Port dates; the chart failure of these recordings is baffling, and in particular the remarkable "Any Day Love Walks In" merits the label of lost classic." Jason Ankeny, AMG
4 comments:
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You are on fire, KC. Carol Fran is criminally under recorded. Thank you so damn much!
I agree wholeheartedly with P-Mac. The most recent posts have been exceptional.
I did not discover Bettye LaVette until I heard her on National Public Radio in 2005. A nearby record and video store was going out of business that Summer and I picked up "I've Got My Own Hell To Raise" for $4.99 and was hooked. I've been an avid fan since then. I discovered Carol Fran when you or some other blogger first posted this album. Both women deserve a lot more recognition than they have garnered over the years so I was glad to see the President host LaVette at the White House. In an interview a few years ago, she had commented that her music and the music of other African-American performers were adopted wholesale and popularized by white musicians and, consequently, she had some very lean years of near anonymity in her long career. I am so glad she has been receiving more attention during the past few years and, too, that through this album, she and Carol Fran are becoming better known, even if belatedly, to listeners like me. Like LaVette, Ann Peebles is another rhythm and blues/soul singer who doesn't receive sufficient recognition.
I am not adverse to listening to younger contemporary rhythm and blues and neo-soul singers but it seems to me that the beat has too often usurped the attention and importance that voice and lyrics used to receive and have, respectively. Although I have concerns about over-generalizing and appearing nostalgic and old-fogeyish by asserting that the soul and rhythm and blues music of my younger years was, in general, better, I do think something has been lost in much of the music that passes today for rhythm and blues and soul. Much of it just isn't memorable. Consequently, I really appreciate posts like this that highlight performers who are still perform music that is neither predicable nor dismissive of the importance of well-written songs. Perhaps my comments are influenced by my listening to Tyrone Davis earlier today and thinking that, if nothing else can be said about his music, "Can I Change My Mind?" is musical perfection. There are few contemporary songs in the genre that hit me like that; Beyoncé's "If I Were A Boy: is one of them and, in my opinion, superior to much of her music. All in all, I'm glad that singers like LaVette and Lafayette's Fran are still with us and their music is readily available.
Great soul singers!
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