Bettye LaVette appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on May 24 2010.
The performance heralded the release of her eagerly-awaited new album, "Interpretations: The British Rock Songbook".
Leonce Gaiter declared her; "The High Priestess of R&B".
Bettye LaVette with Jay Leno on The Tonight Show, May 2010.
LaVette Reigns O'er Kennedy Center Honors
Bettye LaVette wows fellow artists at the Kennedy Center Honors with her interpretation of The Who's "Love Reign O'er Me".
In December 2009, Bettye LaVette proved to give the powerhouse performance of the evening at the Kennedy Center Honors when she sang her unparalleled version of "Love Reign O'er Me"as part of the Who tribute. The Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl recently described his first encounter with Bettye's rendition of the song to Air America's Richard Greene: "We showed up for rehearsal, and one of the performers was rehearsing the song for the Who segment. It was a woman named Bettye LaVette… She is gonna steal the show. She was so phenomenal, this performance of The Who song that she did. It will bring you to tears. The room was pin-drop silent when she did this song, and it was just unbelievable"
"The Kennedy Center Honors was the most exciting thing I have every done in my life, because there were so many of my favorite politicians there", says Bettye. "And this year has been the greatest year of my life. Who would have ever imagined both Barack and I going to the White House?!"
On his blog at TheWho.com, the legendary axe-slinger said, "My favorite moment was when Bettye LaVette sang a very fine version of 'Love Reign O'er Me' at the Gala and Barbra Streisand turned to ask me if I really wrote it".
Who's on first? Bettye with Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey .
"The great Bettye LaVette brings the first amazing moment of "We Are One", as she fills
"A Change Is Gonna Come" with fire, dueting with Jon Bon Jovi." Photo Associated Press
Yes they can! - President Obama and Bettye LaVette at his Inaugural Celebration.
Bettye LaVette started 2009 with a bang with the honor of performing Sam Cooke's revered anthem "A Change Is Gonna Come" at Barack Obama's Inaugural Celebration;"We Are One" at the Lincoln Memorial on Sunday, January 18.
LaVette has been on a roll since her 2005 release on Anti- Records, "I've Got My Own Hell to Raise", which brought her back into the national spotlight, 43 years after her first single "My Man is a Loving Man", was released in 1962 when she was a teen. This roll only gathered more strength and critical acclaim when Anti- issued her second CD for the label in 2007, the Grammy nominated, "The Scene of the Crime".
Bettye LaVette also performed "Change is Gonna Come" on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson on Wednesday, June 24.
Bettye LaVette played to an extremely appreciative sold-out crowd at Joe's Pub, above, recently where, for the first time in nearly a decade, she performed a cabaret-style show accompanied only by her pianist and music director, Al Hill.
Called "The sexiest female vocalist alive" by Esquire magazine, Bettye brought the theatricality into her set mixing a viscerally shattering delivery of songs from every style of popular music from Thelonious Monk to Bruce Springsteen and chronicling her life stories in between.
According to respected music journalist/author/songwriter Dimitri Ehrlich in Uptown Social: "She sings, she smolders, she testifies… standouts included a shiver-inducing cover of Neil Young's "Heart of Gold", as well as re-workings of songs by the Beatles, Ray Charles and her old friend Otis Redding. LaVette still brings a world of pain to every note. "An extraordinary combination of raw emotion and sublime musical intelligence enhances a voice hinting at decades of disappointment, cigarettes, tear stained pillows and benders. Times may have changed, but the yearning and unbearable soul-bruising are still there".
The evening included such tunes as Neil Young's "Heart of Gold", The Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby", the Buddy Johnson penned timeless "Save Your Love For Me", Thelonious Monk's "Round Midnight", the Jerry Butler/Otis Redding collaborative classic "I've Been Loving You Too Long", Bettye's first single at 16, "My Man - He's a Lovin' Man", the Billy Strayhorn composed standard "Lush Life", Sam Cooke's unforgettable "A Change is Gonna Come", among others. Bettye chose to close her show with the gut-wrenching Springsteen number "Streets of Philadelphia".
Listen to Bettye's stunning version of "Heart of Gold" from her Joe's Pub Performance
In other recent news, Bettye made her Tonight Show debut performing "I Still Want to be Your Baby (Take Me Like I Am)" from her Grammy-nominated CD The Scene of the Crime.
