She was a big freak - yes she was!
Leon | Melbourne, AUS | 12/12/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Despite the "freaky" outfit on the cover, Betty Davis' "They Say I'm Different" eschews the space alien/psychedelic/glam/absurdist themes of contemporaries like Parliament & co. If those groups are the Bob Dylans of funk, Betty Davis (one-time wife of Miles Davis) is the Janis Joplin. The music has the simplicity and punchiness of blues, the vocals are screamy and guttural, and the lyrics are choc-a-bloc with raunchy sexual euphemisms ("He Was a Big Freak"), 70s black slang ("Shoo-B-Doop and Cop Him"), and gutsy womanhood ("Don't Call Her No Tramp").
Davis' alternate screaming and cooing is complemented by rich, swampy timbres from the backing band, which does without the brightness of horns - there is a muted trumpet line towards the end of track 1, but that's about it. The rhythm section is instead filled out by guitar, organ, clav, and acoustic piano, riffing and oodling above the deep bass and drum parts. The groove stays loose through both slow-stewing tracks like "Special People" and more propulsive numbers like "Git In There".
This particular edition (I bought mine from amazon) comes in an attractive digipak and has a generous (30 page) album booklet, and apparently with this CD release, Davis is finally getting the royalties.
I've tried to avoid value judgments thus far, but this album is truly brilliant. For those like myself who have a distaste for lengthy jams and meaningless lyrics, but still enjoy funk's danceability and rhythmic punchiness, They Say I'm Different is a revelation. And aside from sheer sexual gutsiness, tracks like "70s Blues" and "Don't Call Her No Tramp" have genuine emotional resonance.
In summary: an earthy, passionate, funky, raunchy masterpiece, more than worthy of an unqualified 5 stars. Give it a listen, then go and buy it. :-)"
Betty Davis?WHOA!!!!!!!!!!!
Andre S. Grindle | Brewer Maine | 07/02/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Betty Davis is an artist I've been hearing a lot of hype about for years.'They Say I'm Different' is an album I've been hearing about forever as well.I was almost entirely certain there was no way that this album could possibly live up to the hype.Well when Light In The Attic records decided to put this out on CD,.....well to put it mildly this MORE then lived up to it's longheld mystique and hype.The best way to describe this music is unhinged and unpolished funk.EVERY song on it fits that description.As for Betty Davis's singing,it lays somewhere between the the styles of Tina Turner,Sly Stone and Janis Joplin.All of the songs celebrate her liberated spirit but there's one that just blows you away in less then a second."He Was A Big Freak".......I don't know WHAT MAN she was referring to but she really paints herself as a wild,wild funky diva BIG TIME here;she wails out about her "man" who enjoys being tied up.The Ohio Players did a lot of S&M based album art at the this time but TALKING OPENLY ABOUT IT,A FEMALE FUNK SINGER?And it never seems like a gimmick either because you actually believe she lived a lot of the "wild style" she speaks about.And the grooves on that and every other song here are as raw a funk as you're probably ever going to hear."
Well ballanced
Gerald Poirier | 03/30/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This is the fisrt product purchased of Betty Davis and it was without regret bass, guitars and drums all excellent and the singing was all that was required to become a fan of Betty. She is agreat contributor of funk ,soul &R&B she is one of the best ,maybe she is the best, the beat of this album enters your soul..."
Track Listings (11) - Disc #1