from the LP Betty Davis, Just Sunshine Records, 1973Becoming the lover and wife of jazz icon Miles Davis must have been an altogether surreal experience for a girl who had been raised on a hog farm in North Carolina, but as average as chores on a farm might be, there was never anything “average” about Betty Davis (née Mabry); in a recent interview, the only one she’s given in over 30 years, Ms. Davis explained that, off-stage, she is actually a very shy individual---a fact which makes her larger than life performances even more remarkable. The players supporting her on this release were quite the progressive assemblage of Bay area musicians: bassist Larry Graham and drummer Greg Errico from the Family Stone, guitarist Neil Schon from Santana, & none other than Merl Saunders on the electric piano; however, it is Betty herself that keeps me coming back for more, “…I know you could posses my body, I know you could make me scrawl, I know you could have me shakin’, I know you could have me climbing walls…that’s why I don’t wanna love you…”