LaVette nominated for the 2009 Blues Music Award for "Best Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year"
Bettye's most recent Grammy-nominated CD, " Scene of The Crime", earned her praise across the board, from NPR, which asked "Is there any soul singer who brings more guts, more conviction and more emotion to her singing?" and Entertainment Weekly, which echoed, "Is there a more wrenching soul singer alive than Bettye LaVette? If so, keep it to yourself, because I'm too wrung out from Crime's intensity to take anything more emotionally potent", to USA Today, "This album…just rips, with some truly sublime peaks.", and Rolling Stone, "LaVette's nuanced singing evokes prime Tina Turner with even more command".
New Take on the Elton John Classic
Bettye LaVette, the 45+ year veteran of American soul music has filmed a new video for what is arguably the most moving track from the Grammy nominated "The Scene of the Crime": the poignant re-interpretation of the Elton John classic "Talking Old Soldiers."
It was filmed by Lex Halaby (The Frames, Atmosphere) in The Locker Room, a bar in her hometown of Detroit, MI, where she spent many a night feeling the things that appealed to her in the lyrics of the song. The video captures in Bettye all the disappointment and loneliness that lyricist Bernie Taupin imbued in his timeworn veterans, and adds the distinctly modern cry of a woman and an artist aging in a young person's game. Bettye said she chose to record "Talking Old Soldiers", because "it is a true segment of my life."
In his Pick of the Week at USA Today, critic Ken Barnes wrote: "The Detroit soul survivor transforms Elton John's "Tumbleweed Connection" obscurity into a tour de force about outliving the people one loves the most. "How the hell do they know what it's like to have a graveyard for a friend?", she wails, looking around the bar at the youngsters who've dismissed her as a crazy old broad… LaVette's chill-inducing performance is without question one of the finest you'll hear all year."
Still, while the song may be a lament, the overarching vibe of "The Scene of the Crime" is one of redemption and triumph. The album marks Bettye's second for Anti- Records, and on it, she returns to the city of Muscle Shoals, AL, where some of her earlier work had been recorded, yet remained unreleased for years, this time with backing band Drive-By Truckers. The master song interpreter with a reputation for ferocity and perseverance, backed by this band of rock 'n roll outlaws, together created a record as emotional as one of her highly regarded live performances.
The critics were unanimous:
"LaVette's nuanced singing evokes prime Tina Turner with even more command."
- Rolling Stone
"Living proof that classic soul is as durable a style as any brand of American music."
- New York Times
"LaVette sings 'Scene' as if she's been backed into a corner and relishes the sensation."
- Village Voice
"Change is Gonna Come Sessions" EP released
Having conquered the ghosts of a hard-luck past on her GRAMMY-nominated CD, "The Scene of the Crime", Bettye LaVette shines a new light on that past with her latest, "Change is Gonna Come" Sessions. The digital-only EP for Anti- Records revisits Bettye's forgotten post-Atlantic Records years as a nightclub singer, Broadway performer, and touring cast member opposite Cab Calloway in "Bubbling Brown Sugar."
The EP opens with a stirring solo version of Sam Cooke's posthumous Civil Rights anthem "A Change Is Gonna Come", a song which Bettye sang with Jon Bon Jovi in January as part of the "We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial" concert. Joining Bettye for these Sessions are pianist and musical director Al Hill, veteran bassist John Heard – who has accompanied such luminaries as Count Basie, Cole Porter, Ella Fitzgerald, and Art Pepper – drummer Danny Frankel KD Lang, Lou Reed, and Tom Hagerman from DeVotchKa on strings.
A mix of standards and soul classics from Bettye's 1970s stage and nightclub repertoire rounds out the 6-song set, including songs by Thelonious Monk, Billy Strayhorn, Bill Withers, and Jimmy Reed. A rendition of Billie Holiday's "God Bless The Child" – a song that Bettye first performed with show-stopping magnificence in "Bubbling Brown Sugar" – highlights Bettye's vocal mastery. Rather than attack, Bettye approaches these tracks with subtlety – while nonetheless wresting every ounce and every nuance of meaning from the words she sings. Once more, Bettye provides the definitive answer to the question posed by NPR in its review of The Scene of the Crime: "Is there any soul singer who brings more guts, more conviction and more emotion to her singing?" Absolutely not.
On the night he was elected president, Obama referred to Cooke's civil rights anthem when he said, 'It's been a long time coming, but tonight, change has come to America.' It's been a long time coming as well for LaVette…What an absolute thrill to see her finally gain the long-overdue recognition she so richly deserves."
