Betty Davis

They were reissued for a reason.

Oh come on. I found a CD of They Say I'm Different in Chicago (where I didn't live at the time) about 5 years ago. And her stuff has been on slsk (and elsewhere, I'm sure) for eons. These are hardly lost albums.

"Not sure what I Eat Cannibals is getting at upthread but I think he's saying that I need to reference a much less "mainstream" group than Funkadelic to establish my Betty-bashing authority. I hope I got that wrong, tough, cuz it's an absurd premise."

Check out my opinions in the Funkadelic thread! That'll prove I don't have a man purse or ride a recumbent bike!

It was a cred appeal.

And what I like about the first album (I've been disappointed by her others) is the incredible depth of the rhythm section. Yeah, her voice is thin, but I like the aggressive come-ons, and I think they hold up better from the first album than on any others. C'mon, Anti-Love Song is a fucking jam.
I'll also say that this is not an album well-served by mp3 encoding and small speakers. You do lose a lot of the bass tone that way (at least the copies I found on SLSK).

OK gotcha.

i have just downloaded "they say i'm different", and now i wish i hadn't read this thread before giving it a listen. boo.

boo to who/what, exactly?

'dedicated to the press' is a killer tune

oh, just boo to seeing so many different responses to her stuff, and possibly having that color my reaction. i like to have fresh ears. though that doesn't happen all that much to me, in reality. and regardless, i just gave it a listen and i quite like it on first reaction. it's pretty ballsy (ovaries-y?). agreed on the no bullshit funk thing upthread.

"her voice is thin"

This particular criticism just bugs me. I don't fucking need her to sound like Tina Turner to accomplish what she so clearly does, here. The quality of her voice is not the centerpiece and it doesn't need to be. "Steppin In Her I. Miller Shoes" is a rather rock and roll track, despite its funkiness, and there's no special need for her voice to have a soulful quality. In doing what she does, she reminds me of some of my favourite white male rock stars, i.e. Roger Daltrey or even Iggy Pop. Howls and screams.

And Nona Hendryx has always bored me to tears, but hey, different strokes for different folks.

I USED TO BEAT HIM WITH A TURQUOISE CHAIN

ballsy (ovaries-y?)

I've made an executive decision, and in these instances, every single time now, we all must say "huevos". Sorry, it just makes sense.

actually, i prefer "cojones".

In doing what she does, she reminds me of some of my favourite white male rock stars, i.e. Roger Daltrey or even Iggy Pop. Howls and screams.

My reaction exactly, though I hear Steven Tyler and Faces-era Rod Stewart and other, even more blackface-y white blooze shouters. Which is kinda the problem I have with her - she sounds like a black chick who's internalized white hard rockers' nut-clutching, overwrought imitations of black male vocalists. Which is fine, but kinda funny. And it takes nothing away from the music, which is pretty uniformly great, at least on the debut. (I haven't listened to They Say all the way through yet.)

dedicated to the press' is a killer tune

-- stevie, Monday, May 28, 2007 8:04 PM (2 days ago) Bookmark Link

You got that right! BASS GUITAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

She's a freakin' PANTHER on that shit. Prince should be embarrassed, etc.

cf. complaints about her voice, she makes some amazing high note swoops right at the end very of that song ("you swing high, you swing lowOOOOO[impossibly high squeal] - here I go again"]

i love betty davis.

if you guys really like her, find the album ameoba cleansing syndrome by joi, which was made in the mid 90s with fishbone. its one of the best funk rock albums of the last 30 years. jois really into betty davis too.

did that ever get released? i've always wanted to hear it...

not officially. but its on her site for $30. its worth getting. although i think theres two versions out there with diff tracklistings. not sure which one is on her site.

ooh, do you have a link?

$30? who does she think she is, Marissa Merchant?

I only have a 128 kbpr version that I dled from someplace, but it's TOTALLY worth $30. And it does actually have a Betty Davis cover on it (If I'm in Luck, I Just Might Get Picked Up.)

no link... i have it on cd somewhere but i dont know where. its brilliant though. theres one track from it on jois myspace, the very first song. and it fucking KILLS.

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.)