Bettye LaVette Recent News

Bettye LaVette Bridges The Atlantic With New CD 'Interpretations: The British Rock Songbook'

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 00:02:00 -0800

BETTYE LAVETTE brings the British Invasion home to its American R&B roots on her latest CD, INTERPRETATIONS: THE BRITISH ROCK SONGBOOK, due May 25 on Anti-. While BETTYE’s Grammy-nominated 2007 disc The Scene Of The Crime went to the source to find triumph over her own anguish, INTERPRETATIONS looks to the past this time for inspiration and uncovers common ancestry in seemingly divergent musical paths.

Produced by BETTYE, Rob Mathes and Michael Stevens, the album is a 13-song journey through compositions by the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd among others, before concluding right where the very idea for INTERPRETATIONS started: BETTYE’s visceral show-stopping rendition of The Who’s “Love Reign O’er Me” from the 2008 Kennedy Center Honors, which appears here as a bonus track.

That performance – which first brought BETTYE together with Stevens (the event’s producer) and Mathes (its musical director) – served notice that BETTYE is no mere singer. As an extraordinary interpreter of song, she doesn’t merely mold a piece of music to suit her tastes; she is a conjurer of deep, emotional truths:

“Bettye LaVette punched a hole right through her version of Pete Townshend’s ‘Love Reign O’er Me,’ letting all the song’s emotion pour out in a way that its creators never conceived,” observed the New York Daily News. Townshend himself came up to Bettye after her performance, took her hands into his and said, “You made me weep.”

Throughout INTERPRETATIONS, her performances are a revelation not just of raw emotion, but of the inexorable ties between British rock ‘n’ roll and the American blues and R&B, which when combined, catalyzed popular music. That Lennon, McCartney, and so many others who crossed the Atlantic in their wake, were deeply influenced by American music is no great secret. What BETTYE demonstrates here so convincingly is the degree to which rock ‘n’ roll and American soul remain bound by bloodlines.

The Beatles’ pre-psychedelic Rubber Soul classic “The Word” takes on an almost religious fervor, while Paul McCartney’s “Maybe I’m Amazed” is transformed from a majestic pop song into a stark, almost desperate expression of devotion. Profound alienation becomes intense longing on Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here,” and the wistful naiveté of The Moody Blues’ “Nights in White Satin” matures into a deep and unshakeable lament. BETTYE inhabits these songs, revitalizes them and exposes the humanity that makes these 13 tracks not just pop songs, but enduring works of art.

Such mastery hardly comes as a surprise to at least one legend featured here. Elton John (whose “Talking Old Soldiers” appeared on The Scene Of The Crime) offers this endorsement of BETTYE’s impassioned take on “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me”:

“Bettye LaVette has always been a wonderful singer – I have been a huge fan for many years. To my delight and surprise she recorded an amazing version of ‘Talking Old Soldiers’ – a song that nobody else has covered – and made it her own.

“Now she has recorded ‘Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me’ and has done exactly the same – but this time with a much more familiar song. I am truly touched by her picking these songs and can only hope that this album brings more attention to this incredible artist.”

The full track listing for INTERPRETATIONS: THE BRITISH ROCK SONGBOOK is as follows:

1. The Word (John Lennon/Paul McCartney)
2. No Time To Live (James Capaldi/Stephen Winwood)
3. Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood (Bennie Benjamin/Gloria Caldwell/Sol Marcus)
4. All My Love (John Baldwin/Robert Plant)
5. Isn’t It A Pity (George Harrison)
6. Wish You Were Here (David Gilmour/Roger Waters)
7. It Don’t Come Easy (Richard Starkey)
8. Maybe I’m Amazed (Paul McCartney)
9. Salt Of The Earth (Michael Jagger/Keith Richards)
10. Nights In White Satin (David Hayward)
11. Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad (Eric Clapton/Bobby Whitlock)
12. Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me (Elton John/Bernard Taupin)
13. Love Reign O’er Me (Peter Townshend) [BONUS TRACK]

Booker T. & The Drive By Truckers with Bettye LaVette Live From The Artists Den

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 00:02:00 -0800

Hulu is currently featuring Booker T. & The Drive By Truckers with Bettye Lavette performing Live From The Artists Den. Watch the performance below!

