Bettye
Crutcher made her way primarily as a songwriter, and a very
successful one too. You can find her name in the writing credits of
many songs, especially at Stax. And if you find We Three in the
credits that is her too in partnership with Homer Banks and Raymond
Jackson. Johnnie Taylor's Who's Making Love was probably their
biggest and most well known song.
Bettye
had just one album in her own name, Long As You Love Me (I'll Be
Alright). Released in 1974 on
Enterprise (and amazingly it got a UK release too, on Stax) it is a
great lost gem. Bettye had a hand in the writing, mostly alongside
Sir Mack Rice, on all the tracks. It turns out Bettye also had a very
pretty voice, not powerful, but perfectly suited to the material on
the album which is a mix of ballads and slinky mid tempo numbers.
Deep and sophisticated in equal measure, there is a real cohesion to
the album. It should be on everybody's list of top 10 Soul albums of
all time in my opinion.
PS
It's a shame my copy is not in better shape. I really need an upgrade. This one, incredibly, was described as M- record and
sleeve. It is not even close. It didn't even have an inner sleeve and
was shipped in a flimsy envelope with no stiffeners. It was a miracle
it got to me in one piece. Just about the worst experience I have
ever had buying on-line. Not bought through ebay, but I did manage to
extract a small partial refund, given with ill grace, from the
seller. Should you find yourself contemplating a purchase from a UK
seller who has a bulldog for a logo, think twice.
1 comment:
Bettye Crutcher!
Great name,great songwriter, great singer
Post a Comment