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- Cat.no: 8609672
- Released: March 2005
- Rating: 10/10
Deciding which of this pair is the best singer is tough – so its a draw.
Lavette is a soul-blues shouter in the Tina Turner tradition. Fran is has moreat her disposal with probably the most accessible larynx. It beggars beliefthat neither made the big time.
Soul ballads and Northern Soul style dance tunes make this essential listening,particularly if you like obscure tracks that never surfaced on mainstreamcompilations such as North Of Watford Vols 1&2, Soul All Nighter etc. It makesyou realise how criminally underatted they were during their time in the mid-60s.
Neither Fran or Lavette made commercial progress with singles or albums in theUK, though they did gain high respect from their contemporaries. Discerning earswill lap all this up. Theres nothing wrong with the singing, in fact itsoutstanding, but the instant pop nature pursued by Tamla Motown during thesame period never crossed over onto these recordings.
Essential and highly recommended collection.
The full list of tracks included are :
Betty Lavette
1. Let Me Down Easy
2. Only Your Love Can Save Me
3. Stand Up Like A Man
4. What I Dont Know(Wont Hurt Me)
5. Cry Me A River
6. She Dont Love You Like I Love You
7. I Feel Good All Over
8. Im Just A Fool For You
Carol Fran
9. A World Without You
10. Its My Turn Now
11. Just A Letter
12. Any Day Love Walks In
13. Cmon Lets Make Up
14. So Close
15. Roll With The Punches
16. My Runaway Heart
17. Youre My Pleasure
18. A Woman In Love
19. I Was Such A Fool
20. Out Of Sight,Out Of Mind
21. You Cant Stop Me
22. Know
23. Im Gonna Try
24. Crying In The Chapel
Elly Roberts passed away in 2011, but he was a man who was so passionate about all types of music and loved meeting his musical heroes, such as Mick Hucknall at a book signing at the Trafford Centre, Manchester in 2007.
A former teacher and also a music journalist, DJ and radio presenter on local community station Calon FM, plus appearances on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru and BBC Radio 2, Elly started doing reviews for DVDfever.co.uk in 2004 and he did the majority of the CD and concerts reviews on the website.
I know also that he loved getting away for the summer to Spain and I hope that wherever he is now he is enjoying the hot sunshine and, as one of his friends has said on his Facebook page, that he is interviewing his musical heroes.