Bettye LaVette

Bettye LaVette, ‘the great lady of soul’ is an artist making her Cambridge debut. Now I for one am not sure where soul ends and blues begins and judging by the blues awards that Bettye has picked up along the way, I’m not the only one. And, to be honest, the distinction doesn’t matter as much as the quality and in Bettye LaVette, you have quality.
Originally from Muskegon in Michigan, her family moved to Detroit when Bettye was six. Surprisingly, Bettye did not learn her craft in a Baptist Choir, but rather just describes herself as a daughter of the blues.
She’s toured with the likes of James Brown, Ben E. King, and Otis Reading. Her version of “He Made A Woman Out Of Me” was banned by many US radio stations until Bobbie Gentry’s cover somehow made it acceptable.
In 1982 she was the act that Motown used to replace the departing Diana Ross. She also performed in the Broadway musical and Tony nominated “Bubbling Brown Sugar” alongside Cab Calloway.
On stage it’s been said that Bettye works as hard as Tina did when she was with Ike, that’s something we’ll have to wait to see, but you get the gist.
Bettye LaVette can be heard at http://www.myspace.com/bettyelavette

Post Festival Notes
A great blues artist that really deserves all of the respect that's been going her way since she was rediscovered. She was ballsy and brassy with a real blues attitude. Her band knew their way around their instruments, but seemed to lack a bit of passion. Consequently I felt her set faded towards the end. Betty is a spikey lady with the songs to match.
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