Betty Davis

Whatever the reason that Betty Davis' Is It Love or Desire – also known as Crashin' from Passion – remained unreleased until 2009 no longer matters. Davis remembers a personal rift with Island's Chris Blackwell. Studio In the Country manager Jim Bateman (in Bogalusa, LA) claims the studio was never paid and therefore refused to release the masters to Island, etc. It makes no difference, because hearing this album, a ten-song set that was to be.

Betty Davis' second full-length featured a similar set of songs as her debut, though with Davis herself in the production chair and a radically different lineup. The openers, "Shoo-B-Doop and Cop Him" and "He Was a Big Freak," are big, blowsy tunes with stop-start funk rhythms and Davis in her usual persona as the aggressive sexual predator.

Powerhouse singer Mahalia Barnes, one of the most impressive female vocalists to come out of Australia, and her band The Soul Mates have teamed up with American blues-rock guitarist Joe Bonamassa to release an album of Betty Davis covers called Ooh Yea! The Betty Davis Songbook. It explores tracks from Davis sexy, raw funk records of the early 70s. Betty Davis s unique story is still fairly unknown. She married Miles Davis in the late 60s, influencing him with psychedelic rock, and introducing him to Jimi Hendrix. Later, she released three genre-busting albums, 1973's self-titled debut, 1974's They Say I'm Different and 1975's Nasty Gal that have since influenced artists like Outkast, Prince, Erykah Badu, Rick James, The Roots, Ice Cube, Talib Kweli and Ludacris. Mahalia Barnes, eldest daughter of Australian rock legend Jimmy Barnes and recent contestant on The Voice Australia, has been around music her whole life but has always been most heavily influenced by soul, blues and rock n roll.

Light In the Attic have outdone themselves again with this latest reissue of what is surely Betty Davis' best and most coveted work. Her iconic voice is transported by the legendary productions of, to name a few, a couple of peeps by the name of Miles Davis, Teo Macero and Herbie Hancock. According to the label, what is special about this release is its pioneering stance on jazz, where across nine songs these greats pretty much already started and finished the free-jazz sound. For the late 1960s, this is some truly special and forward-thinking material; a clear precursor to the mad, improvisational - and often misinterpreted - seminal album by Miles Davis himself, On The Corner. This is mostly unreleased material, and the LP comes with a booklet of interviews and rare photos. Unmissable.

In 1970 Miles Davis unleashed “Bitches Brew”. It sold a million and launched a new style of music: jazz rock. It was the culmination of the work of Miles and his musicians over the previous two years. “Directions In Music” illustrates its conception and immediate aftermath. CD version packaged with 20-page booklet. Double vinyl LP version features two printed inner bags.

Miles Davis - Miles Electric: A Different Kind of Blue (2004) {DVD9 PAL Eagle Rock EE39020-9 rec 1970}
DVD9 -> 5.98 Gb | All Regions | PAL 4:3 | LPCM, 2 ch / Dolby AC3, 6 ch / DTS, 6 ch | ~ 123m | ISO Image
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 18 Mb | Subs: English, Francais, Espanol | 5% repair rar
© 1970, 2004 Eagle Rock / Pulsar | EE39020-9
Jazz / Fusion / Jazz Funk / Trumpet

When he released "Bitches Brew" in 1970, Miles Davis opened up a new angle to jazz which stirred up emotions like no other record before. Some critics accused Davis of selling out, while the public bought it like crazy. It is one of the most examined albums of all time, even garnering a box set of the sessions. To date, "Bitches Brew" is one of the top selling jazz albums of all time. "Miles Electric: A Different Kind of Blue" examines the next step in the creative process…performing these songs live. The 1970 Isle of Wight featured an array of performers from The Who to Jethro Tull to Joni Mitchell. With improvisation playing a big role in the performance, the band (Jack DeJohnette, Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett, Gary Bartz and Dave Holland) had to be "on", yet ready to change on the fly. Directed by award-winning producer Murray Lerner, "Miles Electric" sits down with several of the performers who played with Miles, interspersed with his 1970 Isle of Wight performance, as well as artists such as Carlos Santana and Joni Mitchell, who describe the impact Miles Davis had towards music.

This well-rounded set gives listeners a good look at the adventurous music of Betty Carter. For this CD, she is joined by one of two rhythm sections (with either Benny Green or Stephen Scott on piano) and, on four of the nine songs, tenor saxophonist Don Braden. Carter twists and turns some familiar songs (such as "The Man I Love," "Imagination" and "The Good Life") along with a variety of lesser-known material including two songs of her own.