Bettye LaVette has always shown a taste for variety in her music and an utter conviction in the way she sings every song. Her career has been, in her own words, "A life lived across the tracks from fame." These recordings come from the 1969-70 period at Silver Fox. Still a teenager, she sings with maturity and the band is great."Bettye LaVette (born Betty Haskins, January 29, 1946)
LaVette was born in Muskegon, Michigan, and raised in Detroit. Unlike many of her contemporaries, she did not begin singing in the church, but in her parents' living room, singing R&B and country and western music. She was signed by Johnnie Mae Matthews, a local record producer. In 1962, aged sixteen, she recorded a single, "My Man—He's a Lovin' Man", with Matthews, which became a Top Ten R&B hit after Atlantic Records bought distribution rights. This led to a tour with rhythm and blues musicians Clyde McPhatter, Ben E. King, Barbara Lynn, and then-newcomer Otis Redding. She next hit the charts with “Let Me Down Easy” on Calla Records in 1965. This led to a brief stint with The James Brown Revue. After recording several 45–rpm singles for local Detroit labels, in 1969 LaVette signed to the Silver Fox label. She cut a handful of tracks, including two Top 40 R&B hits: “He Made A Woman Out Of Me” and “Do Your Duty”. The Memphis studio musicians on these recordings have since become known as The Dixie Flyers..."
The next chapter for Bettye is Child Of The Seventies, anyone have it?
