Betty Davis

joining this funky thing late, but I gotta say I hear the Shuggie Otis Effect at work here, like I bought that Otis reissue w/ the shoutouts from the usual archivist musician hipster guides we all need. I sorta liked the instrumentals in a sub-SlyRiotway and it was nice to have his own version of Strawberry. but actually the Bros Johnson did it way better, their big psychedelic break in the middle is a funk landmark. Betty Davis was a cool figure, I guess, with connections, and I do like a lot of the music, because I have fairly low standards for funky shit such as this--I even like the Miracles record that came after the great City of Angels. but it's not great or anything and she wasn't all that great--if she looked like Phoebe Snow and was married to, like, Harry Chapin and not Miles, then I might perk my head up. but hell, I'll probably buy the reissues even though I have most of the great tracks you could get for years, burned from the vinyl.

haha I don't think I ever bothered to listen to that whole Shuggie album... I'm more of a Johnny fan.

http://www.mp3rockabilly.com/ac501p10.jpg

o yeah

WTF is that instrument?

I gotta say I hear the Shuggie Otis Effect at work here

Big time OTM. Heard Shuggie again a few days ago in the background at a small get together which is where his shit belongs. Inoffensive, serviceable. I didn't even mind when it played twice in a row. But soooo not great, sooo not anything to get exercised about.

Same with Ms. Davis. I can imagine a DJ dropping one of her tracks in a mix and wowing me for those several minutes. But no one on the dancefloor would remember it the next day.

And I still say the original Bette Davis kicks Betty to all kinds of curb.

hmmm, gotta say I disagree about Shuggie -- I still find Inspiration Information to be pretty awesome overall. A beautiful, enveloping, warm record that might be comparable to Sly or Stevie Wonder, but really exists in its own universe. But I can see how it (and Betty Davis' records) might be somewhat overrated these days, simply because they went unnoticed for so long. There's definitely a desire amongst critics to be all like "This is the greatest record you've NEVER heard!" But that doesn't mean those records aren't great anyway.

who gives a shit about press hyperbole

shuggie was brilliant (for one album at least), betty was brilliant over the course of a few albums. she might not be labelle or whoever but she occupies her only entirely unique little space in 70s funk/soul that i dont think any other female artist really did so deserves a bit of fame/respect. its not like shes that well known even after these reissues is she? and its not like shes being championed for obscuritys sake IMO, her records really ARE just plain great. a friend of mine who gave me jois 2nd album about ten years ago put betty davis on the b side of the tape and ive always wondered why she was never bigger, considering the miles davis connection.

Labelle's pretty flat and boring next to Betty, imho

the nightbirds album is good though... im trying to think of a female artist to compare betty to from that period.

yeah I have Nightbirds and its not bad - I'm not knockin Labelle, I like them fine, but Betty was way harder than they were.

and Nona Hendryx from Labelle is cited upthread, but her stuff is AFTER Betty. I don't think Betty really had any contemporaries - ie, strong tight female funkstress writing her own material and directing her own career.

i need to investigate 70s tina turner but betty reminds me of her stuff with ike a fair bit.

also have you guys heard the first mothers finest album?

matos be hatin'
http://www.slate.com/id/2167827/

as someone who doesn't have a real firm opinion on ms. davis (altho i certainly think the little i've heard is ok), the article reads a bit like your real target is the obscuro record geek, and poor betty is just a vehicle for that. is that an unfair take, matos?

I don't think it's unfair in the least. Matos be right. He got down to musical specifics and really nailed it re: the voice. Not just awful (big whoop) but unconvincing, as if she were giggling coquetteishly behind that turquoise chain (or whatever the hell it is). Plus the obscuro record geek SHOULD be targeted. Not everyone gets buckets of free CDs and if Matos can save one customer service representative from spending their barely-existent-anyway discretionary income on these over-hyped thangs, then target away baby!

Only misstep is the Journey bashing. Steve Perry can take Ms. They Say She's Different But Yo She So Ain't to church.

i meant is my sensing a not-so-hidden agenda in his review fair or not, not if his review of betty is fair or not (tho i do think it reads a bit unfair, but i'm still forming an opinion of her music so maybe i'll end up agreeing with him one day)

"She consistently over-gesticulated, zoomed around her minute range freely but with little real control, and growled and roared with a wearying constancy, even when she toned down the volume ... Davis often ignored the beat entirely."

wow. i've never read a better elucidation of what made betty davis such a tremendous vocalist. it could easily apply to albert ayler, or bob dylan, or keiji haino. obviously, matos was using that to make the opposite argument, but ultimately that's beside the point.

if Matos can save one customer service representative from spending their barely-existent-anyway discretionary income on these over-hyped thangs, then target away baby!

if only!
http://static.sky.com/images/pictures/1329853.jpg

i meant is my sensing a not-so-hidden agenda in his review fair or not, not if his review of betty is fair or no

What's the difference?

it could easily apply to albert ayler, or bob dylan, or keiji haino.

