{"id":2982,"date":"2010-06-01T16:01:34","date_gmt":"2010-06-02T00:01:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/?p=2982"},"modified":"2010-06-01T16:07:07","modified_gmt":"2010-06-02T00:07:07","slug":"bettye-lavette-the-album","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/2010\/06\/01\/bettye-lavette-the-album\/","title":{"rendered":"Bettye LaVette-The Album"},"content":{"rendered":"

1. "The Word"<\/span><\/p>\n

I didn’t even buy "Rubber Soul" when it came out.\u00c2\u00a0 The American version had no hits!\u00c2\u00a0 And I had only a little bit of money, and had to use it wisely and preferred to buy albums that contained big radio tracks.\u00c2\u00a0 Yes, I had a very brief ride on the singles train, I was an album guy way back in ’64.<\/p>\n

Of course I was wrong.\u00c2\u00a0 I love "Revolver" more, but you can’t name a better album than "Rubber Soul".\u00c2\u00a0 But the original Beatles take is so English, cut exuberantly inside while it rains outside.\u00c2\u00a0 Bettye’s take…\u00c2\u00a0 It’s a gospel explosion with a funk groove.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s John Lennon’s sweet vocal that makes the original so great, it’s the attitude in Bettye’s version that makes it so great.<\/p>\n

\n
Bettye Lavette – The Word<\/a><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n


2. "No Time To Live"<\/span><\/p>\n

My favorite track on the album.<\/p>\n

The original, of course, is on the second Traffic album, which contained no hits, and the lack of commercial success caused the band to implode.\u00c2\u00a0 All these years later, we can say that "Traffic" had the original "Feelin’ Alright", but as great as that track is, there\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s not a single loser on this all time classic album.<\/p>\n

There’s a desolation in the original.\u00c2\u00a0 Which Bettye captures in her take.\u00c2\u00a0 You feel strong as you’re alone, maybe on the edge of a cliff contemplating life on a blustery day in the U.K.<\/p>\n

This is the anti-Top Forty.\u00c2\u00a0 But it wipes the deck clean.\u00c2\u00a0 You listen and you feel something inside.\u00c2\u00a0 The compressed rhythm tracks on today’s radio are all external, but this is life itself.<\/p>\n

\n
Bettye Lavette – No Time To Live<\/a><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n


3. "Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood"<\/span><\/p>\n

My favorite Animals track is "Don’t Bring Me Down"…\u00c2\u00a0 But if you were conscious back in ’65, you know every lick of their hit version.\u00c2\u00a0 But Bettye’s rendition is the opposite of her take of "The Word".\u00c2\u00a0 In this case, it’s the original that’s got the attitude, Bettye’s take is reflective.<\/p>\n

The Animals were from dreary England, you can hear Eric Burdon’s desire to escape in the track.\u00c2\u00a0 Whereas Bettye’s version sounds like it was cut in Muscle Shoals.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s not about the urgency, but the underlying message. You won’t even realize it’s the same song until she gets to the chorus, then again, you still might not know.\u00c2\u00a0 But what’ll get you in the gut, what’ll rivet you, is the little instrumental bit at the end of the chorus, like someone tugging at your shirtsleeve, imploring you to turn around as they smile and try to make a connection.<\/p>\n

\n
Bettye Lavette – Dont Let Me Be Misunderstood<\/a><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

4. "All My Love"<\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, the best track from Zeppelin’s "In Through The Out Door"!\u00c2\u00a0 The riff from the original is gone.\u00c2\u00a0 You know, that keyboard figure.\u00c2\u00a0 But Bettye’s track is dark in a way that Jimmy and Robert can understand.<\/p>\n

\n
Bettye Lavette – All My Love<\/a><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

5. "Isn’t It A Pity"<\/span><\/p>\n

Poor George, almost forgotten, when "All Things Must Pass" was considered by many to be the best album of 1970.<\/p>\n

When was the last time you heard "Apple Scruffs"?\u00c2\u00a0 Or the Bob Dylan cover "If Not For You"?<\/p>\n

