Betty Davis: They Say I'm Different (Light in the Attic)
Purchased at the Government Center Outpost
Probably like many others, I didn't pay any attention to Betty's music for many years. I mean, I didn't even know about her for a long time, and then later only in the context of being Miles Davis' second wife.
I'm a man of sixty, and sometimes reflect back on my interests and taste in music. When I say I didn't pay attention to something for a long time, I might still be referring to something from twenty years ago or even more. So when I say I didn't especially study Miles' so-called "electric" period for a long time, I was probably pushing 40 when I started to listen more closely to those albums: Bitches Brew, In A Silent Way, and particularly The Cellar Door Sessions 1970.
And then there's Betty (nee Mabry). She was younger, hipper, and urged Miles to update his look and music. Her influence had some effect those records, and I'm sure there are people who would partially blame her too.
It's such a positive thing that her own records, of which there have only been a few, are being given more attention. It's six albums in all, and a few scattered singles; one is of then-unreleased demo sessions.
They're...shocking? Surprising at the very least. The Columbia Years 1968-1969, the first of the recent vinyl issues/reissues, found her sounding either like a blues singer, or at times sounding highly influenced by Jimi Hendrix (a friend of hers). Her debut LP, Betty Davis, IS shocking. Not just because it's so sexually raw, surprisingly blunt, and is hard hitting and funky as hell. If I compared it to anything, Funkadelic would come much closer than Hendrix.
She continues on this album. Do I need to say it's great? I consider the Funkadelic comparison to be fair, but from what I've heard, her records are more generally consistent. I'd even dare to say, this predates Prince at his rawest and hardest-hitting.
I feel like I'm just rambling as I write this, so let me suggest what I think is a great playlist pairing. Listening to the title track of this album, I heard similarities to Captain Beefheart's "I'm Gonna Booglarize You Baby", a song from The Spotlight Kid from two years earlier. I am in no way suggesting Don's song was being aped by Betty, I just think both songs make an amazing pairing. Then I think, imagine it: even though they're separated by two years, think of what a The Spotlight Kid and They Say I'm Different bands playing a bill, even touring together would have been like. I don't know if a human could have handled that in a single sitting.
