Unreleased Betty Davis recordings

[jazzbo]

59 minutes ago, l p said:

i wonder who'll be the first to admit that the 1969 material is absolute junk. i haven't heard the '68.

None of it is essential. It was fun to hear though, and I'll spin it again. . . and again. Not junk. Junk food maybe.

 

[Eric]

8 hours ago, JSngry said:

I'll admit it without even hearing it. I didn't buy it because I expected to be good. I bought it to buy it, to celebrate name recognition and the power of branding.

I am not sure of the proper emoji to use here.  "Word" as they used to say.

Edited July 8, 2016 by Eric

[JSngry]

But I do love Betty Davis, for real. But this stuff is not that stuff. But I know that and buy anyway.

 

Hello.

 

 

[JSngry]

Miles went to Michael Henderson to get that funk, and then still had to go to Mtume & Reggie Lucas, and by then Pete Cosey, so, you know, game changed already, footsteps turn into a whole other pathway. Betty just says fuck it, Larry Graham, simple as that, this is not difficult.

I mean, I definitely see what Miles was feeling, but Miles was a processor, and at this point he was still inputting his data. Phallocentric paranoia assumes that it was all about the dick getting played, but really, Miles got at least as much as he gave out of this over the long haul. Betty got a name, but Miles got inside ALL kinds of things that he wanted.

Hungry people gonna eat, if they get the chance.

[soulpope]

9 hours ago, JSngry said:

Miles went to Michael Henderson to get that funk, and then still had to go to Mtume & Reggie Lucas, and by then Pete Cosey, so, you know, game changed already, footsteps turn into a whole other pathway. Betty just says fuck it, Larry Graham, simple as that, this is not difficult.

I mean, I definitely see what Miles was feeling, but Miles was a processor, and at this point he was still inputting his data. Phallocentric paranoia assumes that it was all about the dick getting played, but really, Miles got at least as much as he gave out of this over the long haul. Betty got a name, but Miles got inside ALL kinds of things that he wanted.

Hungry people gonna eat, if they get the chance.

Sounds like an apt description to me ....

[felser]

On 7/7/2016 at 2:44 PM, l p said:

i wonder who'll be the first to admit that the 1969 material is absolute junk. i haven't heard the '68.

See my June 29 post.

[king ubu]

On 7.7.2016 at 8:44 PM, l p said:

i wonder who'll be the first to admit that the 1969 material is absolute junk. i haven't heard the '68.

Care to elaborate on that? I just gave it a first spin and enjoyed it. And I still consider the long familiar "Politician Man" a great track!

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

do the liners dicuss how they got this from columbia?  i also wonder if columbia ran them off a copy or let them use the tapes

[jazzbo]

They are using the real tapes. Columbia let them have it, I think because Betty was on board, don't remember the notes specifying.

[JSngry]

If the Wax Poetics article of a few years ago remains accurate, she's living very modestly now, and not really by choice.

[bertrand]

Do Wayne and Larry get much solo space on this?

[medjuck]

On 7/17/2016 at 2:16 PM, jazzbo said:

They are using the real tapes. Columbia let them have it, I think because Betty was on board, don't remember the notes specifying.

The Sony logo is featured. 

 

On 7/22/2016 at 8:24 AM, bertrand said:

Do Wayne and Larry get much solo space on this?

I don't even hear Wayne (but he gets credit as an arranger). Most featured is McLaughlin.  It's two dates and I don't hear two basses so I think Cox was on one and Brooks on the other.  

BTW I've been enjoying this.  

[JSngry]

Ok, I finally listened to this today. It's not junk, but it's not gold, silver, or bronze either. It's..."ephemeral", that's what it is, the 1969  stuff extremely so.

The main thing it left me wondering is what Betty Mabry would have sounded like if Willie Mitchell had gotten hold of her. But then she might never have gotten full hold of herself, and that's where things took a turn for the interesting.

[clifford_thornton]

I think it's a good, fun record -- not essential, but cool and I'm glad to be able to listen to it when the mood strikes.

[JSngry]

I will say this, that "Live, Love, Learn" sounds like a lost Jerry Ragovoy record, never hurts to that to happen to anybody.

[clifford_thornton]

I don't know Jerry Ragovoy!

[JSngry]

You have at least a little bit of fun ahead of you, then!

[paul secor]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Ragovoy

 

[clifford_thornton]

thanks, gents!

[sidewinder]

Betty Davis documentary coming up on BBC4 TV tonight at 10:30.

[mjazzg]

A good watch it was too. Certainly gave respect to the subject. Left me wondering how her health is these days. The modest circumstances mentioned upthread seemed evident. 

[sidewinder]

1 hour ago, mjazzg said:

A good watch it was too. Certainly gave respect to the subject. Left me wondering how her health is these days. The modest circumstances mentioned upthread seemed evident. 

In my view, easily the best thing on TV this week (not too difficult now that that damn Strictly has started ), her story was presented with great dignity and it was moving to see that phone ‘reunion’ with the old band. Much more than a Betty Davis music doc - it had lots to say about fame, the vagaries of show business, burnout, life after stardom and the effects of time and change. Here’s hoping she gets wider recognition for her influence and plenty of royalties both from the film and CD sales to make up for the past. 

That ‘Rock & Roll Britannia’ shown afterwards was interesting too, with Tony Crombie and Ronnie Scott doing rock & roll with Tommy Steele and the massed saxes of Lord Rockingham’s XI in action with Red Price and Benny Green. Priceless !

Edited October 5, 2019 by sidewinder