http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.35931&rws=%2Fbettye-lavette%2Fdiscography.rssThe often unrecognized, bottomless soul of Bettye LaVette's voice, and the lack of acknowledgment she receives as one of the genre's pioneers, ranks her among the most underrated artists ever. Brought up in Detroit, LaVette's talent wasn't cultivated from the city's deep gospel influence like many of her Motown peers, but rather from the blues. At 16, she recorded her first single, "My Man, He's a Lovin' Man" with Detroit man-about-town Johnnie Mae Matthews, who sold the rights to Atlantic Records and made the song a hit on the soul charts. Shortly afterwards, she recorded her biggest success, "Let Me Down Easy," which turned out to be a bit of a career prophecy. The song became her standard, but didn't break the <I>Billboard</I>'s Top-100. Instead, the singer's music lived among the shadows of giants. She toured with iconic performers like Ben E. King, Otis Redding and James Brown, but failed to receive the accolades these artists did. After several disappointments with the industry, she left for a leading role in the Broadway show <I>Bubbling Brown Sugar</I> opposite Cab Calloway, and stayed in the Broadway circuit for several years before returning to the record business during the disco-era. That produced another small hit "Doin' the Best I Can." Going largely unnoticed through the '80s and '90s, the songstress toured Europe's soul circuit for the next decade, but her fortunes didn't change until 2000, when music connoisseur Gilles Petard discovered a shelved LaVette recording from 1972 and released it, reawakening an interest in the artist's canon. Approaching her sixties, with a voice bigger than ever and a massive will to succeed, the singer gained another flicker of the spotlight in 2005, when she released the Andy Kaulkin-produced <I>I've Got My Own Hell To Raise</I>. - Jeremy StaniferSoulen720Tue, 1 Dec 2009 14:48:58 -0800 http://static.realone.com/rotw/images/logo_rhapsody_113x22.gif http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.35931&rws=%2Fbettye-lavette%2Fdiscography.rss The often unrecognized, bottomless soul of Bettye LaVette's voice, and the lack of acknowledgment she receives as one of the genre's pioneers, ranks her among the most underrated artists ever. Brought up in Detroit, LaVette's talent wasn't cultivated from the city's deep gospel influence like many of her Motown peers, but rather from the blues. At 16, she recorded her first single, "My Man, He's a Lovin' Man" with Detroit man-about-town Johnnie Mae Matthews, who sold the rights to Atlantic Records and made the song a hit on the soul charts. Shortly afterwards, she recorded her biggest success, "Let Me Down Easy," which turned out to be a bit of a career prophecy. The song became her standard, but didn't break the <I>Billboard</I>'s Top-100. Instead, the singer's music lived among the shadows of giants. She toured with iconic performers like Ben E. King, Otis Redding and James Brown, but failed to receive the accolades these artists did. After several disappointments with the industry, she left for a leading role in the Broadway show <I>Bubbling Brown Sugar</I> opposite Cab Calloway, and stayed in the Broadway circuit for several years before returning to the record business during the disco-era. That produced another small hit "Doin' the Best I Can." Going largely unnoticed through the '80s and '90s, the songstress toured Europe's soul circuit for the next decade, but her fortunes didn't change until 2000, when music connoisseur Gilles Petard discovered a shelved LaVette recording from 1972 and released it, reawakening an interest in the artist's canon. Approaching her sixties, with a voice bigger than ever and a massive will to succeed, the singer gained another flicker of the spotlight in 2005, when she released the Andy Kaulkin-produced <I>I've Got My Own Hell To Raise</I>. - Jeremy Stanifer http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=alb.29028270&rws=%2Fbettye-lavette%2Fdiscography.rss Soul Tue, 21 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700 Bettye LaVette Discography on Rhapsody Online alb.29028270 alb.29028270 Bettye LaVette art.35931 5.99 Change Is Gonna Come Sessions alb.29028270 http://image.listen.com/img/170x170/1/2/6/8/1728621_170x170.jpg 2009-07-21 00:00:00.0 2009-06-16 00:00:00.0 true false main-release http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=alb.29028270&rws=%2Fbettye-lavette%2Fdiscography.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=alb.29028270&variant=data&rws=%2Fbettye-lavette%2Fdiscography.