Bettye LaVette's 'A Change Is Gonna Come Sessions' Now Available On All Digital Services

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 00:08:00 -0700

Venerated soul songstress Bettye LaVette’s triumphant new six-song EP “A Change Is Gonna Come Sessions,” previously an iTunes exclusive is now available from all digital services. It’s been a year of much deserved acclaim for LaVette. There was a night at the Kennedy Center Honors where her heartrending interpretation of The Who’s “‘Love Reign O’er Me’ left Pete Townshend noticeably moved and Foo Fighter Dave Grohl remarking: “She was so phenomenal, this performance of The Who song that she did. It will bring you to tears… it was just unbelievable.” LaVette followed with a startling version of Sam Cooke’s soaring anthem “A Change Is Gonna Come” in a duet with Jon Bon Jovi at the Obama presidential celebration which had Newsday calling it the historic event’s “first amazing moment.’”

It culminated with the June release of LaVette’s celebrated “A Change Is Gonna Come Sessions” EP featuring a solo version of the title track as well as rousing interpretations of classics by Thelonious Monk, Billy Strayhorn, Bill Withers, Jimmy Reed, Billy Holiday, Sam Cooke. Backing Lavette on the record is a stellar ensemble featuring her pianist and musical director Al Hill, veteran bassist John Heard – who has accompanied such legends as Count Basie, Cole Porter, Ella Fitzgerald, and Art Pepper – drummer Danny Frankel (k.d. lang, Lou Reed), and Tom Hagerman of DeVotchKa providing strings. The result is soul music in the most literal sense, six stirring performances that demonstrate just why LaVette, after so many years, is a star definitely on the rise.

Critical Praise For “A Change Is Gonna Come Sessions”

“**** out of 4 stars…It’s been a long time coming as well for LaVette, who spent most of her 40-plus year career in painful obscurity until just recently. What an absolute thrill to see her finally gain the long overdue recognition she so richly deserves.” - Detroit Free Press

"There's no one more soulful than Bettye LaVette…Bettye makes great music now because of her obstacles. She has a fire in her belly and a passion that was never squashed over the years...you just hear it and feel it in everything she sings." - Peter Grumbine on CNN

“[Bettye] breaks songs down to their narrative essence…LaVette has the uncanny knack of making you consider anew lyrics that you’ve heard hundreds of times.” - Creative Loafing

“She comes damn close to making you forget Cooke’s original 1964 version…She makes anything she sings sound new!” - Blurt-Online

Bettye LaVette Releases "Change Is Gonna Come Sessions" EP Exclusively On iTunes

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 00:06:00 -0700

BETTYE LaVETTE is releasing her new EP, titled Change is Gonna Come Sessions, exclusively available on iTunes tomorrow June 16. The following week on June 24, Bettye will be performing the title track from that new EP on the “Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.” The last time Bettye was seen performing the Sam Cooke classic was to an astonished worldwide television audience on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial at President Obama’s “We Are One” inaugural celebration.

According to a review of the EP in the Detroit Free Press: “LaVette’s ‘Change is Gonna Come Sessions’ (**** out of four stars on Anti) features a new studio version of the song, plus smoky and subtle versions of jazz standards ‘God Bless the Child,’ ‘Lush Life and ‘Round Midnight.’ ‘God Bless the Child’ has particular significance to LaVette, who used to sing the tune as part of the touring company of ‘Bubbling Brown Sugar,’ where she appeared alongside legendary Cab Calloway.”

Martin Bandyke continues in his review: “On the night he was elected president, Obama referred to Cooke’s civil rights anthem when he said, ‘It’s been a long time coming, but tonight, change has come to America.’ It’s been a long time coming as well for LaVette…What an absolute thrill to see her finally gain the long-overdue recognition she so richly deserves.”

Meanwhile, Bettye has been on the road for most of this year and will continue through the fall. During her time off in between dates, Bettye will begin recording a new CD to be released later this year. Of her performance last week in Minneapolis, Jon Bream of the Star Tribune proclaimed: “She remains the most deeply emotional and physically emotive R&B singer on the planet. When she sings, she gets in touch with the deep recesses of her psyche and soul. Imagine Otis Redding’s pleading style of Southern R&B rendered with Tina Turner’s leathery lungs, delivered with more emotion than Janis Joplin could summon.” You can find her tour dates at www.bettyelavette.com

You can find her EP on ITunes HERE!

