Bettye LaVette - Let Me Down Easy - Non-Album Tracks (1962-1968)

In my opinion, Bettye LaVette is a major figure in soul music, and I plan on posting a lot of her stuff in the future. But her career had a very strange trajectory. She began recording in 1962, when she was only 16 years old, and she's still going strong, with her being 75 years old as I write this. But she only had a couple of minor hits in the 1960s, and her career sputtered after the early 1970s. It was only in the 2000s when she's had a surprising late career resurgence, releasing many critically acclaimed albums since then.

In the 1960s and 1970s, LaVette wasn't popular enough to have any studio albums released. Her first album wouldn't appear until 1982. Some songs have come out on this or that archival compilation, but none of them have come close to being definitive. So I've collected all the unique songs she did back then and I've made this stray tracks collection of them. (There's more from 1968 onwards, but that'll be the subject of a future album to be posted here.) The vast majority of these songs are A- or B-sides to singles. There are only three songs that aren't. I'm guessing those were recorded as potential singles but were kept in the vaults until she became famous much later.

The songs here are hit and miss, in my opinion. There's some great stuff, and some forgettable stuff. But overall she has a remarkable voice that can elevate mediocre material. And when she's on, it can be incredible. I've named this album "Let Me Down Easy" because that song is a clear stand out. When it was released in 1965, it was only a minor hit, reaching number 20 on the soul charts. But since it's been rightly been seen as a soul classic and probably her de facto signature song. If you look at the Wikipedia entry on the song, you'll find professional music reviewers who call it a "masterpiece" and a song which "many consider to be one of the great soul sides of all time." I heartily agree.

This album is 53 minutes long. 

By the way, note that up until 1977, she was known as "Betty LaVette." At that point, she added an "E" to the end of her first name. Since she's become much better known with the "Bettye" name, I've used that name for all the songs here, for consistency's sake.

01 My Man - He's a Lovin' Man (Bettye LaVette)
02 Shut Your Mouth (Bettye LaVette)
03 You'll Never Change (Bettye LaVette)
04 Here I Am (Bettye LaVette)
05 Witchcraft in the Air (Bettye LaVette)
06 You Killed the Love (Bettye LaVette)
07 [Happiness Will Cost You] One Thin Dime (Bettye LaVette)
08 Let Me Down Easy (Bettye LaVette)
09 What I Don't Know [Won't Hurt Me] (Bettye LaVette)
10 I Feel Good [All Over] (Bettye LaVette)
11 Only Your Love Can Save Me (Bettye LaVette)
12 I'm Just a Fool for You (Bettye LaVette)
13 Stand Up like a Man (Bettye LaVette)
14 Cry Me a River (Bettye LaVette)
15 She Don't Love You like I Love You (Bettye LaVette)
16 I'm Holding On (Bettye LaVette)
17 Tears in Vain (Bettye LaVette)
18 Almost (Bettye LaVette)
19 Get Away (Bettye LaVette)
20 Just Dropped In [To See What Condition My Condition Is In] (Bettye LaVette)

https://www.upload.ee/files/16373075/BETTYLVTTE1962-1968LetMeDwnEsy_atse.zip.html

I couldn't find any good color photos of her from the 1960s. So for the album cover, I used a black and white photo from that era, and colorized it. I found a black and white cover to her "Let Me Down Easy" single. I had some issues with it, including it being somewhat blurry, but I used elements of it to give the cover an authentic period look with the text, the bars, the mono logo, and the record company logo.