Customer Reviews

Betty Davis

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
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This is reissue of the first self-titled "Betty Davis" album, originally released in 1973 on the Just Sunshine label.
"Something like Madonna, something like Prince. She was the beginning of all that..." So wrote Miles Davis of the one-woman erotic Swat team whose amazing first two albums - the long-lost libidinal high-water marks of early Seventies funk - have just been reissued They Say I'm Different and Betty Davis.
And Miles should have known. He was (briefly) married to her, after all !!
Former Mrs. Miles Davis, the "Nasty Gal" of funk, Betty is an ex fashion model who started singing in the early 60s prior to her Miles Davis (and Jimi Hendrix) affiliations.
And even though she and Miles divorced before 1973, Betty Mabry kept her famous last name and released three fabulously funky discs from '73-'75.
..."After the break-up with Miles, she was linked with many other musicians, including Jimi Hendrix, Hugh Masekela, Eric Clapton, Robert Palmer, and Michael Carabello of Santana. A gifted songwriter, she continued to pen songs for herself and others, but her personal relationships with jazz & rock's elite no doubt opened other doors, and proved particularly useful when it came time to gather session musicians for her first album.
Betty headed out to San Francisco in 1972, where Carabello introduced her to Sly Stone's rhythm section. Funk bassist Larry Graham and drummer Greg Errico were tapped for Betty Davis, along with guitarists Neal Schon (Santana) and Doug Rodrigues (Mandrill), and organist Hershall Kennedy (Graham Central Station). Back-up vocalists included Sylvester, the Pointer Sisters, Patryce Banks (Graham Central Station), and Kathi McDonald (Insane Asylum), among others. As if that weren't enough, the horn section featured Tower of Power regulars Greg Adams, Mic Gillette, and Skip Mesquite. The result was a unique combination of heavy funk grooves underlying Davis' gritty, piercing vocals. The standout track on the album, said to be "the classic bad girl anthem and one of the funkiest recordings ever made" was "Anti Love Song", penned by Davis and possibly directed at Miles ("No I don't want to love you / 'Cause I know how you are / Sure you say you're right on and you're righteous / But with me I know you'd be right off / `Cause you know I could possess your body / You know I could make you crawl / And just as hard as I'd fall for you, boy / You know you'd fall for me harder / That's why I don't want to love you")...(Funkgrooves.org)
With her giant Afro and space-vixen wardrobe, Davis was the missing evolutionary link between Eartha Kitt and Kelis, but her marvellously feral vocal style falls tantalisingly between 'Nutbush City Limits'-era Tina Turner and AC/DC's Brian Johnson. And while her first album contains her best-known tune - the bittersweet seductress manifesto of "Anti Love Song" - it's 1974's self-produced follow-up that is undoubtedly her finest work.
Classic raw and heavy '70s funk rock with serious attitude.
Check "If I'm In Luck...", "Game Is My Middle Name", "Walkin Up The Road" and "Anti Love Song" for the real deal.
Track listing :
1. If I'm In Luck I Might Get Picked Up
2. Walkin Up The Road
3. Anti Love Song
4. Your Man My Man
5. Ooh Yeah
6. Steppin In Her I. Miller Shoes
7. Game Is My Middle Name
8. In The Meantime

PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED BONUS TRACKS (1974)
9. Come Take Me
10. You Won't See Me In The Morning
11. I Will Take That Ride

They Say I'm Different
Betty Davis

She's got a voice like black velvet with a scratchy ripping Velcro quality. Back in a time when female singers didn't tell it like it was, she was singing about getting picked up. If you "like it rough," you need this CD. It's 11 tracks and 43 minutes of some of the strongest soul with backing from some of the best players around at the time--including Sly (of the Family Stone) and the Pointer Sisters.

I got this on a suggestion and I'll be buying the rest of Betty's CDs as I get the chance. She's well worth a listen if you love strong R&B.

I mean, holy sh*t! This album is hotness. This album is a magaton bomb. This album kills. The fiercest funk / soul you will ever, ever, ever hear. Just get your money together and cop this sucker yesterday before all your friends do and rub your nose in it. You play this at a party, you will be God. Try it.

You have not heard funk until you've heard the albums of Ms. Betty Davis. Yes, she was once married to Miles Davis -- but she's so much more than that. After listening to her albums your perceptions of music will change, and, quite frankly, everything you listen to after will seem just a little bit boring in comparison. This self-titled album was her first and, for my money, her absolute best. They Say I'm Different is a close second.

