Customer Reviews

Intuition

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4 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

Betty Harris is a living legend and her comeback album does not disappoint. From the opening track "Is it Hot in Here?" to the closing bars of "Happiness is Mine", Betty rocks. Her voice is so assured and sincere, Betty doesn't need to use vocal gimmickry. My favourite track is "A Bible and a Beer", what a great track. Get the album and catch Betty live - she IS a veritable soul goddess.

There's a surprisingly fine line between trite and sublime when it comes to music. The difference almost can't be described and of course it moves around according to who is doing the listening. But here we have an album that should be a knockout, and it's just nowhere near that. The songs are self-conscious and produced with very little of the soul that this artist deserves. Jon Tiven has plenty of cred, but maybe he should have enlisted songwriters other than himself and his wife. A warmer, more gritty sound would have helped, too. Even the cover art looks like someone's first attempt to create a vanity release. I'm just bummed that this thing doesn't move me at all, especially after hearing the excellent re-issues and comeback material from other soul queens. If you want the real deal, stick to that compilation of old Betty Harris near-hits.

Heaviest imaginable Tina Turner influence on the first song, then goes on to let us know what Tina would sound like singing blues and torch songs and to remind us of what she sounded like singing counterpoint soul rock beside the late Ike.
Are there particular stand-out tunes here or anything cutting edge? Not really. Not if you've ever heard Tina Turner and Ike & Tina Turner. What we've got here is "a thang," and that's heap plenty. You'll like it.