Based on her voice, Bettye LaVette should by rights have been as big a star as Aretha Franklin or Roberta Flack. Yet, after a few R&B hits in the 60's, she disappeared until the early 00's when she was discovered by white audiences. In the last 10 years she's recorded more albums than in the preceding 40. She's not really a songwriter, more a master interpreter, and this album is her tribute to British Rock. It was borne out of a single occasion, a Kennedy Center show in honor of The Who. She was invited to sing "Love Reign O'er Me" from Quadrophenia and her emotive performance shook the house, almost moving guests of honor Townshend and Daltrey to tears. It was then decided that she'd do a whole album of British Rock to reciprocate the respect that British rockers showed to black blues artists when they were treated like outcasts in their own country. The album is accurately titled "Interpretations", as she really gives her own version of the songs rather than simply cover them. It starts off with "The Word", a Beatles (Lennon:"mainly mine") song from 1965. Her version is an upbeat gospel soul triumph that would have made John proud. The Beatles dominate this collection as she also chooses one song each from the solo albums of George, Paul and Ringo. Harrison's "Isn't It a Pity" gets a very sparse arrangement that allows the vocal performance to shine even brighter, but I don't much care for its funereal pace. Ringo's "It Don't Come Easy" is, like most songs here, slower than the original but well served by its Deep South blues rock arrangement. As the song says "Got to pay your dues if you wanna sing the blues/And you know it don't come easy". It sure didn't come easy for LaVette, who's been paying her dues for 50 years now. McCartney is a master writer of sensitive love songs and his "Maybe I'm Amazed" is perfect for her expressive voice. She's helped by the heartwarming string arrangements and Gilmour-like guitarwork. Which brings us to..."Wish You Were Here". For rock singers, tackling Pink Floyd's masterpiece can be intimidating, but LaVette felt at ease making changes to it - as she explains, these songs never got played on black radio stations in the US, so she didn't have any preconceptions about how they should be sung. She treats it like a blues - when they explained to her it's written about a former bandmember that died recently, she approached it as a lament for her singer friends that have left this world. It's a moving performance, embellished once again with strings. Led Zeppelin's "All My Love" is earthier than the original, with a smoky late night feel and a stirring tortured soul delivery. Traffic's "No Time To Live" is another slow song with a similarly emotive performance. As for "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood", at first I didn't understand why it's here, For me it's foremost a Nina Simone song, but it seems that Bettye had The Animals' version in mind. She gives it a funky Southern Soul twist. The Rolling Stones' "Salt of the Earth" is completely reinvented as gospel. The song sounds as if it's just now found its true calling - Hallelujah, take it to the Mississippi to be baptised and let it forevermore be sung by Baptist choirs all over the American south! "Nights in White Satin" is a tricky one: in the wrong hands, it can get syrupy sweet instead of emotional. No such fear, that voice carries such passion and hurt it can never sound soft. "Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad" is introduced with some funky basslines - at last a much needed change a pace, with a James Brown-style dance rhythm and soul horns. Elton John's "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" is another slow blues song and, frankly, the most indifferent track of this CD which closes with the aforementioned Kennedy Center performance. Such is the power of Bettye LaVette's voice, she can sing the phonebook and transform it into heart-wrenching blues. Imagine what she does with The Who's masterpiece. Wait a minute, you don't have to imagine it, just click on the video below!
***** for The Word" (Beatles)
**** for Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood (Animals), All My Love (Led Zeppelin), Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd), It Don't Come Easy, (Ringo Starr), Maybe I'm Amazed (Paul McCartney), Salt of the Earth (Rolling Stones), Nights in White Satin (Moody Blues), Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad (Eric Clapton), Love Reign O'er Me (The Who)
*** for No Time To Live (Traffic), Isn't It a Pity (George Harrison), Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me (Elton John)
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