Blues Legend Bettye LaVette Delivers Poignant Interpretations of Black ’50s Female Vocalists on ‘Blackbirds’ (ALBUM REVIEW)

You’ve likely heard some of the singles from Bettye LaVette’s Blackbirds already. The buzz has been building for some time now and with the social unrest, protests, and momentum of the Black Lives Matter movement, it only made sense to release Bettye’s interpretation of Billie Holiday’s 1939 classic “Strange Fruit.” Strange Fruit” was written by Jewish teacher Abel Meeropol who wrote the song based on a photo of two black men who were lynched as a crowd of white people looked in the camera pointing and smiling. “It really is horrifying that nearly 80 years later, through Billie’s lifetime and now my 74 years, the meaning of this song still applies. It might not be men and women hanging from trees, but these public executions are now on video and it feels like they’re doing it for sport. I hope the song will be a reminder that we have had enough, and I support the Black Lives Matter movement,” said LaVette.

With that backdrop, the timing of the album couldn’t be much better. It’s not that every song included here is a protest statement of some kind but LaVette is reminding us of the enduring power of black female vocalists who paved the way, some never having received due respect. Along with the familiar names of Dinah Washington (“Drinking Again’), Nina Simone (“I Hold No Grudge’), and Nancy Wilson (“Save Your Love for Me”), LaVette renders Sharon Robinson’s “One More Song,” Della Reese’s “Blues for Weepers,” Ruth Brown’s “Book of Lies” and Lil Green’s “Romance in the Dark.”  The title track, of course, a bit of an outlier in one way, is from Lennon and McCartney.

The project also re-unites her with producer Steve Jordan. Things Have Changed, an album of Bob Dylan songs produced by Steve Jordan, marked LaVette’s Verve debut in 2018.  It received two Grammy nominations. The release of Blackbirds will coincide with LaVette’s induction into the Blues Music Hall of Fame. Jordan also played drums and assembled a group of celebrated musicians (Smokey Hormel on guitar, Monty Croft on vibes, bassist Tom Barney and veteran keyboardist Leon Pendarvis),  Nina Simone’s “I Hold No Grudge,” which was suggested for LaVette by the original writer, Angelo Badalamenti, captures the defiance we associate with Simone while adding warmth and hopefulness.  “Save Your Love for Me,” popularized by Nancy Wilson, reflects LaVette’s development as a vocal stylist who caresses each lyric, creates the kind of intimate mood once associated with smoky nightclubs and after-hours spots. The tight combo supports brilliantly, never stealing the spotlight from LaVette, but adding that piercing chord or note at just the right moment. 

LaVette’s approach is driven by the notion of how of woman of today would sing these songs. She changes some lyrics and personalizes them in consideration of her own experience. The defiance of Simone’s “I Hold No Grudge” could have parallels to LaVette’s own mistreatment by the recording industry. She adds her own “take a toke” to Dina Washington’s line “Maybe I can borrow a smoke/Tell some joker a joke.” She claims she wanted to make the song so sad so that the listener could understand why the person was drinking. About the suggestive “Romance in the Dark,” she tried to phrase the words to make them as suggestive to-day as possible, especially the line “he puts his fingertips on my lips.”  

Please see LaVette perform live if you haven’t yet had that opportunity. She will say flat out that she’s an interpreter of songs.  She is intent putting her own stamp on them, or as Jon Bon Jovi  once said – she doesn’t just sing the song, she lives in each of them”) The ideal, for all these songs and especially the iconic “Strange Fruit” she adds, is for “your interpretation to be as interesting as that original one.”  To that end, LaVette chose songs that she could personalize into reflections of her own experience.  Paul McCartney’s “Blackbird,” described above as a bit of an outlier, nonetheless fits into the project’s scope because it speaks for the struggles faced by these women – LaVette’s musical forbears – as they worked to build and maintain their careers.  “All my life,” LaVette sings, shifting McCartney’s original lyrics into the first person, “I have waited for this moment to arrive- to be free.”  That’s a line now that lends itself to a few interpretations. LaVette has been waiting her entire career to pay tribute to these women and/or the recent calls to action to end pervasive racism.

LaVette came so close to a Grammy with her interpretations of Dylan’s songs. Blackbirds may just push her to the top. It’s difficult to imagine anyone else delivering an album that oozes such deep emotion with each lyric. Clearly, it cements her status as one of today’s elite interpreters of song.

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