The best song on this album, and my personal favorite Betty Davis song, is "If I'm in Luck I Might Get Picked Up". I'd be hard pressed to name a sexier, sleazier groove. My second favorite is "In the Meantime", a sweet (yet cold, if you listen to the lyrics) ballad that really shows the range of her talent. "Steppin in Her I. Miller Shoes", "Walkin Up the Road", "Ooh Yea", and "Anti-Love Song" are just more of the classics on this album that will leave you wanting more. I promise that after buying this album, you will want to buy the rest of them, too.

I consider it criminal that Betty Davis is not better known in the world of music. She was doing stuff in the early 70s that most female singers weren't interested in at the time -- pushing envelopes, exuding sex on the stage and in the studio, and being nasty in the best way. Comparisons to Prince and Madonna are not unwarranted. Ms. Davis laid the groundwork for these talented, controversial artists, and then she left the business in the late 70s because the music industry was not appreciative of her efforts. It's a shame that no known footage exists of her concerts, because by all accounts they were really quite something.

It is my suggestion that you buy her albums from the Amazon marketplace rather than from Amazon directly, as the Amazon-sold versions are apparently CD-Rs that aren't packaged as nicely as the real deal. You won't get the nifty digipack with debossed, silver lettering, nor will you get the booklet with fascinating photos and liner notes. Trust me, with the lack of information on this lady, you'll want them.

The Light in the Attic reissue of this classic album is absolutely superb. I already had an earlier reissue of the CD, but when I saw the extra tracks, the excellent artwork, and the extensive and fascinating liner notes, I shelled out again - and I've never been happier to hand over NZ$25. The sound is great, the songs are brilliant, and it's nice to know that Ms. Davis is finally getting some royalties from it.

If you're not familiar with the album, then you're really missing out. Funk simply doesn't come any better than this. It's hard, heavy, wild, and erotic funk from the top shelf. Could this be the greatest funk album of all time? I haven't heard anything that even comes close to matching this.

For those of you who are familiar with the orginal release of the album, you really DO need the 3 bonus tracks presented here. 'I will take that ride' (an earlier, better version of 'Lone Ranger' from Nasty Gal) and 'You Won't See Me in the Morning' are superb - definitely amongst the best songs that Betty Davis recorded.

I'm so impressed, I'm also upgrading to the Light in the Attic reissue of 'They Say I'm Different'. I'm kinda broke but it'll be worth it.

If the picture on the cover does not tell the story of just how funky Betty Davis is then plug in this album prepare to be wowed. Every lick on this record is covered in dank, sticky, peel yourself off of you vinyl seat funk. Taken in combination with Betty's gritty no nonsense vocal styling and this album is a can't miss hotbed of funk. Buy this album TODAY!!!

Long before the Red Hot Chilli Peppers came up with their own mix of bad *ss rock and hard core funk, there was Sly and The Family Stone - - and later Graham Central Station, fronted by Sly's bassist, Larry Graham...
and this (relatively lesser known) album... Maybe it took the world 20 or more years to catch up with it. (At the time, perhaps only Funkadelic and Mother's Finest were anywhere near close to bending the line between rock and funk so unabashedly.)

Though this album is Betty Davis's, for me is Larry Graham's wicked bass playing that really makes it so great.
Betty Davis's singing is hardcore and nasty, and the band funks, rocks and boogie's out... but I think its really Larry Graham's room shaking in your face chopper bass that really make the album so wicked... Anti Love Song in particular is a tune always high on my list... as well as You Man My Man - - "If I'm Lucky I Might Get Picked Up" is another classic... hard classic rock, yet unbelievably funky...

All in all, nothing is soft about this album... not even the cover... its pure hard... and so too maybe will you be after listening to it...

Must have listening !

Seiously one of the best Funk/ Soul/ Psyche albums ever. This woman has got to be one of the most -if not the most- vocally powerful women in music EVER. The reissue comes with tracks not available with the original and even those are so good it makes one wonder why the hell they were left out. PICK THIS UP PRONTO!! A SERIOUS MUST HAVE.

Betty Davis is a woman on the prowl with some of the deepest funk to back her up.

Great record!! She's just too sexy!! I found this girl when I worked at a college
radio station in Cleveland, Ohio, about 15 years ago. It's great to know this record
can be found again in CD format. Thanks buddy!!