This album right here? One of the all-time best--BEST--live albums ever. I'm not sure other popular music aficionados or scholars share the same sentiment with me but that's what sets this blog apart from most. I feel it is my duty to introduce you, dear reader/music lover, to albums that may be all but lost in the great American epoch of popular song.

A little bit about Ms. B: at age 15 she had her first hit with "Girls Can't Do What Guys Do," a song another Miss B. or rather Queen Bey would sample on her second album "B'Day" in the song "Upgrade U." At 17, Ms. Betty broke out with the classic "Clean Up Woman" a Gem Of A Jam so rockin' no one can "clean up" quite like the one B. Wright! Betty released 7 albums from 1972 through 1979, had hits on the charts, and even picked up a Grammy for Best R&B Song for "Where Is The Love" (included as the last song on this set). Today, she is an active producer behind the music scenes, mentoring none other than Joss Stone and producing her first 2 albums, "The Soul Sessions" and "Mind Body & Soul." She also mentored another of my favorite contemporary artists, Diane Birch, singing backing vocals on her album "Bible Belt." Additionally Ms. Wright sings the hook on the Lil' Wayne song "Playing With Fire" and Angie Stone's "Baby." Though I will eventually blog about other Gem Of A Jam albums of Betty W., I must single out "Betty Wright Live" as my personal favorite.

Recorded and released in 1978 (another great year for music, I'll argue!) 'Live' is 44 minutes start to finish of unabashed 70s soul and funk that will have your hips swaying, your hands clapping and your passions feeling like makin' love! Available on iTunes and out of print on CD, you'd be lucky to stumble on an original vinyl pressing of this Gem.

Get up off your ass because kicking off the album is Betty's version of the Brainstorm hit "Lovin' Is Really My Game." I adore Brainstorm, but Betty Wright absolutely slays this song--so much so that I initially thought she was the originator. Opening with an almost tribal kick drum and punctuated horns, then slamming down into a snared/disco high-hat frenzy, Betty comes in screaming "I can't catch no man, hangin' out at a discotheque, but I believe in the boogie, but the boogie don't believe in me..." Whew! This song is the anthem to get the butts out of the seats and onto the dance floor!

The most famous track from this album is one played consistently on R&B radio stations today, although it is truncated from its 8:19 running time to somewhere around 5 minutes. This track is "Tonight Is The Night" which has Ms. Wright telling us about "making love for the very first time." One of my absolute favorites on the album, I find myself reciting the entire monologue in the exact same phrasing and cadence as Betty herself. Discussing how she came up with the idea for the song, Betty talks about playing it for her mother who says to Betty "I like the music, you know baby, the melody, it's really nice, BUT I KNOW YOU'RE NOT GONNA SING THAT SONG!" to which Betty says "But we eased it right on by her, yes we did..." The bass line to this groove is so memorable, not only will it be stuck in your head, just try and keep your hips from swaying to and fro. So memorable is the bass line in fact, you may have heard it on a more recent(ish) song called "I Wanna Sex You Up" by the early 90s group Color Me Badd (street cred notched up with that extra 'd'). Firstly the 'Sex You' is a hodgepodge of about four different existing songs rolled into one. But the most obvious basis of the song is the bass riff from--you guessed it--Ms. B. Wright's "Tonight Is The Night." And Ms. B said "I know you're not gonna sing [my] song" to the group and slapped them with a lawsuit... and won. Betty was awarded 35% of the royalties for the song. That's what happens when you don't ask permission to sample someone else's composition!

A contemporary standard in its own right, "Betty Wright Live" is yet another '70s album to cover Leon Russell's "A Song For You" mentioned previously in the post about Merry Clayton. This is one of my favorite versions of this classic. I just love the breakdown in the middle of this jam; it's really kind of unlike any other version of this song. Betty's gospel growl into a crystalline high note sends chills down my spine! I also find it fascinating that on the line "I've acted out my life in stages..." she changed the "in" to "on."

I have saved my absolute favorite track on this album for last. Clocking in at 11:55, the live version here of her mega-hit "Clean Up Woman" is the best of the best of the best! In this version, Betty created one of the greatest mashups ever of popular songs and artists of the day. She's even a helluva mimic, and slips into the voices of each of the artists she references. Her Al Green is spot on! The album is worth this song alone! The song is credited as follows on the back album cover:

"Clean Up Woman Medley"

"Clean Up Woman"
"Pillow Talk" by Sylvia
"You Got The Love" by Rufus Feat. Chaka Khan
"Mr. Melody" by Natalie Cole
"Midnight At The Oasis" by Maria Muldaur
"Me And Mrs. Jones" by Billy Paul
"You Are My Sunshine" by The O'Jays
"Let's Get Married Today" by Al Green

I can't say enough supreme things about this Gem Of A Jam album. Sometimes I feel like there are so many heralded live albums by much more popular artists, but this one should be placed on the mantle next to the others. It may not be incredibly ground breaking, but one thing is for sure, it sounds like Betty gives you her heart, soul, vocal, and music right there in your living room. Below is the concert video of Betty at age 59 killing it at the North Sea Jazz Festival in 2012. She is a better live performer than most of the tone-deaf children out there today... (Rihanna, anyone? Britney Spears? All READ). Just give Betty a band and a microphone and she'll take care of the rest. She is after all, the "Clean Up Woman."