The genre of funk has always contained inspirational grooves and powerful vocals to inspire you to move and have a good time. Some of these hard-hitting tracks encourage power, some encourage dancing itself, and the most daring of all would try to help you find a certain someone to take home. Yes indeed, funk and after hours activity are intricately tied (“Sex Machine” anyone?), a fact that no one knows better than legendary musical maverick Betty Davis. Her work in the 70’s was clearly the real deal, riddled with image, substance, sex, and grit combined with a bad ass band that could provide a more than solid backbone for her sultry jams. The awesome Light in the Attic Records label who (we’ve said it before and we’ll say it again) has an uncanny knack for discovering the undiscovered musical gems of yesteryear definitely caught on to Davis early and reissued her self-titled record and They Say I’m Different in 2007.
Betty Davis
“He Was a Big Freak” (mp3)
from “They Say I’m Different”
(Light In The Attic)
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Betty Davis
“Anti Love Song” (mp3)
from “Betty Davis”
(Light In The Attic)
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Adding one more even more sultry album of her to their roster, Davis’s previously unreleased and never bootlegged 1976 record Is It Love Or Desire has been mastered from the original tapes and brought back to life by LITA. Through her work as a model in New York, Davis met numerous noteworthy musicians such as Sly Stone (of the Family Stone) and Jimi Hendrix. Davis also married the god-like jazz trumpeter Miles Davis in 1968 (she’s on the cover of his album Filles de Kilimanjaro and named a song on it after her). Miles credits Davis (she took his name) with helping to plant the seeds of his future musical explorations by introducing the trumpeter to Hendrix and Stone. It’s believed that Hendrix and her had an affair that eventually ruined her marriage to Davis, but she denies this. After the marriage was over, she moved to London and began to write songs, eventually returning to the US and assembling an all-star group of West Coast funk musicians to record with. Her band included Neal Schon (of Santana and later Journey) on guitar, members of Sly & The Family Stone, Graham Central Station, Tower of Power, and The Pointer Sisters on backing vocals. Needless to say, the music is top quality funk from the genre’s golden era.
Despite the quality of the music included, none of her first three releases reached commercial success. Davis remained a cult figure as a singer, due in part to her open sexual attitude, which was controversial for the time. Some of her shows were boycotted and her songs not played on the radio due to pressure by religious groups. With the passage of time her records have become highly regarded by collectors of soul and funk music as they have been recognized for their unique style, edgy subject matter, and high quality musicianship. Davis eventually stopped making music and returned to Pennsylvania, completely disappearing from the public eye. Is It Love Or Desire has never been bootlegged, released, or even heard till now.
Betty Davis
“Is It Love Or Desire” (mp3)
from “Is It Love or Desire”
(Light In The Attic)
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Pick up this unique and risqué rarity to experience hard edged funk like you’ve never heard it before!
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Tags: Betty Davis, Jimi Hendrix, Light in the Attic, Miles Davis, Sly and the Family Stone
