Review Summary: "I've got a sound, it's called 'Funk mixed with Stank'"
Let’s get this out of the way: Betty Davis loves sex. She loves singing about sex more than any other Funk singer I can think of and in a genre like Funk that’s saying a hell of a lot. 6 of the 8 songs on the album deal with sexual subjects and even on those tracks when she’s not singing about getting it on, her voice is dripping with frank sexuality. “They Say I’m Different”, with its explicit and celebratory depiction of sexuality and Betty’s love ‘em or leave ‘em vocals received both controversy and disregard from critics as well as consumers. It’s a shame because what Davis put down here is one of the most groovy, powerful Funk statements of the genre, standing with the best of James Brown, Funkadelic and the rest of the Funk Pantheon.
Opening with the smoky seduction of “Shoop-b-Doop and Cop Him” was a wise choice for Davis, the track’s got all the sex appeal Betty was trying to lay down on wax but it’s subtle, laid back and cool, Davis singing in a raspy, slinky semi-whisper while the laid back groove rolls effortlessly under her voice, building to a final soul-chorus-and-guitar solo crescendo. It’s dirty, and it’s groovy as all hell but it’s restrained, enticing and soulful. And then the song fades out and out of nowhere Davis HOWLS out the title of the second track “HE WAS A BIIIIIG FREAK/ I USED TO BEAT HIM WITH A TURQUOISE CHAIN” It’s a complete turnaround from the smooth, laid-back opener, an out and out filthy S&M anthem in which Betty drops any pretense at being flirtatious, snarling and growling her way through the song like a sex crazed tiger. It’s a display that’s frankly jarring on first listen, made no less jarring when you consider that this was the 70s when this was released, when the raunchiest lyrics you might hear was Led Zeppelin making oblique references to “ squeezing lemons” as a handjob metaphor.
The theme continues through the rest of the album, from the plaintive, yearning “Your Mama Wants You Back” to the searing indictment of slut-shaming “Don’t Call Her No Tramp” on to the furious funk groove of “Git In It”, to the stomping paean to the Blues that is the title track. Through it all, the music from the backing band is uncomplicated, the songs built on a hard-edged, repetitive groove that slams along at a slow to mid-pace, giving Betty all the room she needs to completely dominate the track. There’s not a wasted or frivolous note on the album, the guitar work is tight and focused, and what solos there are complement, rather than compete with Betty’s vocals. The arrangements, as funky and head bobbing as they are exist as a framework for Betty’s voice, and it’s a voice that could not have worked outside the slamming funk her band is laying down. Betty’s voice needs to be at the forefront of the music, hers is a voice that could play second fiddle to no one. Her raspy, powerful bellow, her smoky whisper, her wildcat howl, all befit the raunchy, highly charged subject matter. Betty’s voice was made for funk, like a female James Brown but with more sexual energy, if that’s possible. When she wants to be, she’s sweeter than Chaka Khan and more powerful than Mavis Staples, and while not as technically proficient as either, her voice is better fitted to the music she’s making.
The sad thing about Betty’s music is how ahead of its time this fearless, roaring celebration of sexuality ended up being. Too open and uncompromising for a wide audience, Betty's albums never really sold well (the single of They Say I’m Different only made 46 on the R&B charts) and she ended up being something of a forgotten figure in Funk/Soul music. One can only hope that the slight resurgence in popularity she's seeing will continue until she's given the legendary status her music so richly deserves. In a decade of female empowerment and celebration of frank sexuality this album is in bad need of rediscovery by a wider audience. Hopefully, if not now then soon, Betty’s music will get the attention it should have had in 1974 and her musical legacy will be finally able to shine.
