Sometimes one cup of coffee—or a whole pot—just won’t do and it takes an earthquake to get out of bed. For those days, there is Betty Davis.
Betty Mabry married Miles Davis in September 1968, less than two years after she met him, and took his name as his second wife. This simple act of holy union forever changed the music world. She introduced Miles to Sly Stone; she introduced Miles to Hendrix, with whom she was widely believed to be having an affair. These relationships helped to form the basis of Bitches Brew: one of the most important recordings of Miles’s career, and jazz history.
But as all things must take their course, Betty and Miles hit splitsville and Betty departed to the UK to resume her modeling career, where other things took hold of her.
She wrote music, with the intention of performing with Santana. But instead she assembled an all-star band with members of Graham Central Station, Sly & the Family Stone, and Santana’s band sitting in. Throw in the Pointers Sisters and Merl Saunders and you have one hell of a funk outfit. The result of this fantastic assembly: her first record, Betty Davis, and a statement to the world at large that shit is about to go down.
Betty hit her stride on They Say I’m Different, her second record. With allusions to her open sexual attitude, promiscuous past, and complicated relationship to Davis, it remains her most electric, sensual and provocative recording to date. The addition of ex-Hendrix guitarist Buddy Miles and a few other select line-up changes helped Davis to refine and refinish her sound, which began to border closely on perfection. “Shoo-B Doop and Cop Him”, the opening track on this record, burrows down into the funkiest part of your soul. “He Was a Big Freak” follows as the second track, eliminating all doubts and taking a firm hold over your mind, tracing its seam and preparing to split it wide open.
Combining elements of hard funk, glam and old-style P-Funk psychedelic freak, The Say I’m Different is the realization of a funk fusion that echoes back to the bridge Miles first created. Davis reaches deep and wide, ripping the roots and tearing pieces of everything from here to there and throws them in her cauldron, where they simmer into her own masterpiece. Take it from Davis herself: “I used to beat him with a turquoise chain.” This is one strong bitches brew.
