Bettye LaVette celebrates 50 years with new album 'Thankful N' Thoughtful'

Celebrates 50 Years in Music

New Album: "Thankful N' Thoughtful"
UK Release Date: Monday 1st October 2012

December 2012 European Tour Announced

R&B legend Bettye LaVette is set to mark her 50th anniversary in the music world with the upcoming release of her new album, Thankful N’ Thoughtful, released by ANTI-Records in the UK on Monday 1st October.

Produced by Craig Street (Norah Jones, Joe Henry, k.d. lang, Meshell Ndegeocello, John Legend, Charlie Sexton, etc.), Thankful N’ Thoughtful features a selection of contemporary tracks written and previously recorded by Bob Dylan, The Black Keys, Tom Waits, Neil Young, Patty Griffin, Gnarls Barkley and others.

Bettye consumes the songs in their entirety, rearranges them deep within her soul and exorcises them as her own, through her voice filled with longing, rage, desire, despair, survival and victory.

Bettye’s voice is rough, tender, and sensuous. Her voice is her instrument of inspiration; her dynamic power seethes throughout each song, wringing out the pathos, sharing her hard earned wisdom and story throughout these tales of her reinvention.

Bettye will support the European release of the album with a string of concerts in the UK and Europe during December 2012. She will perform one date in the UK only at the London’s JazzCafe.

JazzCafe, London
Tuesday 11th December 2012
Tickets from: £22.50 / Doors 19:00
Table Reservations: 0207 688 8899
Ticketmaster: 0844 847 2514, See Tickets: 0870 0603 777
HMV Tickets: 0843 221 0100, JazzCafe Box Office: 0207 485 6834
Email: boxoffice@jazzcafe.co.uk / www.jazzcafe.co.uk
JazzCafe, 5, Parkway, Camden Town, London, NW1 7PG

Thankful N’ Thoughtful opens with the funk injected Bob Dylan cut Everything Is Broken and when Bettye moans and howls the title refrain you have no doubt as to the trouble she’s seen.

On Gnarls Barkley’s Crazy, she slows it down just a bit, then wrings every drop of sweat and blood from each and every syllable till your spine tingles, with Dirty Old Town (The Pogues/Rod Stewart), Bettye reworks the lyrical setting to Detroit - singing about her first love at Northern High and the Detroit race riots.

When she takes on The Black Keys’ I’m Not The One, the sensual grit of the song sizzles with her all-knowing rasp. “I’m Not the One” is now available at all digital outlets and the video can be seen below.

Bettye LaVette sings The Black Keys' "I'm Not The One"

Every song here is a testament to her life and her unrivaled skill for interpretation. By the time Bettye’s finished recording a track, she has fully inhabited the body and soul of the song. From Neil Young’s Everybody Knows This is Nowhere, to Savoy Brown’s I’m Tired to the title track Thankful N’ Thoughtful, a lesser known gem by Sly & The Family Stone, Bettye expels every word with such visceral passion, you can feel her in the present moment.

From my ankle to the top of my head
I’ve taken many chances, Lord
And I could have been dead
I started climbing from the bottom
All the way to the top
Before I knew it I was up there
Ya’ll can believe it or not
And that’s why I’m so thankful
Lord and I’m thoughtful
I think about it all the time
I’m trying to tell ya that I’m thankful
And I’m thoughtful”

Bettye LaVette - Thankful N' Thoughtful

Track Listing

1. Everything is Broken (Bob Dylan)
2. I’m Not the One (Daniel Auerbach/Patrick Carney)
3. Dirty Old Town (Ewan MacColl)
4. The More I Search (The More I Die) (Kim McLean)
5. I’m Tired (Chris Youlden)
6. Crazy (Brian Burton/Thomas Callaway/Gian Piero Reverberi/Gian Franco Reverberi)
7. Yesterday Is Here (Tom Waits)
8. Thankful N’ Thoughtful (Sly & The Family Stone)
9. Fair Enough (Beth Nielsen Chapman)
10. Time Will Do the Talking (Patty Griffin)
11. Everybody Knows This is Nowhere (Neil Young)
12. Dirty Old Town (slow version)

Musicians

Bettye LaVette – vocals
Chris Bruce - guitars
Jonathan Wilson - guitars, banjo
Glenn Patscha - piano, keys, backing vocals on "Crazy"
Jennifer Condos - bass
JJ Johnson - drums, percussion
Steven Bernstein - brass on "Yesterday Is Here"
Douglas Wieselman - reeds on "Yesterday Is Here"

Bettye LaVette - UK/European Tour Dates 2012

05 Dec – Paris (FR) - The Alhambra
07 Dec – Bordeaux (FR) - Casino de Bordeaux
08 Dec - Conflans-Saint-Honorine (FR) - Theatre Simone Signoret
09 Dec – Lille (FR) - Casino de Lille
11 Dec – London (UK) – London JazzCafe
14 Dec – Leuven (BE) - Depot
16 Dec – Amsterdam (NL) – MC Theater
17 Dec – Utrecht, (NL) – Tivoli Oudegracht

Bettye LaVette Web Links

Betty LaVette - Official Website
www.bettyelavette.com

Betty LaVette - Official Facebook
www.facebook.com/bettyelavette

Betty LaVette - Official Twitter
https://twitter.com/BettyeLaVette

Betty LaVette - ANTI-Records Page
www.anti.com

Bettye’s explosive autobiography, A Woman Like Me, will be available from Amazon and iBooks on 27th September 2012