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=alb.15953059&rws=%2Fbettye-lavette%2Fdiscography.rss Soul Tue, 25 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0700 Bettye LaVette Discography on Rhapsody Online alb.15953059 alb.15953059 Bettye LaVette art.35931 9.99 The Scene of the Crime alb.15953059 http://image.listen.com/img/170x170/0/0/1/4/1514100_170x170.jpg 2007-09-25 00:00:00.0 2007-09-25 00:00:00.0 true false main-release http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=alb.15953059&rws=%2Fbettye-lavette%2Fdiscography.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=alb.15953059&variant=data&rws=%2Fbettye-lavette%2Fdiscography.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=alb.15330901&rws=%2Fbettye-lavette%2Fdiscography.rss Soul Tue, 19 Jun 2007 00:00:00 -0700 Bettye LaVette Discography on Rhapsody Online alb.15330901 alb.15330901 Bettye LaVette art.35931 8.99 Have A Heart alb.15330901 http://image.listen.com/img/170x170/5/0/2/8/1048205_170x170.jpg 2007-06-19 00:00:00.0 2007-06-19 00:00:00.0 true false main-release http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=alb.15330901&rws=%2Fbettye-lavette%2Fdiscography.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=alb.15330901&variant=data&rws=%2Fbettye-lavette%2Fdiscography.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=alb.15330820&rws=%2Fbettye-lavette%2Fdiscography.rss Soul Tue, 19 Jun 2007 00:00:00 -0700 Bettye LaVette Discography on Rhapsody Online alb.15330820 alb.15330820 Bettye LaVette art.35931 8.99 Love Caught Me Out alb.15330820 http://image.listen.com/img/170x170/4/2/1/8/1048124_170x170.jpg 2007-06-19 00:00:00.0 2007-06-19 00:00:00.0 true false main-release http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=alb.15330820&rws=%2Fbettye-lavette%2Fdiscography.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=alb.15330820&variant=data&rws=%2Fbettye-lavette%2Fdiscography.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=alb.17524158&rws=%2Fbettye-lavette%2Fdiscography.rss Soul Mon, 12 Jun 2006 00:00:00 -0700 Bettye LaVette Discography on Rhapsody Online alb.17524158 alb.17524158 Bettye LaVette art.35931 8.99 Bettye Lavette Selected Hits alb.17524158 http://image.listen.com/img/170x170/0/4/1/7/1157140_170x170.jpg 2006-06-12 00:00:00.0 2006-06-12 00:00:00.0 true false main-release http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=alb.17524158&rws=%2Fbettye-lavette%2Fdiscography.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=alb.17524158&variant=data&rws=%2Fbettye-lavette%2Fdiscography.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=alb.7581877&rws=%2Fbettye-lavette%2Fdiscography.rss Soul Tue, 29 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0800 Bettye LaVette Discography on Rhapsody Online alb.7581877 alb.7581877 Bettye LaVette art.35931 9.99 I've Got My Own Hell to Raise alb.7581877 http://image.listen.com/img/170x170/3/9/9/7/1287993_170x170.jpg 2008-01-29 00:00:00.0 2005-08-21 00:00:00.0 true false main-release http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=alb.7581877&rws=%2Fbettye-lavette%2Fdiscography.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=alb.7581877&variant=data&rws=%2Fbettye-lavette%2Fdiscography.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=alb.269786&rws=%2Fbettye-lavette%2Fdiscography.rss Soul Sun, 1 Jan 2006 00:00:00 -0800 Bettye LaVette Discography on Rhapsody Online alb.269786 alb.269786 Bettye LaVette art.35931 8.99 A Woman Like Me alb.269786 http://image.listen.com/img/170x170/1/6/4/0/790461_170x170.jpg 2006-01-01 00:00:00.0 2003-01-21 00:00:00.0 true false main-release http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=alb.269786&rws=%2Fbettye-lavette%2Fdiscography.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=alb.269786&variant=data&rws=%2Fbettye-lavette%2Fdiscography.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=alb.174078&rws=%2Fbettye-lavette%2Fdiscography.rss Soul Tue, 17 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800 Bettye LaVette Discography on Rhapsody Online alb.174078 alb.174078 Bettye LaVette art.35931 6.99 Let Me Down Easy: In Concert alb.174078 http://image.listen.com/img/170x170/4/9/1/4/1584194_170x170.jpg 2009-02-17 00:00:00.0 2000-08-15 00:00:00.0 true false main-release http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=alb.174078&rws=%2Fbettye-lavette%2Fdiscography.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=alb.174078&variant=data&rws=%2Fbettye-lavette%2Fdiscography.rss