Bettye LaVette to Release 6-song Digital EP Including Recorded Version of "A Change is Gonna Come"

Mon, 11 May 2009 00:05:00 -0700

BETTYE LaVETTE FOLLOWS HER PERFORMANCE AT OBAMA'S INAUGURAL FESTIVITES WITH HER OWN RECORDED VERSION OF SAM COOKE'S 'A CHANGE IS GONNA COME'

GRAMMY-NOMINATED SINGER'S iTUNES EXCLUSIVE 6- SONG DIGITAL EP
'A CHANGE IS GONNA COME SESSIONS' AVAILABLE JUNE 16

Having conquered the ghosts of a hard-luck past on her GRAMMY-nominated CD The Scene of the Crime, BETTYE LAVETTE shines a new light on that past with her latest, A CHANGE IS GONNA COME SESSIONS. The digital-only EP for Anti- Records, available exclusively through iTunes starting June 16, revisits BETTYE's forgotten post-Atlantic Records years as a nightclub singer, Broadway performer, and touring cast member opposite Cab Calloway in "Bubbling Brown Sugar."

The EP opens with a stirring solo version of Sam Cooke's posthumous Civil Rights anthem "A Change Is Gonna Come," a song which BETTYE sang with Jon Bon Jovi in January as part of the "We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial" concert. Joining BETTYE for these Sessions are pianist and musical director Al Hill, veteran bassist John Heard – who has accompanied such luminaries as Count Basie, Cole Porter, Ella Fitzgerald, and Art Pepper – drummer Danny Frankel (k.d. lang, Lou Reed), and Tom Hagerman from DeVotchKa on strings.

A mix of standards and soul classics from BETTYE's 1970s stage and nightclub repertoire rounds out the 6-song set, including songs by Thelonious Monk, Duke Ellington, Bill Withers, and Jimmy Reed. A rendition of Billie Holiday's "God Bless The Child" – a song that BETTYE first performed with show-stopping magnificence in "Bubbling Brown Sugar" – highlights BETTYE's vocal mastery. Rather than attack, BETTYE approaches these tracks with subtlety – while nonetheless wresting every ounce and every nuance of meaning from the words she sings. Once more, BETTYE provides the definitive answer to the question posed by NPR in its review of The Scene of the Crime: "Is there any soul singer who brings more guts, more conviction and more emotion to her singing?" Absolutely not.

This nod to the past is just the latest step in a nearly five-decade career that has truly come full circle and is now pointed straight ahead: from early promise to a masterwork (Child of the Seventies) shelved by Atlantic Records; from Broadway to obscurity; from a triumphant return with her 2005 Anti- debut I've Got My Own Hell To Raise, to a GRAMMY nomination for The Scene of the Crime; and most recently her devastating performances honoring The Who at the Kennedy Center Honors in December 2008, paired with Jon Bon Jovi at the Lincoln Memorial for President Obama's inaugural celebration in January, and alongside Sir Paul McCartney at a Radio City Music Hall benefit for the David Lynch Foundation in April.

The Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl raved about BETTYE's performance at the Kennedy Center Honors on Air America radio, saying, "Bettye LaVette…She is gonna steal the show. She was so phenomenal, this performance of The Who song that she did. It will bring you to tears. The room was pin-drop silent when she did this song, and it was just unbelievable."

The Who's own Pete Townshend concurred in a Q&A on his blog at TheWho.com: "My favorite moment was when Bettye LaVette sang a very fine version of 'Love Reign O'er Me' at the Gala and Barbra Streisand turned to ask me if I really wrote it."
Meanwhile, her duet of "A Change Is Gonna Come" with Jon Bon Jovi was a transcendent moment in BETTYE's career. As BETTYE told the Dallas Morning News, "When I got to the line 'I always believed a change would come,' my eyes fixed on [Obama] and I was kinda stunned. Our eyes locked and he was mouthing the words along."

As Phil Gallo noted in Daily Variety, "Bettye Lavette, who took D.C. by storm last month at the Kennedy Center Honors, was partnered with Jon Bon Jovi on Sam Cooke's 'A Change Is Gonna Come.' She invested it with anguish, he approached it from a perspective of reasoned logic, giving the [performance] considerable gravitas."
Indeed, BETTYE is no stranger to such praise in this new dawn of her career, as the acclaim for The Scene of the Crime demonstrated. "Is there a more wrenching soul singer alive than Bettye LaVette?" asked Entertainment Weekly. "If so, keep it to yourself, because I'm too wrung out from Crime's intensity to take anything more emotionally potent." USA Today proclaimed, "This album…just rips, with some truly sublime peaks," while Rolling Stone added, "LaVette's nuanced singing evokes prime Tina Turner with even more command."

