She's Got Her Own Hell To Raise

The above video is one of the most astonishing performances I have ever seen. When I caught this on the television a couple of weeks ago, I was a bit dumbfounded and rewound it immediately and watched it again (how will TV ever be the same? - topic for another day). Lucky for me, she was on tour this week and I saw her twice in two very intimate venues.

Bettye Lavette has had quite a life and is finding some success after 47 years in the business. The shows were amazing. It was the same each night, as if you had stepped back into the 1960's. The band was super tight and this woman, at the age of 62, was so remarkable, it is actually hard for me to find the words to explain what the experience was like. A friend who I went with the first night said that if you are lucky, you get to have this sort of experience maybe 5 times in your life. I would have to agree.

She was plucked out of relative obscurity a few years ago and has made two very interesting records of contemporary covers. The records are good, but there was something about the experience. It was theatrical in the sense that there were three dimensions to her performance live that just will not translate to CD, no matter what you do.

It was a very inspiring week. She kept signing all these years because she had too. Even when there was only one gig a year that paid 50 bucks. A lesson to us all to stay true to your heart.

Here's her take on Lucinda William's "Joy" and her own classic "Let Me Down Easy":



Her performance for nearly two hours was at this level of energy and performance.


Further listening:

From Conan last year doing "You Don't Know Me At All" - this was the band she played with - all very nice guys.
On Letterman: Dolly Parton's "Little Sparrow"
Elton John's "Talking Old Soldiers"
"Choices"