soul
Shame on me but I never heard about Bettya LaVette before. A few weeks ago I heard ‘I hold No Grudge’ from her latest album and I was completely blown away. To my surprise, I found out that Lavette became 74 this year and that she is a soul singer that was acting in the shadow next to Aretha Franklin and Etta James. She is already making records since her 16, but her first success was only in 2005. Her story is one of the missed opportunities as she was at a certain moment pushed by the famous Motown label as the new Diana Ross, all without lots of commercial success. In
she had a first Grammy nomination. In 2009 she was spotted next to Jon Bon Jovi (probably the reason why I did not notice her before) at the inauguration of Barack Obama but since it was rather quiet
We cannot estimate what her famous colleagues would have brought today but we are pretty sure that the soul and the pain on a song called ‘One More song’ or Romance In the dark are so stunning that everyone should have noticed her, even in the shadow. Everyone should try this album. Put it on close your eyes. Time will float away without notice.
In ‘Drinking Again’, she tells the story of a person with a broken heart. Imagine you’re in dark jazz club - you might still have a vague memory of those from pre - covid times. There is a piano player that tries to keep the pace of the drunken singer who shares her deepest and darkest feelings with the scarce public. The audience is looking at her without making a sound, completely blown away by so much passion. She screams "I have Nothing but a memory, that is why I am drinking again". At the end of the song, we hear her whistle as in on the Otis Redding way in ‘Sitting on the Top of the Bay’.
While listening I noticed that the songs seem to melt in each other. The reality is that there seem to be no weak tracks on the album. I really have Goosebumps when She Sings ‘Save Your Love For Me’. Her pain is almost hurting me as much as herself. It is as if she puts a needle in an open wound. It is probably clear now that she touched me deeply with this album, I did not felt such emotions with music lately.
Some achievement for a 74y old.
Wout
she had a first Grammy nomination. In 2009 she was spotted next to Jon Bon Jovi (probably the reason why I did not notice her before) at the inauguration of Barack Obama but since it was rather quiet
We cannot estimate what her famous colleagues would have brought today but we are pretty sure that the soul and the pain on a song called ‘One More song’ or Romance In the dark are so stunning that everyone should have noticed her, even in the shadow. Everyone should try this album. Put it on close your eyes. Time will float away without notice.
In ‘Drinking Again’, she tells the story of a person with a broken heart. Imagine you’re in dark jazz club - you might still have a vague memory of those from pre - covid times. There is a piano player that tries to keep the pace of the drunken singer who shares her deepest and darkest feelings with the scarce public. The audience is looking at her without making a sound, completely blown away by so much passion. She screams "I have Nothing but a memory, that is why I am drinking again". At the end of the song, we hear her whistle as in on the Otis Redding way in ‘Sitting on the Top of the Bay’.
While listening I noticed that the songs seem to melt in each other. The reality is that there seem to be no weak tracks on the album. I really have Goosebumps when She Sings ‘Save Your Love For Me’. Her pain is almost hurting me as much as herself. It is as if she puts a needle in an open wound. It is probably clear now that she touched me deeply with this album, I did not felt such emotions with music lately.
Some achievement for a 74y old.
Wout