This is every bit as good as George’s original.\u00c2\u00a0 Fat where his take is thin.\u00c2\u00a0 But sad underneath in the same way.<\/p>\n

\n
Bettye Lavette – Isnt It A Pity<\/a><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n


6. "Wish You Were Here"<\/span><\/p>\n

My favorite version of this song is the live one by Fred Durst and Johnny Rzeznik from the "America: A Tribute To Heroes" concert.\u00c2\u00a0 I like it even more than the Pink Floyd original.<\/p>\n

Fascinating choice, but in this instance, Bettye does not trump either of the foregoing takes.\u00c2\u00a0 Then again, she does turn it into something different that you have to accept on its own terms.<\/p>\n

\n
Bettye Lavette – Wish You Were Here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

7. "It Don’t Come Easy"<\/span><\/p>\n

Some tracks just cannot tire you out, you never burn out on them, you smile every time you hear them.\u00c2\u00a0 Songs like "Sweet Home Alabama" and "It Don’t Come Easy".<\/p>\n

It certainly don’t.<\/p>\n

But listening to Ringo, you think it eventually does come, you get what you want, the track is optimistic.\u00c2\u00a0 Whereas Bettye’s version is after the party, after the audience has gone home, after everybody’s had a good time and the truth is being uttered backstage, or in the bus on the way to the next gig.<\/p>\n

She emphasizes different parts of the song.\u00c2\u00a0 She stretches it out.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s not all of one vibe, rather it encompasses the range of emotions.\u00c2\u00a0 Everybody gets to play, everybody gets to shine.\u00c2\u00a0 It sounds like it was cut in Muscle Shoals after the engineer went home.\u00c2\u00a0 When everybody’s spent, yet too keyed up to leave and starts to jam.\u00c2\u00a0 The guitar squeal that sounds like a horn section, the fingers dancing across the piano keys like Barry Beckett, you listen and alternately ooh and ahh and get introspective.<\/p>\n

It definitely don’t come easy.\u00c2\u00a0 But somehow you keep on keepin’ on.\u00c2\u00a0 And what helps is music.\u00c2\u00a0 You don’t have to be rich or powerful to get it, to experience it, to love it…\u00c2\u00a0 Then again, listening to the right track you feel like the King of the World!\u00c2\u00a0 Bettye LaVette’s take of "It Don’t Come Easy" is such a track.<\/p>\n

\n
Bettye Lavette – It Don’t Come Easy<\/a><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

8. "Maybe I’m Amazed"<\/span><\/p>\n

Do you know the live version off the Faces’ "Long Player"?\u00c2\u00a0 It’s NOTHING like it was live.\u00c2\u00a0 Live, Ronnie Lane would stand in front of the microphone and sing thinly and then…Rod the Mod would rush up alongside him and sing from the bottom of his soul.\u00c2\u00a0 Ronnie Wood would rage, and you’d throw your head back and say WHEW!<\/p>\n

McCartney’s genius is captured in the original.\u00c2\u00a0 Only he could write it.\u00c2\u00a0 Bettye doesn’t challenge it.\u00c2\u00a0 Rather than try to go over the top, out-sing him, she slows it down and lets the meaning of the words shine through.<\/p>\n

\n
Bettye Lavette – Maybe I’m Amazed<\/a><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

9. "Salt Of The Earth"<\/span><\/p>\n

"Beggars Banquet" came out the same time as the White Album.\u00c2\u00a0 And had a fraction of the impact.\u00c2\u00a0 But this was the Stones’ transformative moment.\u00c2\u00a0 This is when they stopped imitating and forged their own path.<\/p>\n

Yes, the track with all the airplay was and still is "Sympathy For The Devil".\u00c2\u00a0 But as great as that signature track is, what comes after is in its own way better.\u00c2\u00a0 Rather than swinging for the fences, the band looked inward, listening felt like pulling back the curtain and taking a peek inside.<\/p>\n

Who can forget the intro to "Stray Cat Blues"…that was edgy in the days before Internet porn!<\/p>\n

