Bettye LaVette: I’ve Got My Own Hell To Raise
Rating: 
Bettye Lavette never really made it big in the music industry, although she came close with a top 10 single in 1963 and a top 20 in 1978, but for the last forty years, LaVette has had one of the most powerful, emotive voices in soul music. Bettye’s getting a bit old now, but her voice has retained all the vigor and vitality that made her great in the first place. On I’ve Got My Own Hell to Raise, LaVette and a very talented backing band tackle and reinterpret 10 song written by other women, including tracks from Sinead O’Connor, Fiona Apple, Lucina Williams, Aimee Mann, and Dolly Parton. The material and performances on this disc are all excellent, first-rate soul songs, even if none of the original versions were even remotely connected to soul. I’ve Got My Own Hell to Raise shows that soul music is still alive and well today, and hopefully will be for many years to come.
1. I Do Not Want What I Haven’t GotBuy album
2. Joy
3. Down To Zero
4. The High Road
5. On The Surface
6. Just Say So
7. Little Sparrow
8. How Am I Different
9. Only Time Will Tell Me
10. Sleep To Dream
– Kevin
April 19th, 2006 at 9:47 am
I haven’t heard this CD but it sounds intriguing. It seems to me that any woman who sings Fiona Apple and Dolly Parton songs on the same CD is probably a revolutionary. Thanks for the heads up, Kevin.
April 19th, 2006 at 11:32 am
I absolutely love this album, and I think everyone should go out and buy it right now. Or at least as soon as you have some cash. Because you gotta get paid, you know?
May 16th, 2006 at 2:39 pm
I haven’t listened to whole songs, just 30-second clips of all of them, and I have to say I don’t get what the fuss is all about. I’ve read reviews other places saying this is one of the best albums of the year, but the only thing I thought was notable was the song selection. Maybe if I listened to whole songs, I’d get a better feel or something, who knows…