Track Listing:
1. "A Change is Gonna Come" (Sam Cooke)
2. "'Round Midnight" (Thelonious Monk)
3. "God Bless the Child" (Billie Holiday / Arthur Herzog)
4. "Lush Life" (Billy Strayhorn)
5. "Ain't No Sunshine" (Bill Withers)
6. "Ain't That Lovin' You" (Jimmy Reed)
"Do Your Duty" re-released
You can also now get Bettye's "Do Your Duty". Sundazed have remastered the Silver Fox/SSS International tracks from 1969-70. Produced by Leland Rogers with the Sounds Of Memphis studio guys, who went on to become known as The Dixie Flyers.
Bettye LaVette Makes Special Appearance on Austin City Limits
For the past 33 years, Austin City Limits has been televising rare and intimate performances from some of the most important artists in music. On October 11th, soul legend Bettye LaVette will take her place in a long list of luminaries who have appeared on the show - everyone from Ray Charles to the Pixies, Van Morrison to the Dixie Chicks.
"When Austin City Limits debuted in 1975 with Willie Nelson as its first performer, no one – not the producers, not the network, not the fans, not even Willie – knew that this 60-minute show from a PBS station in a mid-level market would become a cultural institution. But we have, thanks to an impressive roster of artists drawn to our straightforward, no-muss-no-fuss aesthetic and a production team that works solely to highlight the artist. In studio 6A, the spotlight sits squarely where it needs to be: on the performance."
Bettye LaVette will not disappoint. Playing with her scorching and perceptive backing band - Alan Hill on keyboards, Darryl Pierce on drums, Brett Lucas on guitar and Chuck Bartel on bass – the veteran performer has been honing her skills, touring non-stop in support of 2007's critically acclaimed and Grammy nominated The Scene of the Crime.
"LaVette…isn't just an engaging performer, she's a musical force of nature, a hurricane in heels that whips up a fiery mix of soul, jazz, country and blues." - The Houston Chronicle
"LaVette radiated strength and conviction on anguished, sould-searching ballads…[and] on up-tempo numbers, LaVette had all the moves, timing and intonation of a stage veteran, prancing, prowling and dancing, nonstop." - The Seattle Times
Revered for her ability to take other's compositions and make them her own, LaVette will be performing a number of covers during her performance on Austin City Limits, including the Elton John tear-jerker "Talking Old Soliders", to which, characteristically, Bettye adds a certain amount of defiance missing from the original. Called "the album's tour-de-force and true gravitational center" by Patterson Hood (The Scene of the Crime's co-producer and member of Drive By Truckers, who backed Bettye on the record),
Bettye LaVette: Blues Music Award Winner 2008
The 2008 Blues Music Awards were announced in the Mississippi Delta on 8 May 2008.
The winners, selected by the vote of the Blues Foundation's members, included Bettye LaVette - shown above accepting her award for "Best Contemporary Blues Female Artist 2008".
This month also saw the long-awaited reissue of Bettye's 1982 classic Motown album,
"TELL ME A LIE". Reissued by Reel Music.
Bettye LaVette Nominated for "International Artist of the Year" Award
The Toronto Blues Society's Maple Blues Awards - Canada's National Award Program that promotes and recognizes outstanding achievement in Blues Music, has announced the nominees for 2008 - Bettye LaVette was nominated for "International Artist of the Year".
"The Scene Of The Crime" Earns Grammy Nomination for
"Best Contemporary Blues Album"
Bettye LaVette continues her bold ascent with a GRAMMY nomination for Best Contemporary Blues Album for her CD "The Scene of the Crime" (Anti- Records). Joined by the Drive-By Truckers as her backing band, Bettye's essential new entry into the soul music canon channels more than 40 years of blood, sweat, and shattered dreams into one glorious catharsis.
"I haven't been this happy since 1962 when this whole thing started", declares an elated Bettye.
It was 35 years ago in Muscle Shoals – a decade after she scored a top-ten hit with her debut single "My Man – He's A Lovin' Man" – that Bettye recorded the career-defining masterpiece that never was: Atlantic Records inexplicably shelved the record. Scarred but not broken, Bettye persevered as a tireless performer, honing her craft and focusing her heartbreak.
Now "The Scene of the Crime" has indisputably become the career-defining masterpiece that is. On the heels of her critically lauded Anti- debut (2005's I've Got My Own Hell To Raise), SCENE has been garnering nonstop rave reviews – and not a few rhetorical questions:
NPR asks, "Is there any soul singer who brings more guts, more conviction and more emotion to her singing?" and Entertainment Weekly wonders, "Is there a more wrenching soul singer alive than Bettye LaVette?"
