June 8, 2019 @ The Chicago Bluesfest Video courtesy Chicago Bluesfest Bettye LaVette - vocals James Simonson - MD, bass Brett Lucas - guitar Evan Mercer - keys Darryl Pierce - drums
Bettye can soulsify any song - she is the master of taking non-R&B songs and exposing the power of the genre. I like this better than the original! I'm so lucky to have found her.
An American treasure . Like the great Etta James , Bettye has secured her title as Queen of Northern Soul ! Simply the greatest soul singer of our generation .
This is my first experience of The Queen of Northern Soul. She's cool. That self assured experienced sort of cool. I agree about the band, they were pumpin' in a very cool way.
Bettye's the reigning "Queen of Soul" as far as the 21st century is concerned. No offense to Aretha, who had a mighty fine run from 1967-74 holding that title with little trouble (RIP), but she's NEVER been on a recording "hot streak" quite like the one Bettye's been currently riding for nearly 20 years straight! And to think, homegirl could've made her mark much sooner had Atlantic not shelved what would've been her official debut album back in 1972 ('Child Of The Seventies', now sadly OOP on CD as of today:::sigh:::) and kept her climbing uphill for the next 30 years. Way I see it, she's earned the right to bear the soul torch! ;-)
