Bettye Lavette Quotes

What I'm experiencing right now is relief. When I read Rob [Bowman]'s liner notes, I felt, 'He's saying all of this about me .' I was walking around frightened that I was gonna die and no one had ever heard of me. To give your life to one thing and then have no one even know that I did it, that was a pall that hung over me. That was inspiring sadness that was going into my songs. - Bettye LaVette

This is the first record contract I've had that was based strictly on me, on my live show. They just saw me as somebody who did a good show, and then they didn't inhibit me in choosing the songs. - Bettye LaVette

I went to Joe Henry's house before we went to the studio and sat there on his floor and sang the songs to him and said, 'This is how I'm going to sing them,' and I think he was a little surprised. - Bettye LaVette

I wasn't an oldie-but-goodie. I was an old failure. Now it feels like everything's about to start. - Bettye LaVette

I thought these songs were constructed very well. All the lyrics were very strong. I won't sing things that I wouldn't say in conversation, or things that wouldn't be believable. - Bettye LaVette

I haven't been given the lack of arrogance, which would make me act like a 60-year-old. When they came to rescue me, I was intact. - Bettye LaVette

Having been able to learn my craft in these past 40 years, I've often said if my career had worked as I planned it, I wouldn't have had the opportunity to know as much about my voice and my craft as I do now. It enabled me to choose such a diverse group of songs and be able to sing them all. Heck, just being able to still get into a size 6, wear 4-inch heels, and do an hour-and-a-half show is great. - Bettye LaVette

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