The track listing for BETTYE's iTunes exclusive A CHANGE IS GONNA COME SESSIONS is as follows:

1. "A Change Is Gonna Come" (Sam Cooke)
2. "'Round Midnight" (Thelonious Monk)
3. "God Bless The Child" (Billie Holiday / Arthur Herzog)
4. "Lush Life" (Billy Strayhorn)
5. "Ain't No Sunshine" (Bill Withers)
6. "Ain't That Lovin' You" (Jimmy Reed)

BETTYE LaVETTE MAKES HER TONIGHT SHOW DEBUT ON MARCH 3

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 00:02:00 -0800

PERFORMS A SPECIAL INTIMATE
SHOW WITH HER PIANIST AT JOE'S PUB ON MARCH 8
AND PLAYS WITH HER BAND IN DC ON MARCH 9
AT THE 9:30 CLUB

BETTYE LaVETTE will be making her Tonight Show debut on Tuesday, March 3 performing the lead track "I Still Want to be Your Baby (Take Me Like I Am)" from her Grammy-nominated CD, The Scene of the Crime. Later that week on March 8, Bettye will be making a rare performance with her pianist at Joe's Pub, singing material that she has never performed on stage previously, songs she hasn't sung for a very long time, as well as a few favorites. Bettye will be back in DC with her band on March 9 performing at the 9:30 Club.

All of this comes hot off the heels of her two earth shattering performances in the Capitol when she performed "Love Reign O'er Me" at the Kennedy Center Honors for the Who tribute and then again, when Bettye sang "A Change is Gonna Come" with Jon Bon Jovi at Obama's Inaugural Ceremony at the Lincoln Memorial just days before the new president was sworn in.

Since those stunning internationally televised performances in DC in December and January, Bettye has been highly touted in the press and had television audiences wondering where she'd been all of their lives. According to an interview with Bettye in the Dallas Morning News she says of her appearance at the Lincoln Memorial, "When I got to the line ‘I always believed a change would come,' my eyes fixed on him and I was kinda stunned. Our eyes locked and he was mouthing the words along." The paper went on to note: "For LaVette, it felt like the defining moment of a career that began when she was 16, when she recorded the hit single ‘My Man—He's a Lovin' Man.' That led to a tour with blues icons Clyde McPhatter, Ben E. King, Barbara Lynn and newcomer Otis Redding, but not much happened until 2005, when she recorded I've Got My Own Hell to Raise." Her Anti- Records follow up, Scene of the Crime went on to win a Grammy nomination. Bettye may have taken the long and winding road to get where she is now, but the destination has been well worth it.

ANTI- RECORDS ARTISTS REFLECT ON BLACK HISTORY MONTH

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 00:02:00 -0800

Today, ANTI- Record's blog posted a wonderful piece written by Booker T. Jones, reflecting on the meaning of Black History Month in this historic year. With a long history of living outside racial boundaries - Booker T. and the MGs had both black and white members at a time when much of the country was integrating only under the protection of the National Guard - Booker T.'s was the perfect voice to bring attention to Black History Month on the Anti blog.

For the month of February, the Anti blog will feature weekly musing on being black in America in 2009 written by ANTI- Records' African American recording artists in honor of Black History Month. Bettye LaVette writes about this momentous Presidency, Mavis Staples ponders the power of music to both heal and communicate and Solillaquists of Sound's Swamburger talks of his experiences as a black male, a black artist.

In his piece, Booker T. writes: "In September '08, weeks before the election, while walking in Washington DC with my wife Nan, I was struck with an awareness I had never had before. It was as though I knew, with an unreal sense of certainty, of a real estate transaction that was about to transpire. And I was walking on that very piece of real estate. We were walking from the Lincoln Memorial towards the Capitol Building on the Mall... on this same soil, I was walking, and remembering hymns written by Mrs. Lucy Campbell, and sung by the likes of Mahalia Jackson and Martin Luther King, that said this too shall pass. I, a black male, was walking un-accosted, with my wife, who has white skin. And so, I knew, true to the dreams and instructions of the white men who wrote that inspired document that got us started, anything was possible."

Read the rest of Booker T.'s insightful and hopeful essay and check back weekly for new entries at the ANTI- label blog.

