Album Details

• Artist: Bettye Lavette
• Album: Scene Of The Crime
• Label: Anti
• Year of Release: 2007
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: patchen on 2007-12-17

Media

C’mon, everyone sing it with me: “Oh, there ain’t no cure for the Supper Club Blues!” Even the presence of Drive-By Truckers isn’t enough to save this slick, safe foray into a sonic landscape where it not only seems as if the blues are impossible, but are not welcome. For fans of the woman who sang “Black Velvet” or the last Stones record only. Betty LaVette can still sing a raucous line at 61, and more than deserves her reputation as a Soul legend; she also deserves better than Scene Of The Crime.

I’m not saying that every blues or blues-rock record need be sweaty and painful, but there are certain basics you hope are there. Like, as you wouldn’t expect all metal bands to have horror show trapping-- but you also wouldn’t expect to hear them cover Wiggles’ tracks, you do not expect a blues record to sound like the only pain in the singer’s life is on the level of getting the wrong color Hummer or iPod. LaVette has a powerful voice, and is certainly a legend. The pedal steel offers some bite on several tracks, especially on “Somebody Pick Up My Pieces” the best song on the record, but the overall feel is wasted on slick production and the emotional credibility of an ad for Southern tourism. But overall, her raw, passionate gift for soul and blues is wasted in tepid production, and the normally gritty Truckers seem to have quite the soft-on for the material. A waste of huge talent here.

User Reviews and Comments

on 2008-02-07 wordbird Said:

you crazy.

this album rates 4 stars just for the song 'jealousy' alone.
Not Rated