Betty Wright: My First Time Around - 1968
Betty Wright was from Miami, Florida and in the late sixties-early seventies she had followed the familiar pattern of starting singing in church, gospel choirs and the like, before releasing a fair few soul singles. As a teenager, remarkably, Wright was apparently instrumental in the discovery of George and Gwen McCrae, who went on to have success in the mid-seventies.
There are good tracks scattered all over the four albums of hers that I have reviewed and her mightily impressive debut covered below should certainly not be overlooked. You can choose any of them to listen to any time and the experience will be a good one. We are talking about quality early seventies female soul here.
Lord above - my goodness me what a truly superb debut album this was.
1968 was a tumultuous year, the year of student rebellion, anti-war protests, social awareness reflected in music and the beginnings of strident feminism. Amidst all this turmoil, though, one thing was that comparatively slow-moving was the release of meaningful albums from female artists. Diana Ross & The Supremes released the controversial Love Child single and album in the same year, but in many ways this remarkable first offering from this impressive, confident young singer was more notable. It rarely gets mentioned though, which is a shame. Many of the songs, though, were not written by a woman, but by male songwriter Clarence Reid. He definitely had his finger on the pulse, though. These were songs written for women who were going to stand up for themselves and not take any shit, particularly in relationships.
The opener, Girls Can't Do What They Guys Can is an obvious proto-feminist plea for sisters to be able to do it for themselves. It is a classic serving of sixties soul. I can't describe it as efficiently as I want to, but I just know it when I hear it. It just has "it". Lyrically it is bang on the money. As for that mid-song bassline - wow.
The album also had hard-hitting, realist numbers such as the appealing grind of I'm Gonna Hate Myself In The Morning, Circle Of Heartbreak and the absolutely cookin' brassy balls of Funny How Love Grows Cold. as I said, for an album from a female artist in 1968 its sound and lyrical content was really quite ground-breaking. Watch Out Love is an absolute corker of a brassy soul ballad as well and He's Bad, Bad, Bad cooks t boiling point on a high setting. Circle Of Heartbreak has a really groovy rhythm to it.
Sweet Lovin' Daddy is a chunky, upbeat, lusty number that has Betty telling her lover that he likes his goodies. A lot. Cry Like A Baby is up there with any of the best of solid soul of era. That bass, those big, fatback drums. I Can't Stop My Heart is a soul ballad typical of the era, classic stuff, enhanced by some killer jazz guitar in the middle.
Some Motown, handclappy vibes can be found on the eminently enjoyable I'm Thankful, together with some Stevie Wonder-style harmonica. Some of the lyrical cynicism I have been talking of is found on the heartfelt ballad The Best Girls Don't Always Win. "Sometimes they lose for the better" is what the song tells us, making listeners feel better. Quite right too. Just You ends the album in melodious but sad fashion, exemplifying just what a great voice the young Betty had.
Another thing worthy of praise was the outstanding sound quality present - warm, bassy and presented in nice stereo.
Unlike many soul albums from the time, it was certainly no vehicle for singles, packed with filler and Beatles covers. No sir. It was full to the brim with quality, original, punchy soul. It has to go down as one of the great but little-known soul albums and I feel it actually stands up high in the list of fine 1968 albums too. I seriously love it. I can't speak highly enough, as you have probably guessed by now.