BETTYE LaVETTE RECEIVES UNIVERSAL PRAISE FOR SUNDAY'S LINCOLN MEMORIAL PERFORMANCE

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 00:01:00 -0800

INCLUDING: JON BON JOVI ON OPRAH, THE UTNE READER, VARIETY, NEWSDAY AND MANY MORE

BETTYE LaVETTE once again pulled out all the stops and put on a staggering performance of Same Cooke's "A Change is Gonna Come" in a duet with Jon Bon Jovi on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. This marks the second time in the past two months she has been in the capitol making an indelible impression with the powers that be and distinctly shined through it all. The first was at the Kennedy Center Honors when she slayed the crowd with her own very unique version of the Who's "Love Reign O'er Me."

"'Music has always been the creative heartbeat of the American experience,'" Denzel Washington said at the Lincoln Memorial during Sunday's opening ceremony, noted The Philadelphia Inquirer. "That truism was brought vividly to life this week. Bettye LaVette turned in a soul searing performance at the memorial of Sam Cooke's civil-rights-era classic 'A Change Is Gonna Come.'"

Of singing for Obama, Bettye said in Tina Brown's Daily Beast: "In the middle of the song I turned and looked and Obama was on the stage, the whole group of them, and my eyes were just fixed on him for a moment. I was singing the line 'I always believed that a change would come,' and just as I turned, our eyes locked and he was mouthing the words along."

Bettye recounted her other most meaningful moments of the day in the Detroit Free Press, where Bettye proclaimed: "Do you know I just hugged, kissed and sung for the president of the United States? For the second time in six weeks?" And in another section of the paper, she revealed: "I got a chance to talk to them. He (Obama) held me and he said, 'I appreciated you singing for me so much and I really loved the song.'"

Meanwhile, Jon Bon Jovi was on Oprah yesterday (1/21) showing photos he had taken during all the inaugural festivities. While Oprah was holding a photo of Bettye and Jon, he exclaimed, "That's Bettye LaVette who sang with me "A Change is Gonna Come." Talk about a lady who's lived the lyric of a song—looking into her eyes was almost as magical as looking out at the 400,000 people I was singing to. It was pretty special." (You can see the photo here.)

Elsewhere, Daily Variety declared: "Bettye LaVette, who took D.C. by storm last month at the Kennedy Center Honors, was partnered with Jon Bon Jovi on Sam Cook's 'A Change Is Gonna Come.' She invested it with anguish, while he approached it from a perspective of reasoned logic, giving the perf considerable gravitas"; while The Baltimore Sun remarked: "The under-rated blues-soul great Bettye LaVette—whose wrenching, scarred approach to everything she sings—was…paired with Jon Bon Jovi for Same Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come."

Utne Reader had the best headline of the event: "Bettye LaVette and the Soul of Barack Obama." The item went on to predict, "I think her performance might be the Barackathon's emotional showstopper." And even the sports world took notice. Former NFL running back for the San Francisco 49ers confessed to the San Francisco Chronicle: "Oh…when Bon Jovi and Bettye LaVette sang Sam Cooke's stirring civil-rights song, 'A Change Is Gonna Come,' on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on Sunday? I cried like a baby."

According to Newsday: "The great Bettye LaVette brings the first amazing moment of 'We Are One' as she fills 'A Change Is Gonna Come' with fire, dueting with Jon Bon Jovi. They even rewrite the final chorus to say 'Change has come.'"

"It was truly the most wonderful experience and highlight of my life," Bettye whispered with all the sincerity and humility in her soul.

You can see and hear her duet with Jon Bon Jovi from Barack Obama's Inaugural Event at the Lincoln Memorial here.

Additionally, NPR's "Fresh Air" is going to re-air and update their interview with Bettye for tomorrow's broadcast (1/23).

Bettye LaVette to Perform at Obama’s Inaugural Celebration Jan 18

Thu, 15 Jan 2009 00:01:00 -0800

BETTYE LaVETTE is starting off 2009 with a bang by performing Sam Cooke's revered anthem "A Change Is Gonna Come" at Barack Obama's Inaugural Celebration kicking off at the Lincoln Memorial on Sunday, January 18. A partial list of additional musical performers includes, Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, Sheryl Crow, Herbie Hancock, John Legend, Usher Raymond IV, Pete Seeger, Bruce Springsteen, James Taylor, U2 and Stevie Wonder. Among those reading historical passages will be Jack Black, Steve Carrell, Rosario Dawson, Jamie Foxx, Tom Hanks, Martin Luther King III, Queen Latifah, Laura Linney and Denzel Washington.

