Bettye LaVette - Do Your Duty (2009)

Prior to her recent rediscovery by a new generation of admirers, Detroit-bred soul diva Bettye LaVette spent nearly four decades building a thrilling body of music that her new fans now have the pleasure of discovering. For many longtime LaVette devotees, her recordings for the Silver Fox label, and its parent company SSS International, rank with the artist’s finest work. Do Your Duty collects the 11 classic solo sides that LaVette cut for Silver Fox and SSS in 1969 and 1970, including her beloved R&B hits “He Made a Woman Out of Me” and “Do Your Duty.”

Detroit's Bettye LaVette, who'd debuted on wax aged just 16 in 1962 with US R&B Top 10 Lu-Pine release My Man- He's A Lovin' Man, had a real raspy husk and one helluva set of powerful lungs. She put them to great use at Silver Fox and SSS International in 1969 and 1970, where she recorded eight sides and three unissued cuts, all included on Do Your Duty (★ ★ ★ ★ ★, Sundazed). Pinned to country-inflected funk and climactic deep soul, LaVette, who'd been recommended to label boss Lelan Rogers by his brother Kenny, to whom Bettye had given a copy of her version of Kenny's then-band The First Edition's 1968 hit Just Dropped In To See What Condition My Condition Was In, blazed and burned on cuts such as My Train's Comin' In, the title cut and Love Made A Fool Of Me. Her version of Piece Of My Heart is the only one to come close to Erma Franklin's own take, turning frustration and hurt into flirtation, temptation and a dare.