Betty Wright: Danger High Voltage / This Time for Real (1998)

Singer Betty Wright proved to be a consistently strong presence on the Miami music scene, primarily throughout the '70s and '80s, although she continues to record. She began her singing career early on as a member of her family's own gospel group the Echoes of Joy. By the age of 13, Wright had begun appearing on other artists' recordings as a backup singer and two years later was issuing her own solo singles and albums. It would be several years, however, before Wright would enjoy her next substantial hit, but it would prove to be worth the wait when 1972's ‘Clean Up Woman’ peaked at number two on the R&B and number six on the pop charts. In 1974, Wright received a Grammy Award for the song ‘Where Is the Love?’; she steadily continued to issue albums throughout the decade, including such standout titles as 1975's Danger High Voltage (which spawned three R&B hits, ‘Shoorah! Shoorah!,’ ‘Where Is the Love?,’ and ‘Tonight Is the Night’) and 1978's Betty Wright Live. 1981's hit collaboration with Stevie Wonder, ‘What Are You Gonna Do With It?,’ proved to be Wright's last substantial hit. Wright continued issuing albums throughout the '80s and '90s, in addition to trying her hand as a television talk show hostess and contributing backing vocals to a wide variety of other artists. This out-of-print compilation gathers two of Betty Wright's harder to find albums, Danger High Voltage (1975, originally released on Alston) and This Time It's Real (1977, originally released on Alston), both recorded with the help of Miami soul giants like Willie Clarke, Clarence Reid, and Steve Alaimo. Tracks include ‘Brick Grits’, ‘Room at the Top’, ‘If You Abuse My Love’, ‘Show Your Girl’, ‘Come on Up’, ‘That Man of Mine’, and her classics ‘Shoorah! Shoorah!,’ ‘Where Is the Love?,’ and ‘Tonight Is the Night’, among others. As a bonus I added both sides of her 1976 single 'Slip and Do It' / 'I Think I Better Think About It' (#21 R&B), not included on any of her albums. http://www.allmusic.com, http://www.dustygroove.com/

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Betty Wright performing 'Tonight's the Night', from her album Danger High Voltage:

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Here, on Soul Train, singing 'Everybody Was Rockin':

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And finally, also on Soul Train, 'Slip And Do It' (1976):