At the moment, "Bettye is speechless."

HBO will televise the event on an open channel (Sunday, January 18 live at 2:30pm ET and 11:30am PT and later from 7-9pm ET/PT), working with all of its distributors to allow Americans across the country with access to cable, telcos or satellite television to join in the Opening Celebration for free. It will also be streamed live on www.hbo.com. Since the actual event is free and open to the public, more than 800,000 are expected in the audience.

LaVETTE has been on a roll since her 2005 release on Anti- Records, My Own Hell to Raise which brought her back into the national spotlight, 43 years after her first single "My Man is a Loving Man," was released in 1962 when she was a teen. This roll only gathered more strength and critical acclaim when Anti- issued her second CD for the label in 2007, the Grammy nominated, The Scene of the Crime.

Just this past December LaVETTE proved to give the powerhouse performance of the evening at the Kennedy Center Honors when she sang her unparalleled version of "Love Reign O'er Me" as part of the Who tribute.

The Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl recently described his first encounter with BETTYE's rendition of the song to Air America's Richard Greene: "We showed up for rehearsal, and one of the performers was rehearsing the song for the Who segment. It was a woman named Bettye LaVette…She is gonna steal the show. She was so phenomenal, this performance of The Who song that she did. It will bring you to tears. The room was pin-drop silent when she did this song, and it was just unbelievable."

The Who's Pete Townshend himself agrees. In a Q&A on his blog at TheWho.com, the legendary axe-slinger said, "My favorite moment was when Bettye LaVette sang a very fine version of 'Love Reign O'er Me' at the Gala and Barbra Streisand turned to ask me if I really wrote it."

You can watch her spectacular performance here

Meanwhile BETTYE, the reigning "Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year," is once again nominated in that category for the Blues Foundation's 2009 Blues Music Awards.

BETTYE LAVETTE STEALS THE SHOW AT THE KENNEDY CENTER HONORS

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 00:12:00 -0800

BETTYE WOWS FELLOW ARTISTS INCLUDING DAVE GROHL AND HONOREE PETE TOWNSHEND; BETTYE NOMINATED FOR BLUES MUSIC AWARD FOR ‘CONTEMPORARY BLUES FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR'

BETTYE LAVETTE wasn't the biggest name on stage at the recent Kennedy Center Honors, but her typically gut-wrenching performance of The Who's "Love Reign O'er Me" provided one of the evening's most spectacular moments.

The Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl recently described his first encounter with BETTYE's rendition of the song to Air America's Richard Greene: "We showed up for rehearsal, and one of the performers was rehearsing the song for the Who segment. It was a woman named Bettye LaVette…She is gonna steal the show. She was so phenomenal, this performance of The Who song that she did. It will bring you to tears. The room was pin-drop silent when she did this song, and it was just unbelievable"

The Who's Pete Townshend himself agrees. In a Q&A on his blog at TheWho.com, the legendary axe-slinger said, "My favorite moment was when Bettye LaVette sang a very fine version of 'Love Reign O'er Me' at the Gala and Barbra Streisand turned to ask me if I really wrote it."

"The Kennedy Center Honors was the most exciting thing I have every done in my life, because there were so many of my favorite politicians there," says Bettye. "And this year has been the greatest year of my life. Who would have ever imagined both Barack and I going to the White House?"

Meanwhile BETTYE, the reigning "Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year," is once again nominated in that category for the Blues Foundation's 2009 Blues Music Awards.

BETTYE's most recent Grammy-nominated CD THE SCENE OF THE CRIME earned her praise across the board, from NPR, which asked "Is there any soul singer who brings more guts, more conviction and more emotion to her singing?" and Entertainment Weekly, which echoed, "Is there a more wrenching soul singer alive than Bettye LaVette? If so, keep it to yourself, because I'm too wrung out from Crime's intensity to take anything more emotionally potent," to USA Today (""This album…just rips, with some truly sublime peaks.") and Rolling Stone ("LaVette's nuanced singing evokes prime Tina Turner with even more command.").

Expect BETTYE to return to the studio in 2009. In the meantime, the Kennedy Center Honors - honoring The Who, George Jones, Barbra Streisand, Morgan Freeman, and Twyla Tharp - airs December 30 on CBS.