Bettye LaVette is a true legend with a musical career spanning more than 60 years, she is now rightly recognized as one of the finest vocalists and one of the great interpreters of song. Her discography spans five decades, but it is within the past decade that she has finally been recognized as one of America’s finest vocal talents.
“With every new song, Bettye finds the thread that first will unravel it. Then she stitches it all back together until it fits her taut frame and fierce stride, until it bends to meet her; until each song’s story is somehow, miraculously, telling her own.”
– Joe Henry (Producer of I’ve Got My Own Hell To Raise & Worthy)
“You’ve got a singer here who is willing to stretch and not content to live in the safety zone. One of R&B’s greatest under-acknowledged vocalists.”
– Elvis Costello
“Bettye is one of the most incredible R&B singers singing today. Ache has never sounded so funky. Weary, wise, defiant and vulnerable, Bettye’s a force of nature.”
– Bonnie Raitt
“Somehow she got lost in the tail end of the soul era – perhaps she was just too ferocious for white taste – but she certainly is and was the greatest female soul singer, in a hard-core vein.”
– Ry Cooder
“One of the things I love about her is she doesn’t waste a syllable. It’s so lean – no technique to show you what she can do. She knows her voice, understands it – and she cuts through not just the speakers, but right under your skin. Every note rings true.”
– Don Was
– Elton John
“Some singers sing… Then there is Bettye. She doesn’t just sing the song, she lives in each of them. I’ve heard it. I’ve stood close enough to see it in her eyes.”
– Jon Bon Jovi
“She is an R&B singer from the gospel tradition; her voice is hard-worked and reminiscent of many of the great and older singers who have preceded her. But she has a depth of emotional understanding that surpasses what many of those singers did in the R&B world back in the ’60s and ’70s. Bettye has brought the old methods of her genre into the modern world in a new way… She is reinventing and reclaiming a soul-singing tradition all at once. What she is doing is pure and authentic… Bettye LaVette’s experience, scope and wisdom as a singer and performer have arrived in the middle of a world of darkly disturbing musical diversity and confusion like a stake in the heart of a vampire.”
– Pete Townshend
“Bettye LaVette is a huge influence on the world of R&B. I’ve followed her since “Let Me Down Easy” in the mid ’60s. She is blessed with an instantly recognizable voice full of power and emotion. At this point in her long and illustrious career I’m honored and very happy to hear her version of “No Time To Live.”
– Steve Winwood
“When you hear a voice like Bettye LaVette’s there’s a sense of transportation (NOT to a penal colony!), but a certain freedom of movement and emotion, which is rare. Especially to me and I suspect other Englishmen who were so fascinated by the music that is so natural to Bettye while we were still getting our feet wet. Put me in the fan club! How did Bettye LaVette slip thru the net for so long?”
– Keith Richards
“Bettye LaVette’s voice is like an authentic beacon in a world of artifice.”
– James Taylor
“I’ve been on the same stage with Bettye LaVette twice in the last year and have been captivated each time. On her new album, Bettye finds her own way into these legendary songs yet still is able to remain faithful to the spirit in each of them. Her unique phrasing and raw honesty enables us to appreciate the words in these classics in a whole new way. Just a master class in song interpretation.”
– Sheryl Crow
