BELLOWS FALLS — Rolling Stones lead guitarist Keith Richards is among hundreds of prominent music stars who recognize reigning soul diva, Bettye LaVette, as a unique talent.
“When you hear a voice like Bettye LaVette's, there's a freedom of movement and emotion, which is rare,” Richards says on LaVette's website. “Put me in the fan club!”
Kingdom County Productions and Vermont Festivals will present Grammy Award-nominated soul singer Bettye LaVette in an exclusive New England concert, Saturday, April 20, at 7:30 p.m., at the Bellows Falls Opera House.
Reserved seat tickets are now on sale at www.KingdomCounty.org or by calling 802-748-2600.
LaVette's site also quotes Minneapolis Star Tribune writer Jon Bream in praising the soul singer, asking audiences to “Imagine Otis Redding's pleading style, with Tina Turner's leathery lungs, delivered with more emotion than Janis Joplin.”
New York Times head music critic Jon Pareles is prominent in testimonials, adding “Classic soul singing doesn't get any better.”
A celebrated veteran of 40 years in the music business, LaVette combines her distinctive soul sound with strains of the blues, rock n' roll, funk, gospel, and country music.
She recorded her first R&B hit single, “My Man – He's a Lovin' Man” in 1962 at the age of 16 - and her second Top 40 hit, the 1965 single, “Let Me Down Easy,” is considered one of the greatest soul recordings of all time.
LaVette's talents were immediately recognized by Otis Redding, Ben E. King, James Brown, and others, who took her on the road.
During the late 1970s, she appeared alongside Honi Coles and Cab Calloway in the smash Broadway revue, “Bubbling Brown Sugar.” In 2005, LaVette was tapped to perform on the hit CD, “I've Got My Own Hell to Raise,” alongside other leading female singer-songwriters including Dolly Parton, Aimee Mann, Sinead O'Connor, Lucinda Williams, and Joan Armatrading.
Her eclectic style made it difficult for record companies to pigeonhole her-but she is finally reaping the musical accolades that she has always deserved, bringing down the house at the 2010 Kennedy Center tribute to The Who, with her spellbinding rendition of “Love Reign Over Me,” and likewise for LaVette's stunning take (with Jon Bon Jovi) on Sam Cooke's classic hit, “A Change is Gonna Come” at the 2009 Obama inaugural, and her 2010 appearance with Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr at Radio City Music Hall in April.
“Ms. LaVette is one of the greatest soul singers in American music history,” writes music scholar Rob Bowman, “possessed of an incredibly expressive voice that one moment will exude a formidable level of strength and intensity and the next will appear vulnerable, reflective, reeking of heartbreak.”