This article pairs best with the playlist below. Feel the funk as you listen to the provocative musical journey of Betty Davis and celebrate this trailblazing wonder of a woman!
Betty Davis, The Punk of Funk, was born Betty Mabry on July 26,1945 in Durham, North Carolina. Growing up, her grandmother would play selections from her vast collection of blues records which included powerhouse artists such as Big Mama Thornton, John Lee Hooker, Jimmy Reed, and B.B. King. Shortly after graduating high school, Betty left rural North Carolina for the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. While attending college, she frequented clubs in Greenwich Village and befriended iconic acts like Jimi Hendrix and Sly Stone. Betty recorded her first single titled “The Cellar” in 1964 and by 1967 she had earned her first writing credit on “Uptown (to Harlem)” for The Chamber Brothers’ debut album, The Time Has Come.
Later that same year, Betty met the world renowned Jazz Trumpeter, Miles Davis, after hearing him play at the historic jazz club, Village Gate. By September of 1968, they got married but the holy matrimony was short lived, only lasting a year. Miles later admitted in his autobiography that Betty was “Too young and wild” for him.
Following the split, Betty dove head first into pursuing her musical career, releasing 3 albums: Betty Davis(1973), They Say I’m Different(1974), and Nasty Gal (1975) in 3 years. The first album was produced by Greg Errico, the original drummer of Sly and The Family Stone , but Betty self-produced her two follow-up albums.
Ms.Davis hard-edged funk is unique in the way she used it to express her sexuality. In “Anti Love Song” from her debut album, She addresses a potential lover that she’d been avoiding. She acknowledges they would have chemistry, but knows that their relationship would be unhealthy, because he wouldn’t be able handle her. She says that she isn’t going to love him because she knows that he craves power, and that she would force him to check his pride. Likewise, he would cause her pain because she knows that their situation would be fleeting. In “He Was A Big Freak”, from her second album, Betty opens the song by telling listeners that she used to beat her man with a turquoise chain. Betty describes how she filled two contrasting roles in her man’s life. When she was “his woman” she was taking charge in the bedroom, acting as a dominatrix. When she was “his housewife”, she was submissive to him.
Now, it’s very common for us all to be desensitized by the popularity of hyper sexualized content in today’s media and this has resulted in the overwhelming majority of people missing how revolutionary her art was at the time it was being shared. Some of the chart topping records that competed with her at the time were "You Are the Sunshine of My Life" (Stevie Wonder), "Me and Mrs. Jones"(Billy Paul), and "Lovin' You"(Minnie Ripperton). Audiences weren’t accustomed to hearing an artist with Betty’s aggressive vocal style or her lyrical content.
In an interview with the New York Times, Betty spoke about the reactions that she would get from her audiences saying, “I used to make the guys uptight sometimes...the women were very receptive with me.” In 1974, The NAACP called for a boycott of black radio stations that played her music following the release of her song “Don't Call Her No Tramp”, claiming that her music was detrimental to the black community. This move stifled her record sales and played a part in diminishing what could have been a much longer career. Betty Davis left the public spotlight in the early 80's following her father’s death. Today she lives a relatively secluded and private life.
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