book cover of Bettye’s memoir.
Follow the link to the book synopsis
Instead of using a quote by the artist, I decided to use a quote by one of the greatest voices of all time, describing Bettye’s voice:
Wow! I got chills when I listened to Bettye LaVette’s version of Choices. I can only hope that my version created a similar sensation. Her interpretation is so soulful, and conveys the feelings I had when I recorded the song – the thoughts that I had about some of the mistakes or choices I had made. She did an incredible job, and she is truly a ‘singer’s singer.
– George Jones
Read more of the greats’ quotes on how they feel about Bettye’s voice here.
Betty Jo Haskins, aka Bettye LaVette (b. 1/29/46) is an American soul singer who made her first record at sixteen, but achieved only intermittent fame until 2005, when her album I’ve Got My Own Hell to Raise was released to widespread critical acclaim, and was named on many critics’ “Best of 2005” lists. Her next album, The Scene of the Crime, debuted at number one on Billboard’s Top Blues Albums chart and was nominated for Best Contemporary Blues Album at the 2008 Grammy Awards.
LaVette’s eclectic musical style combines elements of soul, blues, rock and roll, funk, gospel, and country music. In 2020, she was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame.
Early Life:
Betty Jo Haskins was born January 29,1946, in Muskegon, Michigan. The family moved to Detroit when she was six years old. Her parents sold corn liquor.
Musical Beginnings:
Betty Jo’s her living room was oft-times visited by The Soul Stirrers, The Blind Boys of Mississippi, and many other traveling gospel groups of the day. Unlike many of her contemporaries, Bettye did not get her start in the church, but in that very same living room, where there was a jukebox, filled with the blues, country & western, and R&B records of the time. The “5” Royales, Dinah Washington, Bobby “Blue” Bland, Red Foley, …these were her roots.
She was signed by Johnnie Mae Matthews, a local record producer. In 1962, aged sixteen, she recorded a single, “My Man – He’s a Lovin’ Man“, with Matthews: the disc was credited to Betty LaVett, the surname being “borrowed” from Sherma Lavette Anderson, the singer’s friend who had introduced her to Matthews. Picked up by Atlantic Records, LaVette’s disc became a major R&B hit over the fall and winter of 1963–64 – eventually reaching the R&B Top Ten – resulting in LaVette touring with such Atlantic Records R&B hitmakers as Clyde McPhatter, Ben E. King, Barbara Lynn, and rising star Otis Redding.
Discography:
albums: 12 (first album was in 1982)
compilations: 8
compilation appearances: 5
singles: 39 (starting in 1962!)
Some things to share:
Bettye received the Legacy of Americana Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2023 Americana Music Honors & Awards.
Tidal Magazine calls Bettye a “master interpreter.” In a June 16, 2023 interview with Bettye, they talk about how she chooses songs and makes them hers. Excellent interview about her process is here.
Official website: here
Sources: wikipedia, official website, Tidal Magazine
Tao Talk 
Well she’s impressive! Thanks for the introduction. So many talented women that seem to slip through the cracks, I admit I didn’t know her music. Glad to see she got some recognition from the Americana Awards.
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Yes, she is, Randy!
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One of the greats, love her work.
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So cool you know who she is, Paul.
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I have made all sorts of discoveries, some benefits of the www :)
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:)
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Bettye has a great soulful voice
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Agree, Glyn. She really brings the lyrics to life in Nights in White Satin.
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Bettye was a topic of conversation here at work when I first started. We had a guy who knew I worked in radio and he said he had a singer I probably had never heard of. When he mentioned Bettye, I began to rattle off songs she did. He was floored. She was a very under rated singer. Michigan born, too! Love her stuff!
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Keith, consider me impressed for knowing her well enough to know song titles. She was actually born in my little berg of a town, and seeing what her birth name is I probably went to school with some of her relatives. I’m not sure who gave me Bettye’s name for WMM (was it you?) but I’m glad they did.
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It wasn’t me, but it’s nice to see someone else digs her!
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I love Bettye Lavette – that lady is one killer vocalist! I first came across her in 2018. It’s hard to believe that after her initial success in the ’60s, she was overlooked for such a long time.
“Nights in White Satin” is a perfect illustration of what Lavette oftentimes does with song renditions. They are not mere covers but remakes!
BTW, “Nights in White Satin” is on a neat album by Lavette titled “Interpretations: The British Rock Songbook”. In case you’re curious, I previously reviewed it here! :-)
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Just finished reading it and listening to a couple of the tunes (All of My Love was one of them.) I’m glad she’s finally getting the recognition she’s deserved for so long. I wonder if Third Man Records will try to sign her (Jack White’s company.)
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She does the greatest covers, exposing new layers every time. (K)
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Yes!
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she definitely has a nice voice! xo
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:)
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I got to see and hear Bettye LaVette when she had her career revival. She played the Madison Blues Festival in 2003 and stole the show from headliner Al Green.
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Now how cool is that. Stealing the show from Al Green is pretty impressive!
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