jueves, 22 de octubre de 2009

Bettye Swann Special - Part III: The Fame & Atlantic Years (1971-1976)

This is the last of the three posts I have dedicated to the great Bettye Swann, spanning her entire recording career for Money, Capitol, Fame and Atlantic between 1964 and 1976. After working for Capitol, Bettye switched to Rich Hall's Fame label while it was being distributed by Capitol, releasing 1971's 'I'm Just Living a Lie' / 'I Can't Let You Break My Heart'. Swann then landed at Atlantic, but still retained the Fame link. During her time at Atlantic in the early to mid '70s she recorded at Muscle Shoals where she cut the #16 soul hit, 'Victim of a Foolish Heart', the first of half a dozen hits for her with the label. Her next Atlantic effort, 'I'd Rather Go Blind,' was notable in large part for its B-side, a reading of Merle Haggard's 'Today I Started Loving You Again,' that proved once more Swann a superb interpreter of country-soul. 1973's 'Yours Until Tomorrow' was backed by another Nashville cover, this time Tammy Wynette's 'Til I Get It Right.' While at Atlantic in the early '70s, some of her Money recordings, including her album Make Me Yours, were re-released on A-Bet, the Nashville-based successor to the renowned Excello blues and R&B imprint. Bettye also recorded at Atlantic in New York City, and at the famous Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia, where the Northern Soul biggie 'Kiss My Love Goodbye' was captured. This song found Swann operating firmly in Philly soul territory, its slick, urbane production courtesy of the Young Professionals team of LeBaron Taylor, Phil Hurtt, and Tony Bell. She made a return to the lower rungs of the Billboard Hot 100 with its A-side 'The Boy Next Door,' while 1975's 'All the Way in or All the Way Out' enjoyed minor chart success. Betty's last visit to the charts was a duet with Sam Dees of 'Storybook Children' in 1975 on the Big Tree label, an Atlantic distributed label. A last single 'Heading in the Right Direction' / 'Be Strong Enough to Hold On' was released on Atlantic in 1976, but without commercial success. Her last public performance as Bettye Swann was in 1980, the year her husband and manager, George Barton, died. As Betty Barton, she then worked in the education sector in the Las Vegas, Nevada area, and became a Jehovah's Witness. She is now retired and, according to a 2005 interview, suffers from a degenerative spinal condition. http://www.answers.com/, http://en.wikipedia.org/
AA


17 comentarios:

Noelia Almenara dijo...

http://rapidshare.com/files/295183861/Bettye_Swann_Part_III_-_The_Fame___Atlantic_Years__1971-1976_.rar

email@kontakt.cz dijo...

Thank you very much for the Debbie Taylor Anthology. Great stuff.

Radek

E-mile dijo...

Nosi, thank you for the Betteye Swann anthology...a few real gems!
peace, E-mile

bostig dijo...

Nosi, thank you very much for all good music that you have posted. best regards bostig

Parry dijo...

Two more tracks to complete Bettye Swann Part III:

- I Ain't That Easy To Lose (p.u., rec. 1973)

- I Want Sunday Back Again (p.u., rec. 1975)

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=9L0NN01B

HSB DaveB. dijo...

Just discovered your blog today looking for a Barbara Acklin song. Lovely place and so much great music from fantastic SoulSistas!! I put your link on my blog. Thanks so much!!!

Peace and SOUL,
Dave...

pedro dijo...

i have the other 2 cd,s purchase a few years back plus a few singles somewhere in the soul room but this is the ice on the cake what great singer bet was love to have seen her live pedro

Noelia Almenara dijo...

Cheers, Parry!!

Dreamer456 dijo...

Thanks so much, Nosi.

trakbuv dijo...

Bettye Swann is an amazing singer that somehow lost out to the likes of Candi Staton et al, but is probably my favourite of the bunch. And in 'Kiss my love goodbye', we have not only my favourite song by her, but one of my all-time favourites. Gloriously heartbreaking. Absolute dream triple-header, Nosi ! And thanks to Parry for the cherry on top.

Bill dijo...

Been away a week and come back to this! Much underrated Bettye Swann is one of my favourite singers ever since I first heard "Make me yours"
Thank you SOOOOOOOOOO much for this
anthology.

jahcisco dijo...

Thanks for the Bettye Swann set. Greatly appreciated.

troods dijo...

I am loving this sooooo much!! All this Bettye Swann.

troods dijo...

And thank you Parry for your recent contributions.

Ricardo dijo...

Superb series on a hugely underrated singer - thanks for the whole lot, outstanding work!

Unknown dijo...

wow, this blog is amazing! just found it today. this post is incredible too, i'm a massive bettye swann fan! I've been looking for this compilation for a while but i cant seem to be able to but it anywhere, until i found your blog that is :) The two tracks from her fame single 'i'm just living a lie' and 'i cant let you break my heart' are awesome! and so hard to find! i saw the the 7" for sale once but it was 35GBP! is there any chance you could post a higher bitrate version of this compilation? ive spent about 2 hours this morning looking to buy a copy but i cant seem to find it anywhere. Keep up the great work!

Unknown dijo...

just saw that you're not gonna be updating anymore:( thats a real shame, thanks for all youre great posts though!