Bettye Lavette - Surrender

Miss B. sings the Ashford and Simson classic that they originally wrote for Diana Ross, and totally, overwhelmingly, makes it her own. Although she was indeed signed to Motown, and therefore was an obvious contender to become a part of Motorcity, the sassy Miss B. was far more well known for her work prior to Motown, on Atlantic, Calla, Big Wheel, West End, Atco, and on so many other labels. I adore her voice. Amy Winehouse has just made a major pop career by sounding like Bettye Lavette. Not only did Bettye sound fabulous, and still does, but she was drop dead gorgeous too, as her pictures will attest. She was a privilege to have on Motorcity, and to record more than an album's worth of material with her, and, in fact, only recently, her old Motorcity recording of "Right Out Of Time" has just gone massive with a brand new version that we cut, a version that's attracted all the acclaim that the original production never had, and even got played on Radio Two. Bettye's biggest ever hit was "Let Me Down Easy", a record on the Calla label that the late Dave Godin revered as if it were a religious experience. We were fortunate enough in Detroit in 1990 to not only re-record it, but to shoot some wonderful footage of the lady singing her heart and soul out like no one else can. At the same time, we cut this, along with loads of other wonderful performances, in Sylvia Moy's Masterpiece Studios.