Bette Smith is Making a Scene
Making a Scene Presents an interview with Bette Smith
Wild rock & soul singer Bette Smith traces elements of her life-affirming new album ‘The Good, The Bad and The Bette’ to her childhood in rough Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. Musically, it connects to the gospel music she heard in church and the soul music on the corners. No party host would regret putting on this platter!
She remembers, “My father was a church choir director. I was singing since I was five years old. I take it to church. I just break out, start speaking in tongues.” She also heard gospel around the house every weekend. “My mother listened to nothing but gospel,” she recalls, citing Mahalia Jackson and Reverend James Cleveland. “Every Sunday morning, she would get up and put on these records while dressing and praising the Lord,” she says. Bed-Stuy block parties would also have revivalist-style gospel acts. “I’m steeped in it!,” she adds.
Bette Smith,I Felt It Too,"The Good, the Bad and the Bette"
Bette Smith,Song for a Friend,"The Good, the Bad and the Bette"
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Bette Smith,Signs and Wonders,"The Good, the Bad and the Bette"
Bette Smith,Fistful of Dollars,"The Good, the Bad and the Bette"