Scene of the Crime

Bettye LaVette

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 25, 2007)
• Original Release Date: September 25, 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Anti
• ASIN: B000UGG3D2
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,180 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #1 in	Music > R&B > Soul > Northern
  #57 in	Music > Pop > Pop Rap
  #63 in	Music > Rap & Hip-Hop

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
"I've got my mem-mor-eehees," sings Bettye LaVette at the chilling finale of her version of Elton John and Bernie Taupin's obscure "Talking Old Soldiers," holding the last syllable as it fades into a hum while Spooner Oldham's ghostly piano underpins the pain. The singer's whiskey-stained voice infuses those words with a fierce mix of pride, hurt, resignation, sadness, strength, and humility--traits that make her one of the finest R&B singers of her generation. There are other riveting moments rivaling that from this deeply moving set that finds her recording once again at Muscle Shoals' FAME Studios, the same place she created an album in 1972 that Atlantic inexplicably never released. Accompanied by Oldham and the swampy, tightly wound Drive-by Truckers, LaVette digs into material from John Hiatt, Willie Nelson, Frankie Miller, Eddie Hinton, and Don Henley, among others, finding the hidden soul in songs as she rips them apart from the inside out. It's a magnificent performance from a singer who shoots straight, especially on her autobiographical "Before the Money Came (The Battle of Bettye LaVette)," this disc's sole original. The Truckers dial down their raunchy Southern rock, concentrating instead on rugged R&B and creating a greasy collaboration that's as inspired as it is unlikely. Lavette grinds out the intensity, alternating between ballads and roots rockers on a set that never lets up for 40 passionate minutes. Soul music just doesn't get any more fiery, as Bettye Lavette creates indelible images of loves and lives with the voice of one who has walked the talk. --Hal Horowitz

More from Bettye LaVette

I've Got My Own Hell to Raise	A Woman Like Me	Take Another Little Piece of My Heart
Let Me Down Easy	The Very Best of the Motorcity Recordings	Do Your Duty

Product Description
Her 2005 acclaimed release, "I've Got My Own Hell To Raise", brought well-deserved recognition to this R&B maverick who's been recording since the early 60s. Now comes the almost autobiographical "Scene Of The Crime". To make music this raw and direct, Bettye enlisted "dirty south" rockers The Drive By Truckers as her backup band. With swampy guitars, slippery Wurlitzer piano, and a driving backline, this record conjures up the spirit of great loose 70s bands like the Faces while offering Bettye an urgent, vital setting for her razor-sharp vocals. Recorded in Muscle Shoals, AL, where she recorded "Child Of The Seventies" in 1972 - a masterpiece that was shelved then released 30 years later. Returning to Muscle Shoals was like returning to the scene of a crime; thus the album title, and the intense, personal music within.

See all Editorial Reviews

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Raw and gritty : her voice comes from so deep., July 10, 2008

By	jazz4thenight (Florida) - See all my reviews

Though Bettye LaVette began her career 40 years ago, it never took off as it should, despite her being the only artist to record for Motown and Atlantic.
She didn't get major attention (and touring dates) until three years ago when she was rediscovered by the edgy Anti Records.
The company had the divine idea to match LaVette's vintage vocals to contemporary songs written entirely by smart women, from Joan Armatrading to Sinead O'Connor.
The resulting album I've Got My Own Hell to Raisestruck a perfect balance between historic depth and modern audacity.
Now she returns with "The Scene of the Crime", an almost autobiographical look back at the long hard road she has traveled, and for her more than worthy followup CD, Ms.LaVette covers songs entirely by men (except for one she co-wrote). Yet it gains a juicier theme, and backstory, from the place it was recorded in: Muscle Shoals Studio.
Her voice has matured to a crackling growl, rich in colour and fierce emotion. It's particularly effective on a heartrending cover of Elton John's "Talking Old Soldiers", and on the country lament "Choices".
Not all her song selections are this astute: much as the self-righteous, take-me-as-I-am lyric suits her, it's a road she screeches down too often.
Still, its magnetic moments make you glad she didn't just give up and get a day job.
She teams up with latter-day country-funk combo Drive-By Truckers, whose leader Patterson Hood is the son of the great Muscle Shoals sideman David Hood. The Truckers put LaVette in just the right stripped and sinewy setting. Hard guitars, dark bass and striking drums surround her.
Her vocals come from so deep in the gut. Yet Ms.LaVette's rip-roaring instrument also remains beauteous to behold.
The album also features Bettye's first songwriting credit, a cowrite with the Truckers' own Patterson Hood titled '"Before the Money Came (The Battle of Bettye LaVette)", a hard rocking tune that chronicles her struggles in a pointed, take-no-prisoners style, an autobiographical account of the many obstacles she has faced in her 40-plus years of trying to make it in the music biz.
The album was recorded in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, a city known for its legendary soul and pop recordings. It is also the town where Bettye recorded a masterpiece titled Child of the Seventiesback in 1972. For some reason, Atlantic Records shelved it. The CD didn't surface until nearly 30 years later - and only in France.
Bettye went back to Muscle Shoals to record this album, it was like returning to the scene of a crime.
This explains the title of the album.
The album highlights: "I Still Want to be Your Baby", '"The Last Time" and "Jealousy".

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bettye LaVette Hits Another Home Run, January 2, 2008

By	J. M. Stanley (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Bettye LaVette is like a vintage bottle of Bordeaux; she gets better with age. Scene of the Crime picks up where she left us with I've Got My Own Hell to Raise. I'm a relatively new fan having discovered Bettye about three years ago. I've seen her about a half dozen times during these past few years, and always walk away breathless. During this period of time, I've acquired four or five of her older records. I enjoy all of them, but I've got to say, I like the deeper, smokier voice that I hear on the newer ones. In addition to the changes in her range, she's developed the distinguishing characteristic of all the great vocalists I've seen/heard over the past thirty plus years (Sarah Vaughn for example), the ability to make someone else's song their own. She owns the material on this record. This record also has the swampy undertones of the great work that came out of Muscle Shoals in the late Sixties, early Seventies. All in all, it's another long ball from one of the greats.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You Will Need Tissues..., February 7, 2008

By	C. Ehmke (Security, Co United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

You've got to believe me, this CD will knock your socks off. It plays like an Elmore Leonard book reads. The songs are like chapters in this remarkable lady's over-looked struggle to find her own soul. And man, she does. And she throws it into your head with no shame.