Bettye Lavette sits down for a One On One Session at City Winery New York on April 6th, 2018. For more info visit: http://www.bettyelavette.com Audio & Video by: Ehud Lazin
Setlist:
Times They are A - Changin'
Political World
Three time Grammy nominee Bettye LaVette is no mere singer. She is not a song writer, nor is she a "cover" artist. She is an interpreter of the highest order. Bettye is one of very few of her contemporaries who were recording during the birth of soul music in the 60s and is still creating vital recordings today. To quote the late, great George Jones: "Bettye is truly a 'singer's singer'."
She was born Betty Jo Haskins on January 29,1946, in Muskegon, Michigan. Her family moved to Detroit when she was six years old. Her parents sold corn liquor and her living room was oft-times visited by The Soul Stirrers, The Blind Boys of Mississippi, and many other traveling gospel groups of the day. Unlike many of her contemporaries, Bettye did not get her start in the church, but in that very same living room, where there was a jukebox, filled with the blues, country & western, and R&B records of the time. The "5" Royales, Dinah Washington, Bobby "Blue" Bland, Red Foley, ...these were her roots.
By 16, Betty Jo had become enamored with showbiz. She decided to change her name to something more dramatic. She knew a local groupie by the name of Sherma Lavett, liked the sound of the name, and thus, Bettye LaVette was born. Singer Timmy Shaw brought her to Johnnie Mae Matthews, a notorious Detroit record producer. Bettye's first single was My Man - He’s a Loving Man, in the fall of 1962. The record was quickly picked up by Atlantic for national distribution. The record charted #7 R&B and put her on her first national tour, with Ben E. King, Clyde McPhatter, and another newcomer, Otis Redding.
