Betty Wright - Live

Tonight Is The Night 'Live' (Part 1.)

Betty Wright - Live - Alston 4408 (1978)

Side A - Lovin' Is Really My Game; Tonight Is The Night; A Song For You

Side B - Clean Up Woman; Pillow Talk; You Got The Love; Mr. Melody; Midnight At The Oasis; Me & Mrs Jone; You are My Sunshine; Let's Get Married Today; You Can't See For Looking Up; Where Is The Love

What can you say about Betty Wright that has no already been written she is simply Miami's finest. The album opens with Brainstorm's Lovin' is Really My Game, witch was always one of the greatest 12" releases of the 70's, she also does Clean Up Woman, what an all-time guitar riff that was but the stand-out 8 minute track is a remake of Tonight Is The Night. It is supposed to be live but I doubt it as it is too clean-cut. Performing this song live for some years I think she had now (in 1978) got it down to a fine art. What stated out as just a nice single from 1974 is now performed to pure 8 mins perfection.

The great bass-line is provided by Michael Wilkerson and the new acid drum sound by Gregory Wilkerson (brothers?). This live cut is so popular even now 35 years later as used in Sheek Louch's rap song Good Love with a nice glocken over-dubbing the melody and also the R&B track Rock With Me getting Modern soul nite spins by Melissa Young, any others that you know? +++ Melissa Young 'Rock With You' (from the album 'Just Up The Road' on Sugashack 2007 - cdbaby)

Betty though was released as a TK 12" in 1979 and as a Alston 7' in 1974 (studio vers.) It was getting a few London spins in 1987 when it was put out again in the UK and pressed in France on Groove & Move. Most Alston copies I've heard crackle bad so a re-press was a better option for me. Betty in recent years has been given renewed interest due to her success with Joss Stone's debut LP. I've done three blogs on Miss B. and if your getting to like her, watch out because there is much more to come! Respect to Ms. B. (& her Mom) & Miami.

Betty Wright - Explosion....!!

Keep Feelin'

Betty Wright - Explosion !! - RCA RS 1063 (1976 UK) TK US

Open the Door To Your Heart; Do Right Girl; I Think I Better Think About It; Smother Me With Your Love; Don't Forget To Say I Love You Today; Keep Feelin'*; Rock On Baby, Rock On; If I Ever Do Wrong; Bluesville; Life
Produced by; Willie Clark*/Clarence Reid/Seth Snyder

When you first look at the cover art you think 'Oh no it's a live album' but far from it, not that Betty isn't good live (she's actually a knock-out!). The musicians of this album are TK's finest like: guitars; Little Beaver, Snoopy Dean & Milton Wright, Keyboards, Timmy Thomas & Latimore.

The track I pulled today I've slowed down by -2 is Keep Feelin', written by herself and Willie Clarke. It's the horns that are the hook on this song and they do it very well with the help of Mike Lewis.

Nearly all Betty's albums contain some stunners. She gone though some labels in her years; Atlantic, TK, Epic and now has settled with her own Ms B label.

Other fine tracks on this set are Smother Me With Your Love, Bluesville & Do Right Girl. All these tunes I would regulary play on PCRL in Birmingham along with dj's Lady Cherry & Tony Roots.

Betty Wright - My First Time Around

Betty Wright - My First Time Around - Atco SD 33-260 - 1969

Girls Can't Do What The Guys Do; Funny How Love Grows Cold; I'm Gonna Hate Myself In The Morning; Circle Of Heartbreak; Sweet Lovin' Daddy; Cry Like A Baby; Watch Out Love; He's bad bad Bad; I Can't Stop My Heart; I'm Thankful; The Best Girl's Don't Always Win; Just You


Produced by: Clarence Reid

Girls Can't Do What The Guy's Do

Clarence Reid and Willie Clark launch The Miami queen of soul Betty Wright with he first album at the tender age of 16 in 1969 (Just Like Joss Stone's Launch). Girls Can do What The Guys Do is a nice little early 2Step production that came out before Reid's own album of the same year.

Clarance Reid plays the piano and organ on the album and as the sleeve note says Henry Stone signs the checks. (cheques UK readers) The album was up against people like Aretha Franklin at the time and really didn't stand a chance, I'm thankful was quite good and although the Reid Sisters gave her a nice earthy sound her version of Cry Like A Baby sounds better now than then.

Wright to co-penned a couple of the songs as well, a good start for a 14-year-old and showed their may be more to come.

Betty Wright had won a singing competition on a local radio station and won a prize record and while in the record store collecting it had been discovered singing along to a tune in store by Willie Clark . So she went with them to a studio and recorded Mr. Lucky that Willie had wrote and Good lovin' were singles on Deep City Records and Lucky was a hit in Southern Miami.



Circle Of Heartbreak  (short edit)
It was three years after I did this Blog that I heard 'Circle Of Heartbreak' played-out at a Soul nite. So I added this paragraph. I had not noticed before what a great Latin feel this song has. It's hard to tell it's Betty because her voice is still quite young sounding but I thought I should add it to this Blog as it's on this same album.

Born September 21, 1953, in Miami, Florida, influenced a generation of female singer-songwriters and also influenced the world of hip hop, who sampled some of her more famous material. Born singing gospel with the family group, the Echoes of Joy, Wright began switching to R&B music in 1965 when she was only 11. In 1969, she released her first album, My First Time Around, at the age of 16, and scored her first hit, Girls Can't Do What Guys Can Do.

But it was not until the end of 1971 that Wright's most successful phase of her career took place.
The song, Clean Up Woman, became a Top 5 pop and R&B hit, and would later influence a remix of Mary J. Blige's Real Love single with the sample of its guitar riffs; R&B girl group trio SWV's I'm So Into You also featured a sample from Clean Up Woman, as did Afrika Bambaataa's song Zulu War Chant, and Sublime's Get Out! remix. Beyonce has sampled Girls Can't Do What The Guys Do for her hit Upgrade U. In 1974, Wright scored big with the songs Tonight is the Night (about a real-life love affair that happened with Wright when she was a teenager) and Where is the Love (which won her a Grammy for Best R&B Song).

After experiencing a brief slump in the early 1980s, she rebounded founding her own record label, Ms. B Records, and in 1988 made music history by being the first woman to have a gold record on her own label, with the release of Mother Wit, which featured two of her biggest hits in years, No Pain No Gain and the After The Pain. On both songs, Wright displays her powerful upper register capabilities and seven-octave range.

By 2001 a compilation album The Very Best of Betty Wright was released, along with her first studio album for several years, Fit for a King.
Still recording music to this day, she now mentors several young singers, and has done vocal production for the likes of Gloria Estefan, Jennifer Lopez and Joss Stone.

Betty Wright collectables are; Good Lovin/Paralyzed (Deep City 2378) £172 & Man Of Mine (Alston 3736) £60 1977. The above album and the Clarence Reid album are now on CD and as usual I have vinyl for sale.