Anti Love Song

Betty Davis — I say she’s different

by j. brotherlove

I’ve always been interested in the way muses, spouses, lovers and other influences merge with an artist’s own ideas to create something unique. When you know an artist’s path, you gain a deeper appreciation of their work.

Model Betty Mabry was barely 21 when she met Miles Davis. Although he was more than twice her age, Davis was so taken with Betty he made her his second wife not long afterwards. The marriage only lasted a year but in that time, Betty turned Miles Davis out and onto a variety of dynamic music (most notably Jimi Hendrix). In turn, Miles wrote songs about Betty and put her on the cover of his Filles de Kilimanjaro album.

She was (and judging from the state of popular music—still is) before her time. Robust, loud, unabashedly sexual and on fire. Betty Davis growled, purred, screamed and wrangled funk, rock and soul into submission; a mishmash of LaBelle, Hendrix, Sylvester and Tina Turner.

About seven years ago, I first heard Betty Davis’ song “He Was a Big Freak” (rumored to be about Miles) from They Say I’m Different (gotta love that title). Gathered around a Technics turntables and a pile of LPs, my buddies Duane, Tami, Peven and I sucked in the funktastic sounds and fell in love. It’s still one of my favorite songs.

However, after three albums that barely garnered a blip on the music radar (she was too sexual for radio and her live performances were sometimes canceled), Betty faded into obscurity. Strangely, there has been a growing awareness of Betty Davis over the past few years, mostly involving her fabulous, definitive cut “If I’m in Luck I Might Get Picked Up”. Joi performs a rousing, faithful rendition of the song. Crazy Girl has an electro punk version and decidely, x-rated music video. Method Man even samples the classic song on “Rodeo” from his latest CD.

So for today, I offer a Betty Davis tune for this week’s lovesong. Get into it:

No I don’t want to love you
‘cause I know how you are
that’s why I’ve been staying away from you
that’s why I haven’t called

‘Cause I know you could possess my body
I know you could make me scrawl
I know you could have me shaking
I know you could have me climbing walls

That’s why I don’t want to love you.
‘cause I know how you are
Sure you say you’re right on and you’re righteous
but with me I know you’d be right off

Cause you know I could possess your body too
(don’t cha)
you know I could make you crawl
and just as hard as I’d fall for you
(boy)
well, you’d know you’d fall for me harder
that’s why I don’t want to love you

— “Anti Love Song”
Betty Davis

That Crazy girl video is wild.

Hey j. the link is not working for the download.

Hmmm… It works for me on Firebird and IE. Is it a Mac thing? Probably not the best practice to use spaces in my file titles, though. Is anyone else having a problem accessing lovesongs?

Got it. I think attempting to download it from the rss feed in bloglines was the problem.

I’ve lved Betty davis since her first albumsurfaced. I have been tryingto download her songs to no avail. Coul you direct me to a download site that works?

I’ve loved Betty davis since her first albumsurfaced. I have been tryingto download her songs to no avail. Coul you direct me to a download site that works?