God, every track is so great.<\/p>\n

But the closer both sums the record up and creeps you out.<\/p>\n

Yes, it’s "Salt Of The Earth".<\/p>\n

I’d like to say Bettye’s take trumps the Stones’ original, but that might be impossible, the way intercourse with even the best looking person in the world cannot compete with sex with a loved one.\u00c2\u00a0 We don’t need riches and fame, we just need honest feelings.\u00c2\u00a0 And the Stones deliver.<\/p>\n

Still, a great choice.\u00c2\u00a0 The more people who know this song, the better.<\/p>\n

\n
studio: Salt Of The Earth<\/a><\/p>\n

live: Bettye LaVette, Salt of the Earth, Highline Ballroom, NYC 5-26-10<\/a><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

10. "Nights In White Satin"<\/span><\/p>\n

I hate that the Moody Blues have been forgotten, or if remembered, are a punch line.\u00c2\u00a0 In their day, they were truly cutting edge.\u00c2\u00a0 They were the first to cut an entire album with an orchestra, they made album-length statements, they were interested in music more than hits.<\/p>\n

Bettye’s take is absent the majesty of the original.\u00c2\u00a0 And that’s good, rather than compete by throwing everything into the mix, she breaks the song down to its essence, turning it into something different.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s now a dirge.\u00c2\u00a0 But when she builds to the chorus, professing her love, the crescendo makes you lift your head to the heavens, you ultimately twist and turn your noggin, caught up in emotion, the same way your parents did with classical music.<\/p>\n

\n
Bettye Lavette – Nights In White Satin<\/a><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

11. "Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad"<\/span><\/p>\n

Eric Clapton’s never cut an album as good as "Layla".\u00c2\u00a0 This has got a different groove, a different feel from the original, it’s got horns, and Bettye squeezes out the chorus like toothpaste from a tube.\u00c2\u00a0 There is a guitar solo, but if only Derek was the one doing the wailing…<\/p>\n

\n
Bettye Lavette – Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad<\/a><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

12. "Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me"<\/span><\/p>\n

Elton’s throwaway albums are better than the long players of today.\u00c2\u00a0 "Caribou" is not as good as "Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only The Piano Player", but it does contain the classic "The Bitch Is Back".\u00c2\u00a0 And this.<\/p>\n

But whereas the original is majestic, in the fashion of "Tumbleweed Connection"’s first side closer "My Father’s Gun", Ms. LaVette’s take is stripped down.\u00c2\u00a0 The guitar sounds like the haunting picking on Elton’s American debut, and the whole thing has a world-weariness, in opposition to Elton and Bernie’s fascination with the west on "Tumbleweed".<\/p>\n

\n
live:\u00c2\u00a0 Bettye Lavette performs "Don’t Let the Sun Go Down On Me" San Jose Metro Fountain Festival<\/a><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

13. "Love Reign O’er Me"<\/span>

The inspiration.\u00c2\u00a0 The live take from the Kennedy Center.<\/p>\n

"American Idol" can get viewers, but that’s about the competition, the drama of who’s going to win, Ms. LaVette triumphs here by injecting the drama in the song itself!\u00c2\u00a0 Unlike the Mariah clones, she doesn’t start out at 10 and stay there, she works a whole range of emotions, from soft to loud, from intimate to intense.<\/p>\n

This track has gotten all the hype.\u00c2\u00a0 The press needs a hook, saying how Pete Townshend loved it.\u00c2\u00a0 All I can say is it provided inspiration to do this whole album.<\/p>\n

\n
Kennedy Center Honors – Bettye LaVette – Love Reign<\/a><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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1. "The Word" I didn’t even buy "Rubber Soul" when it came out.\u00c2\u00a0 The American version had no hits!\u00c2\u00a0 And I had only a little bit of money, and had to use it wisely and preferred to buy albums that contained big radio tracks.\u00c2\u00a0 Yes, I had a very brief ride on the singles train, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2982","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-music"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p96vPs-M6","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2982","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2982"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2982\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2988,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2982\/revisions\/2988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}