Yeah but you're forgetting convincing which apply to Ayler and Dylan (don't know Haino well enough to comment).

P.S. Everyone CSR I suggested M.I.A.'s debut to adored it.

Everyone = Every

Why lost funk queen Betty Davis doesn't live up to the hype.

...because i need 500 words by tomorrow morning.

btw i'll expect complete lists of records KJB and matos like so we can point out massive hypocrisy re: vocals. thanks.

that review is very unfair. heard this album this week for the first time in years and its even better than i remember it. and considering no one really knows betty, condemning it for not living up to the hype when the hype isnt actually that big in the first place seems a bit bizarre.

fair enough if someone hates the way 'lost classics' are revered just for being old and obscure but betty is one of those occasions where it wasnt obscure because it was shit, but for other reasons.

Great article, Matos! After fighting with a friend a few days ago about why her voice sucked - and listening to him insisting that "it's the funk that matters" – I feel vindicated.

(Those two albums aren't bad at all, just quite ok)

'Game Is My Middle Name' kinda owns.

'In the Meantime' is pretty sweet too axshully.

Why should the hype not fit into a piece about Davis? As if the hype isn't part of the context that she's being heard in, and as if it doesn't have a lot to do with how her reissue is being marketed. (Just like any other record, for crissakes). And as if talking honestly about the hype prevents somebody from also talking honestly about the music (which Matos did, in that piece, in more detail than anybody else I've read has done.)

Personally, I like her more than Esquivel, less than Os Mutantes (who were overrated too.)

I also love all this "she's inept therefore she's avant-garde" logic. Hell, you could use it for pretty much any lousy artist ever, couldn't you?

journalists angry about hpe = teh roflz

hi, could someone please explain how "hype" exists for these albums? first time i heard of her was probably someone mentioning her in a funk thread here. i've been listening to her since the last round of bootlegs came out and know about two people who like her. HYPESPLOSION! i sure am a fucking rube.

xp

i just feel like SOME PEOPLE are more pissed about "hype" and "record snobs" than, you know, "the music."

gott punch OTM

journalists in war over cred shockah

(ie "I heard it first and it sucks! You are a sucker for buying the album based on what other journos told you - listen to meeeeeeee")

Horseshit. Matos talks about "the music" more than anybody on this thread has.

that article's about the music just as much as the (equally long) ones in Wax Poetics and the Chronicle

actually wait no those other two articles (from THE HYPE MACHINEtm I assume) are longer

I guess I'm always surprised/disappointed when journos feel the need to spend their talents talking about things they don't like. Why discourage other people's enjoyment, is there not enough out there that you DO like to write about?

Why shouldn't journos just write about records that are interesting to write about, whether they like them or not?

Actually, come to think of it, though, that Incredible Bongo Band reissue last year didn't really live up to its hype, either. And I'm pretty sure Matos fell for that one lock, stock, and barrel. So we're all susceptible (me included). Plus, duh, we don't all have the same ears (or nervous systems). But that doesn't make Matos's Davis piece any less valid.

Because it's our job to explain why something sucks?

(xpost)

xp: (And I LOVE a few Incredible Bongo Band tracks, by the way. So let's not get into a war about that one too. Just found the reissue disappointing, as a whole.)

I've never heard the Incredible Bongo Band (uh-oh - HYPE FAILURE!) so no worries there

Because it's our job to explain why something sucks?

that's... sad.

I don't understand, Shakey. Why else read criticism? You're the last person I'd expect to advocate advocacy, btw.

I guess I'm always surprised/disappointed when internet people feel the need to spend their talents talking about reviews they don't like. Why discourage other people's enjoyment, is there not enough out there that you DO like to write about?

I also love all this "she's inept therefore she's avant-garde" logic.

I love it too, in general. Love it to pieces. Except, no one here is really saying that about Betty Davis.

I don't understand, Shakey. Why else read criticism? You're the last person I'd expect to advocate advocacy, btw.

you don't know me very well, I guess.

when it comes to criticism (and internet msg boards are a different matter/medium, btw) I prefer to read about things people are excited about. Sometimes it presents an opportunity to share in the excitement/discover something I may enjoy. Negative criticism is usually invested in some sort of War of Aesthetics-type conflict that I don't have any interest in. Maybe that interested me at some point when I was younger, but not anymore...