She's bad, bad, bad

I love Betty Wright. She got her start in a family gospel group and in her early teens turned to R&B. Below is the single off her debut album from 1968 called Girls Can't Do What the Guys Do. It's hard to believe that she was only 15 years old when this song was released! Her voice is so mature and she oozes strong, raw soul. She wrote a lot of her own songs and the content of most of them seems really mature for such a youngin', but she was totally ahead of her time. Another great tune off that album is called Hes' Bad Bad Bad and you can hear a clip of it here. I'd say the album is pretty hard to find in stores, but I'm sure it's easy to find online. The CD version is available here.



A few years later she released her most successful album, I Love the Way You Love, which produced her biggest hit, the amazing Clean Up Woman:



My second favorite song on this album is Pure Love:



A song on her 3rd album is about how her 16 year old babysitter steals her man. It's a little... how do you say... scandalous:



Betty also warns us ladies about keeping a cautious eye on our dude's secretaries. Life's a bowl of cherries for those secretaries. Preach it, girrrrlll!!!:



Another great song of hers is from a single (I don't think it was ever on an LP, but I could be wrong) called Let Me Be Your Lovemaker. Here's a rad "live" version:


Betty Wright - Let Me Be Your Lovemaker
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TONS of her songs have been sampled by other artists, including the song below, sampled by one of my favorite childhood songs Knockin Boots by Candyman!! Oh man... in floods the memories of when I wanted to be a fly girl on In Living Color!!!

How many Ikettes does it take to screw in a lightbulb?

I didn't realize the Ikette turnover rate was so high until today. Did you know there have been over 40 Ikettes??!!

First off, I had no idea P.P. Arnold was an Ikette! I always thought she was a solo singer whose LPs are impossible to find and when you do find them, they're really expensive. WTF!



I've seen records of Bonnie Bramlett but never actually listened to them. Note to self: buy Bonnie Bramlett records!!



Vanetta Fields sang back up for The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan and Pink Floyd (!!!!)



I also never knew Brenda Holloway was in Ikette. What the hell!?!?!!!



SUPER FUCKING FUNKY gospel sisters called The Stovall Sisters sang back ups in the late 60's. This track is literally mindblowing. Jeez... like a DJ's dream:



The rest of The Ikettes' names can be found here.