Elsewhere, the praise has been every bit as assertive as Bettye herself is in redefining cuts like Elton John and Bernie Taupin's "Talking Old Soldiers", Willie Nelson's "Somebody Pick Up My Pieces", and Don Henley's "You Don't Know Me At All" on "The Scene of the Crime":
"LaVette's nuanced singing evokes prime Tina Turner with even more command", says Rolling Stone. Adds USA Today, "This album…just rips, with some truly sublime peaks." "The Scene of the Crime" is a smoldering revelation displaying an artist nearly a half century into her career who is only now approaching the peak of her considerable powers", notes Paste. And the All Music Guide: "It gets better with each listen, and stands so far outside the realm of anything her better-known peers are doing today that it's almost scary."
In addition to earning Bettye her first ever GRAMMY nomination, SCENE has landed Bettye nonstop rave reviews, and three 2008 Blues Music Award (formerly the W.C. Handy Awards) nominations – for Album of the Year, Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year, and the B.B. King Entertainer of the Year.
"The Scene of the Crime" was the album she was born to make. It gets better with each listen, and stands so far outside the realm of anything her better-known peers are doing today that it's almost scary." - AMG
"Wow! I got chills when I listened to Bettye LaVette's version of Choices. I can only hope that my version created a similar sensation. Her interpretation is so soulful, and conveys the feelings I had when I recorded the song – the thoughts that I had about some of the mistakes or choices I had made. She did an incredible job, and she is truly a 'singer's singer."
George Jones
"LaVette sings Scene of the Crime as if she's been backed into a corner and relishes the sensation. In fact, she's spent most of her 45-year career against the wall, from her journeywoman days on such small labels as Calla and Silver Fox to the dark-night-of-the-soul singer documented on "Child of the Seventies", made in 1972 for Atlantic and mysteriously unreleased for three decades." VILLAGE VOICE
"An autobiographical look back at the long hard road she has traveled, but it also shows us the direction her current path has taken her. She is by no means a retro soul singer, but a "now" woman ready for the new experiences life has unfurled in front of her." Blues Bytes Pick Hit
Bettye LaVette: THE COMEBACK KID
"The album's title, "Scene of the Crime", refers to where it was recorded: Muscle Shoals, Ala. Muscle Shoals is where LaVette recorded what's considered her 1972 masterwork, "Child of the '70s", but Atlantic Records shelved it, for no good reason anyone can figure.
How did it feel to go back to a place that caused her such heartbreak, after so long?
"If I had to liken it to anything, it would be revenge", LaVette admits. "I was the only one there fitting into a size six!" she says, cracking herself up.
But seriously: "My career has been cruel to me, but people have been kind to me, so that enabled me to revisit the scene of the crime. I'm just glad I was strong, and loud, just the way I was the last time they saw me. And that's been almost 50 years ago!"
Well, er, actually 35 years..
BLUES REVIEW featured a cover story on Bettye. As did Paste magazine (below).
"Bettye LaVette isn't making a comeback..."
"Taking in the Calgary Folk Music Festival in early August provided a lesson in the criminally underrated, unknown and somehow, inexplicably left behind. Soul powerhouse Bettye LaVette, at age 61, isn't making a comeback, it's just that she was never recognized when she should have been. The near misses and frustrating anonymity of a career that never got off the ground during the Motown-era of the '60s has magically found an audience through sheer perseverance - and a little luck.
As a result of a collection of recordings from the late '60s with the Dixie Flyers (Take Another Little Piece Of My Heart), her 2005 release (I've Got My Own Hell To Raise) as well as her jaw-dropping performance at the CFMF, LaVette is proving that she is someone who can never be taken for granted again. Do yourself a favour and check into this woman."
Gerry Krochak, The Leader-Post
Did we mention she won a few Music Awards along the way?!
Handy Award winners, Bettye LaVette & Little Milton.
Bettye with Dan Aykroyd and Hubert Sumlin. Bettye performed with an all star group of musicians on Sirius Radio Network for the releaseof Dan Aykroyd's and Ben Manilla's new book
"Elwood's Blues, Interviews with the Blues Legends & Stars"
At Joe's Pub: Diana Krall, Bettye and Elvis Costello who said of Bettye; "You've got a singer here who is willing to stretch and is not content to live in the safety zone".
Richie Havens and Bettye share a laugh. - Photo Kevin Kiley
