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Artist: Bettye Lavette
Album: A Woman Like Me
Released: 2003
Source: Blues Express
Genre: Soul / Blues / R&B
Info:
http://www.bettyelavette.com/
Format: EAC-APE-CUE-Scans, 369 MB
Review:
"I can feel the pain, Lord, it's raining in my heart," Bettye Lavette howls on "The Forecast," and it sounds like it. On this stunning comeback — her first American release in over 20 years — the feisty soul singer rips through an hour of music with the pent-up hunger of a caged tiger at feeding time. Helped immeasurably by producer/songwriter Dennis Walker, best known for his breakout work with Robert Cray, Lavette moans, screams, shouts, pleads, and growls her way through a dozen tracks that'll leave even the most jaded R&B fan begging for more. One of the casualties of music biz politics, Lavette has a style that has only sharpened with age. In her mid-fifties at the time of this recording, the singer has a husky voice that tears at the edges, adding deeper emotion. Although the production leans toward the slick side, it leaves room for the singer to dominate each track. Walker, who wrote or co-wrote nine of these tunes, provides heart-tugging yet defiant material perfect for Lavette's take-no-prisoners approach. The singer plays the part of the scorned, aggressive woman, left behind but strong enough to know she's better off without that no-good scoundrel. Song tiles such as "Salt in My Wounds," "Serves Him Right," and "It Ain't Worth It After a While" tell the story without having to hear a lyric. Lavette squeezes every ounce of emotion from this material, lashing into it with a barely contained explosive delight. Like a stage actress, she builds up the tension gradually until igniting in a shower of yelps and repeated phrases similar to Otis Redding at his most impassioned. This is a powerful album — moving, intense, and honest — from an artist desperately making up for lost time. It's a success for everyone involved, and deserves to put Bettye Lavette back on American stages where she belongs (AMG)
It's hard to believe that a singer as great as Bettye Lavette, who has done a lot of recording since her first r 'n' b hit in l962, could be so little known in America. Maybe it's because until recently hardly any of her music was available on cd. Equally at home singing r 'n' b, blues, jazz and even rock, Bettye is the greatest unrecognized soul singer of the past forty years. Her vocal quality may remind you of Tina Turner or Mavis Staples and sometimes she sings like Ann Peebles or Etta James, but in the end she's an original, incredibly expressive and powerful.
This new album, her first American release since her l982 album on Motown, is a stone winner for anyone who likes classic soul music or soulful blues. Produced by Dennis Walker, who produced and wrote some of Robert Cray's greatest recordings, "A Woman Like Me" is a no-frills, straight-to-the-heart killer. The soul ballad, "Through The Winter" is incredibly moving, a song and performance worthy of Otis Redding's best. "Serves Him Right" may be the nastiest pay-back song you ever heard (lyric: "brotherman got bit by his own snake")laid over a Memphis groove; "Thinkin' Bout You" is a sexy mood piece, "It Ain't Worth It After Awhile" is a heart-rending jazzy torch song she closes out the album with a feisty blues she wrote herself.
There's not a weak track on the album, although the playing and arrangement on "Right Next Door", a tune recorded by Cray, is a little limp in comparison to her ferocious vocal. Throughout there's plenty of hot blues/rock guitar soloing from Alan Mirikanti. With this album, Bettye Lavette is the blues/soul discovery of the year (Amaz*n).
Track List:
01 Serves Him Right (4:19)
02 The Forecast (5:02)
03 Thru the Winter (5:49)
04 Right Next Door (4:30)
05 When the Blues Catch Up to You (4:44)
06 Thinkin' Bout You (4:59)
07 A Woman Like Me (5:53)
08 It Ain't Worth It After a While (5:21)
09 When a Woman's Had Enough (4:16)
10 Salt on My Wounds (4:39)
11 Close as I'll Get to Heaven (4:54)
12 Hey, Hey Baby (Bettye's Blues) (4:18)
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Bettye Lavette - A Woman Like Me (EAC-APE-CUE-Scans) (HQShare.Net) .rar 