With one of her first singles turning into a national hit, 1962's "Let Me Down Easy", Detroit-raised LaVette would seem a natural soul star, but she was never able to cut an album deal. In 1972 her album A Child of the Seventies was shelved by Atlantic Records, then thought lost forever in a fire. She eked out a living on the European festival circuit, occasionally surfacing such as with the disco single "Doin' the Best that I Can"...
With the release of The Scene of the Crime, Bettye Lavette inches closer to the mainstream, or at least a much bigger cult following. Backed by The Drive-By Truckers and released on -Anti, The Scene of the Crime is recorded at the legendary FAME studios in Muscles Shoals, Alabama. The same place as her lost album. The connection doesn't end there - Patterson Hood of the Drive-by Truckers is the son of David Hood, who played on the 1972 album.
In 2009, she appeared at President Barack Obama's Inaugural Celebration, singing "A Change Is Gonna Come" with Jon Bon Jovi. It was televised globally.
Aretha Franklin 139
Etta James 74
Mavis Staples 20
Thelma Houston 16
Betty Everett 5
Candi Staton 23
Dee Dee Bridgewater 25
Gwen Mccrae 9
Laura Lee 3
Maxine Brown 4
Baby Washington 2
esther phillips 35
Melba Moore 24
Nina Simone 105
Patti Labelle 25
Fontella Bass 3
Mary Wilson 2
The Jewels 1
The War And Treaty 6
Thornetta Davis 3