LaVette

While still a teenager, Bettye Lavette left an indelible mark on 1960s soul music with a slinky brace of singles (My Man, He’s a Lovin’ Man and Let Me Down Easy), after which she seemed destined to become a two-hit wonder, especially after her label, Atlantic, sidelined an expensive, dazzling 1972 album, Child of the Seventies. Michigan-born Lavette had other ideas, though it took until 2005 before I’ve Got My Own Hell to Raise, an album of songs by women including Sinéad O’Connor and Dolly Parton, re-established her as a…

When Bettye LaVette growls “same old words, same old song” midway through the latest album of her six-decade career, don’t mistake it for complacency. Much of the magic of LaVette! lies in the 77-year-old soul survivor’s ability to invest classic R&B tropes with the world-weary experience and infallible wisdom of age, so they hit different. She has trodden these paths of heartbreak enough times to roll her damned eyes, and you can hear that in her seasoned rasp.The artwork for LaVette!Every morsel of gravel is audible…