Customer Reviews

Fantasy Years

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Betty Everett was a trailblazing great singer who hit big in the great musical sixties with classics "You're No Good", "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss)", "Getting Mighty Crowded", "Too Hot To Hold", "I Can't Hear You", "There'll Come A Time", these great original versions without a doubt definitive...following these fiery masterful performances were other classic songs but the music industry started slotting artists more and more, putting Betty into "Black Soul Music" mold...this plus a bankrupt record label and no promotion placed commercial limitations on her brilliant career which must have been confusing and frustrating for a great singer who put out so much quality work. Betty tried and tried but by the time these peerless sessions were made the music industry had gone further into the direction of musical segregation, now radio only played bland "singer-songwriters" thus many wonderful singers such as the legendary Betty Everett were lost in a bleak musically uninspired period. Anyone who loves a legendary singer at her absolute peak will fall in love with this diverse brilliant collection of songs with awesome productions by greats like Johnny "Guitar" Watson, David Axelrod, Willie Mitchell, Calvin Carter, Gene and Billy Page, featuring top-flight arrangements by previous mentioned legendary masters plus Donny Hathaway! Musicians in this amazing collection read like who's who in the music world such as Joe Sample, Ray Parker Jr, Johnny "Guitar" Watson. An inspired Johnny "Guitar" does many mean guitar licks here, especially in the blues masterpiece "Who Will The Next Fool Be" and the rocking anthem "I'm Your Friend" with sublime background vocals by Marti McCall, Jackie Ward, Carolyn Willis and Edna Wright complete with a full string and horn section! Wow!...add to this stellar back-up brilliant vocals from Betty making this one of the really brilliant "Unsung" collections of a lifetime. Standouts abound in this tremendous collection and "As Far As We Can Go" is soul-deep with an aching glorious vocal while "Sweet Dan" is funky sensual soul at it finest & Stevie Wonder's "Just A Little Piece Of You" is simply a lost classic & extraordinary performance "Be Anything (But Be Mine)" show the lady can sing anything...ending gem "Happy Endings" is a magical finale to a collection to be enjoyed over and over again! Sadly Betty Everett is no longer with us (11/23/39-8/19/01), left behind this timeless collection where the listener is taken to the depths of her beautiful soul so don't miss this awesome collection or "The Shoop Shoop Song: It's In His Kiss" 25 Greatest Hits VJ Records Collection while still available...collection satisfies the soul with the magnificent vocal beauty of a legendary lady who is one of the all-time greatest. Thank you Betty Everett & RIP

I've always been a fan of Betty Everett. She's from my hometown in the state of MS. The cd Betty Everett:The Fantasy Years is a "MUST HAVE" for fans of pop,r&b, soul,jazz & country music. This lady can do it all. After you hear this you will surely purchase the others on the page. Whenever I'm playing my cd (s), some person always ask "who's singing that?" The peoples choice on this cd are: "BE ANYTHING (BUT BE MINE)" "THINGS I SAY TO HIS SHOULDERS" "WONDERING" "HAPPY ENDING" I promise you it will be a happy ending when you're done with this cd. Ms Everett, if you should read this review, please get back into the studio. My friends and I tried it and we did like it.

A great singer from the old VeeJay days.Her voice is great.Let the powers that be let Miss Everette and Jerry Butler sing duets again.IT is in her voice !

When Betty Everett signed to Fantasy records in 1970, it was a great opportunity for her to demonstrate her diverese vocal abilities. This included, Soul, Blues, R&B, Soul and Funk. This cd captures 18 of these recordings and comes with comprehensive liner notes. Here's an overview of what's in store for you.

1. "I Gotta Tell Somebody" is a funky, soulful midtempo song with great horns arranged by Donny Hathaway and charted #22 US R&B, #96 US.

2. "Danger" is a favorite of mine and peaked at #79 on US R&B. Her strong vocals and the great lyrics makes this song stand out for me, reminding me a little of Margie Joseph.

3. "Why Are You Leaving Me" is a great ballard that screams of pain, passion and a deep love lost.

4. "Be Anything (But Be Mine)" is another great soulful strong ballard by Irving Gordon and was covered by Ruth Brown. It reminds me a little of something Aretha Franklin would sing, it's no wonder that Betty was a contender for the Queen of Soul crown.

5. "Who Will Be The Next Fool" is a blusey type of song that was a hit for Bobby Bland in 1962. Betty puts her mark on it by singing with such conviction that it makes you feel exactly how it is when someone leaves you for another.

6. "Ain't Nothing Gonna Change Me" was her second Fantasy single. This midtempo soulful R&B song charted at #32 US. R&B with happy sounding ipbeat "What Is It" on the B side; both songs produced by Calvin Carter, with D. Hathaway doing the charts.

7. "I'm Your Friend" is what I call "bluesy soul", a sound that was made popular by many artists during the 70's. It may remind you of the great Ann Peebles.

8. "Try It, You'll Like It" was composed by Johnny "Guitar" Watson and David Axlerod. Watson's funky guitar solos are outstanding. This song along with tracks 4, 5 were all part of "Love Rhymes", Betty's first album at Fantasy.

9. "The Things I Say To His Shoulders" is a mellow R&B type of song that reminds me of Barbara Mason. It has great music and tells a little story about something that we have all expereinced sometime in our lives.

10. "Don't Let It End ('Til You Let It Begin)" is a soulful love song that speaks of a pleading love that she doesn't want to end.

11. "As Far As We Can Go" is a strong, heartfelt song with a more pop approach leaves you longing for more. Recorded in 1975 and written by Jim Grady it's unfortunate that it did not chart.

12. "Sweet Dan" produced by Watson and Axlerod can best be descibed as blusey funk and at #38, was betty's last record to chart in the top 40.

13. "I'm Afraid of Losing You" is one of my favorite soul ballards because of the passionate way Betty delivers the song; you believe every word she says.

14. "Bedroom Eyes" by the Gene and Billy Page and "Just A Little Piece of You" by Stevie Wonder and Syreeta Wright, took on a more pop sound which was timely and should have done more on the charts.

15. "Happy Endings" ironically was also the name of Betty's last album at Fantasy
and was an attempt to gear her songs away from the blues oriented sound heard on many of these tracks. It's a nice song, but didn't make the impact that it should have.

This cd is great because you realize that Miss Betty Everett was more than just thethe "Shoop, Shoop Song". She had a wide vocal range with an extensive repetoire and should have had more recording success. Of course you have to remember that at this time there were a lot of other singers out there who could belt and sing a song; making a hit is another story. Thank goodness we get a chance to hear it here on her Fantasy recordings. I recommend this to Betty Evertt fans who enjoyed the pop sound of "Shoop, Shoop (It's In His Kiss)" but want to hear what other types of music this great singer recorded. And though Miss Everett is no longer with us, her music will live on forever.