Speaking of nailing the delivery, the opening track of Bettye LaVette’s latest CD, Scene Of The Crime, gave me goose bumps the first time I heard it. I had big fears about this CD. There’s been a run of CD’s lately where up and coming artists produced CDs of legends, with very mixed results. I thought the Ryan Adams produced Willie Nelson CD, Songbird, was a big success. But the Jack White produced Loretta Lynn CD, Van Lear Rose didn’t quite gel despite very good work by both parties. So when I heard that Bettye LaVette’s latest CD was produced by Patterson Hood of the Drive By Truckers, I was skeptical. I didn’t see how the Southern Gothic Rock sound was going to work with Bettye LaVettes’ soul.
But as it turned out, the band morphed themselves to fit her style and delivery and I’m happy to say that the CD is very strong and I highly recommend it.
