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August 3, 2007

New Bettye LaVette (Feat. Drive-By Truckers) - "You Don't Know Me At All" (Stereogum Premiere)

The swaggering 61-year-old Detroit soul singer Bettye LaVette has teamed with our favorite Southern rockers for her forthcoming album The Scene Of The Crime: 45 years after recording "My Man – He's A Lovin' Man" at the age of 16, a lifetime since her '65 single “Let Me Down Easy,” and 35 years after her official 1972 debut Child Of The Seventies was shelved by Atlantic before it hit the shelves, she's happily following-up her breakthrough 2005 collection I've Got My Own Hell To Raise, which had her reinterpreting material by 10 female artists, from Sinéad O'Connor, Fiona Apple, and Aimee Mann to Dolly Parton, Lucinda Williams, and Roseanne Cash.

On The Scene Of The Crime, the husky-voice LaVatte takes on everyone from Willie Nelson to internet abolitionist Elton John, imbuing even the stodgiest with soulful, jazz expressiveness. Hell, "You Don't Know Me At All" manages to make Don Henley ballsy, transforming the balladeering Karaoke fodder of "You Don't Know Me At All" into a defiant "fuck off." Helping fan the fire, Drive-By Truckers lend the perfect blues-rock backdrop -- here, and throughout the new record. Keyboardist Spooner Oldham and bassist David Hood (father of Truckers guitarist Patterson Hood) also lend instrumental assistance. David Hood's not on this track, but LaVatte and the Truckers most definitely are.

Bettye LaVette (Feat. Drive-By Truckers) - "You Don't Know Me At All" (MP3)

The Scene Of The Crime is out 09/25 on ANTI-.

 

[Yes we know Isbell's no longer a Trucker. Couldn't find a fitting photo without him! Plus ... ya know, memories.]

Posted at 2:50 PM in
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16 Comments

THIS is beautiful but I will miss Isbell

Posted by: Jon at 08/03/07 3:08 PM | Reply
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Enough with the black people! I though this was a music blog?

Posted by: Mrs. Featherbottom at 08/03/07 3:11 PM | Reply
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Loves it!
Featherbottom take your hate speech to perez hilton!!!

Posted by: Wallz at 08/03/07 3:42 PM | Reply
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Scott Lapatine or Amrit Singh,

It is my sincere plea that you do something about hate speech on your blog. Maybe it's just that I don't understand people's mentality here, but the comment above is the 4th instance of blatant hate speech I have encountered on this blog in two weeks. I don't know about you, but it's a bit alarming to me that anyone would find this tolerable in 2007. I believe in free speech just as much as the next person, but music is above all else about community. How are you supposed to foster a community of tolerance and understanding when you allow comments like the one above on your blog? I personally can't do anything about it, but it's disheartening that anyone who has the fortitude to find racism morally reprehensible has to put up with this. I'd really appreciate a response should you run across this post.

Thanks,
Ju Bean

Posted by: Ju Bean at 08/03/07 11:49 PM | Reply
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Hey Ju --
The intelligent commentary almost always outweighs the infrequent racist nonsense, but I agree it has become troublesome in the last few weeks. For now 'Gum remains an open forum, but hate speech is not something we condone. We are working on a solution. We are also open to suggestions, if anyone would prefer a moderated forum a la Gawker, for example...?

Posted by: scott at 08/03/07 11:59 PM | Reply
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Gawker doesn't moderate (i.e., delete any) comments as far as I'm aware. They don't automatically accept someone as a commenter, so commenters are aware that they can't just re-register if they are "executed" and thus, they behave.

Posted by: Lindsay Lohan at 08/04/07 12:07 AM | Reply
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Scott,

I guess it's a bit hard to suggest a moderated forum because 'Gum talks about a wide range of controversial subjects. But these subjects pop up so infrequently that maybe it is the way to go.

Is there any way to possibly open up this discussion in a post as you did with mp3 vs. streams?

Posted by: Ju Bean at 08/04/07 12:13 AM | Reply
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@ Lindsay Lohan

Gawker publishes only their favourite comments. Thus moderated.

Posted by: Paris Hilton at 08/04/07 1:04 AM | Reply
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Paris Hilton, you lying skank! I am a Gawker Media commenter and while I regularly read (and occasionally post to) two other GM sites, I do infrequently post to Gawker and my not-so-special comments are posted immediately.

Posted by: Britney Spears at 08/04/07 2:35 AM | Reply
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fuck that shit.....drive by truckers got love for everybody......and i got love for them!!!

Posted by: maya lucia at 08/04/07 4:21 AM | Reply
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i kinda got the feeling that featherbottom was joking. C'mon, fucking black people invented rock-n-roll. Lighten up and try to find some humor in the world instead f always being so goddamn hypersensitive! you come off as a tight assed worry-wort.

Posted by: shockadow at 08/04/07 5:31 AM | Reply
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shockadow,

I find plenty of humor in the world, but I don't think hate speech is funny. Call it hypersensitivity if you want, but the fact that you could be so hypocritical in the same paragraph is utterly ridiculous. Sure, lets give black people credit for inventing something we all benefit from, but it's ok to trash them (in the guise of a tasteless joke) when we think they're not listening...yeah buddy, keep telling yourself that if it helps you to sleep at night.

Keep in mind, just because you think it's a joke doesn't mean, at its base level, that it isn't hate speech. And when does that shit end? When are we going to collectively do something about that? Bigotry is like a disease that just infects even the most minor aspects of society, and the only way to curb it is to start small. So if I have to be the guy to constantly fight it on something as trivial in the grand scheme of things as a popular blog, then so be it. But don't make it sound like it's just me overreacting, or as if I don't have the right to be offended. Because it's easy to ignore hate when you aren't constantly the target of it. And as I said before, it would've been easy to ignore one stupid comment, but this is the 4th one in two weeks aimed specifically at black people. Enough is enough!

Posted by: Ju Bean at 08/04/07 7:26 AM | Reply
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"the right to be offended" hmmmmm.

Posted by: jay at 08/04/07 1:53 PM | Reply
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One must always remember that whatever "black problem" we have in the United States, it was CAUSED by inhumane "white people." I could go historical here, but this message could get long in the tooth. What we actually have is a "white problem" with people who call themselves "white," falsely believing that we are better than other people.

Get your ass to a library and study the ORIGINS OF MAN and you'll see that there is no such thing as "different races." We were ALL black in the beginning.

Anyway, I wish most of you could see the "whites" at a Bettye LaVette concert, WORSHIPING the lady after her dynamic concerts. She's like a goddess...one of the nicest PEOPLE you will ever meet. Even youngsters, 10 to 18 find her fascinating and want to get hugs from her.

When we saw her perform at Joe's Pub in New York, over half the audience went backstage to applaud her again AFTER the long standing ovation she'd received moments before. She wept in appreciation.

Posted by: O.P. at 08/04/07 5:39 PM | Reply
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Music has always been color blind. Bettye Lavette is a Queen. I am honored to know her. Those that hate can hate all they want, I'd rather listen to her music and Love.

Posted by: Kdubya at 08/06/07 10:06 PM | Reply
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Wow! The Featherbottom comment was a joke! It was a shot at music blogs and how they're dominated by nerdy white guys, not beautiful and soulful singers like Ms. Lavette.

I laughed immediately. Good lord this country has such a collective tight ass. Relax Everyone!

Posted by: Humor and Love at 08/07/07 11:50 AM | Reply
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