Bettye Lavette

Dug out my "Scene of the Crime" (lp).

from memory....produced by Patterson Hood @ Muscle Sholes  recording studio...?

Nice!

"...her reworking of Elton John's and Bernie Taupin's "Talking Old Soldiers" from her "The Scene of the Crime" album is a wonderment."

Amazing and shaking cover.

Right now, listening to her latest "Things Have Changed".

Few artists of any genre have Bettye Lavette's ability to redefine the meaning of songs that have long been fixtures of our consciousness. While she has done this for me several times, her reworking of Elton John's and Bernie Taupin's "Talking Old Soldiers" from her "The Scene of the Crime" album is a wonderment. Her stylistic approach really isn't that different than Elton's on "Tumbleweed Connection" which is excellent in its own right, but her rendition is among the most shattering  evocations of the loneliness of aging imaginable. As a person of a certain age, this song takes the breath out of me, like a punch to the gut every single time.

Bettye LaVette - "Down to Zero" from "I've Got My Own Hell to Raise"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGctta9orwk

@rpeluso,

If you haven't already...check out Sharon Jones.

I have not yet heard "Things Have Changed". However, I have listened to Bettye LaVette's - "I've Got My Own Hell To Raise" many times and it is incredible. Bettye is one of the most honestly soulful singers I've heard in many years. She and Charles Bradley (RIP) carry on the great tradition of real soul music.