Betty Davis-They Say She’s Different

Betty Davis,nee’ Mabry was one of the few women deeply involved in the late 60’s/early 70’s funk process. This was both on a professional and personal level. She recorded her first single in 1964,and her work with the Chambers Brothers in 1967 prompted her to take the focus off her successful modelling career because she felt singing/songwriting challenged her mind more,stating “its only going to last as long as you look good”. She also had a relationship with Hugh Masakela and a marriage to Miles Davis. By these associations she was a key figure for helping launch the jazz/funk fusion genre.

She introduced Miles Davis to the music of Jimi Hendrix and Sly Stone-as well as to the people themselves. She was also as much of a fashion icon as Davis was. He produced her second major recording sessions (her first being in 1964) in the late 60’s before they divorced. Just about every liberated Afrocentric female artist from Chaka Khan,Grace Jones to Rihanna owe their persona’s to hers. Her second solo was called They Say I’m Different. Aside from the medium tempo tempo closer “Special People”,the rest of this 1974 album is hardcore uptempo funk/rock. Here’s my Amazon.com review of the album:

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Betty Davis is an artist I’ve been hearing a lot of hype about for years.’They Say I’m Different’ is an album I’ve been hearing about forever as well.I was almost entirely certain there was no way that this album could possibly live up to the hype.Well when Light In The Attic records decided to put this out on CD,…..well to put it mildly this MORE then lived up to it’s long held mystique and hype.The best way to describe this music is unhinged and unpolished funk.EVERY song on it fits that description.As for Betty Davis’s singing,it lays somewhere between the the styles of Tina Turner,Sly Stone and Janis Joplin.

All of the songs celebrate her liberated spirit but there’s one that just blows you away in less then a second.”He Was A Big Freak”…….I don’t know WHAT MAN she was referring to but she really paints herself as a wild,wild funky diva BIG TIME here;she wails out about her “man” who enjoys being tied up.The Ohio Players did a lot of S&M based album art at the this time but TALKING OPENLY ABOUT IT,A FEMALE FUNK SINGER?And it never seems like a gimmick either because you actually believe she lived a lot of the “wild style” she speaks about.And the grooves on that and every other song here are as raw a funk as you’re probably ever going to hear.

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With  the likes of Azteca’s Pete Escovedo on percussion and Graham Central Station’s Hershall Happiness Kennedy on keyboards and trumpet,this album turned out to be the second of only a trio of albums Davis released during the 1970’s. With the  documentary ‘Nasty Gal-The Many Lives Of Funk Queen Betty Davis” currently in production, the life of this influential and captivating personality may come to the fore. As it stands, Davis is a key reference point in the jazz/funk music that this blog stands for. And am happy to wish Davis a very funky 71st birthday today!

 

Miles Davis 1968: ‘Filles De Kilimanjaro’-The Road To Funk From Andre’s Amazon Archive

While I am sure Larry Coryell deserves a lot of credit for his innovations in fusion the concept of jazz-funk fusion probably starts with this album. Basically what Miles and his quintet are dealing with here is transitions of both a musical and personal nature. Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea alternate (on various cuts) on electric piano and the same goes for Ron Carter and Dave Holland. I’ve heard it said that had to do with the fact that while he had nothing against fusion jazz,Ron Carter wasn’t as comfortable playing electric bass as he was an acoustic one.

But no matter who is playing what this album is,as they might’ve said in the late 60’s,”now”. For the past several album Miles and his Quintet created a unique type of jazz that blended be-bop with avant garde techniques and on this album,Miles’s strong influence from soul and R&B (from listening to Sly Stone and James Brown and perhaps his wife Betty Mabry) has had an impact on the music as well. For one Tony Williams,always a rock and R&B fan himself was still improvising on drums as only he could but his general rhythm has a funkier,more syncopated tone here…at times.

That being said,perhaps that colliding with the Fender Rhodes soloing “Frelon Brun” is definitely in on the new jazz-funk style completely.Even though they wiggle and wobble between what Herbie Hancock calls “jazz and rock n roll back beats” jumping in and around each other “Petits Machins” and the title song both illustrate something of the same feeling.”Toute De Suite” and the alternate take of it presented here are as we see now yet another innovation:the beginnings of what we might call “acid jazz” now;mid-tempo funky rhythms,LOTS of Fender Rhodes solos and a bluesy jazz feel-amazing tune either way you cut it.

In dedication to his wife Davis also included “Mademoiselle Mabry”,a elongated blues showcasing,as the rest of these songs do a very pretty melody. One thing Miles managed to do on this album was maintain his melodic jazz flair and also cloth it in a brand new setting. This is definitely one of those albums where Miles begins to lean heavily into the style that would soon become known as fusion.Not too long after this Miles would release his landmark In a Silent Way and it was off to the races for him;his songs developed more concise grooves and became even longer in length. Nonetheless this will always hold a very special place in Miles’ vast musical legacy.

Originally posted on May 6th,2008

LINK TO ORIGINAL REVIEW HERE!

Listen to “Frelun Brun”,a key funk/jazz process number on YouTube here.