Bettye LaVette

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More About

• Bettye LaVette
• Tina Turner
• Otis Redding
• Soul Music
• Arts, Entertainment, and Media

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Similar to the Seattle’s grunge period in the ’90s, Detroit’s Motown era of the ’60s had more talent than it could support. For every group like the Miracles or the Supremes that went national, there were 20 other equally talented singers who got overlooked in the process. For Bettye LaVette, until recently, that was the story of her life. The Detroit-bred soul singer briefly toured with Otis Redding and Ben E. King in the early ’60s off the strength of her song “My Man, He’s a Loving Man,” and she had a short stint with the James Brown Revue. But aside from being vocally astute and possessing chops like a split between Martha Reeves and Tina Turner, true fame seemed to elude her. During the early ’70s, when she was arguably at her best, fame eluded her again. (The album she was recording, Child of the Seventies, was shelved at the last minute and has never been released.) Since then, she bounced between various labels and cut 45s here and there. Only in the current decade has LaVette, now 63, received the acclaim that was long overdue. Tonight and Wednesday she’ll perform songs from her 2007 The Scene of the Crime, in addition to older tunes that made her almost famous four decades ago. JONATHAN CUNNINGHAM
Tue., Sept. 1, 7:30 p.m.; Wed., Sept. 2, 7:30 p.m., 2009