All your foolish lies....

I've said it before, I'll say it again. Betty Harris is one of the very few artists I've posted who actually owns the rights to some of her recordings. If you haven't already, ya'll really should consider buying one of the various comps of her work if you like what ya hear.

It's been my experience that this is a tough-ish record to find. I've bought both of the only two copies I've ever run into, this one just recently, at the Austin record convention. Of course, my experience is purely subjective, for all I know your local record shop may be chock full of copies, but it does say something that the record usually goes for decent bucks on Ebay when it pops up.

This is another of Harris' records on Sansu I find a little sonically disappointing. I'd like to think the problem is in the mastering or the pressing rather than the mix, but honestly, I don't know enough to say one way or the other. In short, the problem's not with my copy, this is actually a very nice one [that's why I bought]....as far as I know, they all sound this way.

I should also mention that this rip sounds slightly slower than what you'll hear on most comps. We checked the speed on the turntable with one of those graduated mat thingies and it reads correctly. It's fairly common that recordings are speeded up on comps to give them more "snap".

Hope ya'll enjoy....

Ignore me if you wanna..

A request from my friend Angel. Hope it makes her smile.....it's a very beautiful smile.

Truth is, I'm of two minds when it comes to posting anything by Betty Harris.....she is one of the very few artists, if not the only artist, I've posted who is still alive and actually owns the rights to some of her past work. Specifically the sides on the Sansu label.

Thus, ya'll really should go buy a copy of her Lost Soul Queen CD. I've bought at least four for friends....own one myself, even though I also own all the 45's.

It's a great collection....my only complaint is that it includes a song called, All I Want Is You, which isn't by Harris. The song was recorded by Zilla Mayes and issued on the Tou-Sea label [funny, how no one seems to catch that, the same mistake shows up on Charly's Selected Hits collection].

Hope ya enjoy the tune...and please go buy the CD, Betty deserves it.

There's no other man...

Is it possible to over-play Betty Harris? Hopefully I'll never find out.

I really don't understand why this record wasn't a hit. It gets played constantly in this house. So much so, that I try to pick up all the player copies I can just to spread the wear around.

This is another record which, as far I can tell, suffers from either a botched original recording or a lousy pressing. Harris' voice is distorted on every copy I've ever heard, something which makes even the cleanest 45 sound as though it's worn.

Not that I'm a such a stickler for clarity, but it would be nice if there were just a bit more sparkle to this yummy bit of ear candy.

Anyway, this one goes out to girlfriends Jolie and Amanda. They're my fellow [imaginary] back-up singers on this song. I'd post a clip of our routine, purely as a joke mind you...but I'm thinking the ensuing death threats might get annoying.

Enjoy

Just trying to get closer to you...

I've been trying to think of a low-key way to introduce Betty Harris to the blog. My concern being that she'll blow everything I've posted previously clean out of the water.

Here's the only side she recorded with Allen Toussaint that made it to the charts. Such a beautiful song.

Hope ya enjoy.