I've Got My Own Hell to Raise
After four decades toiling in the record business with little more than a fervent cult following to show for it, Bettye LaVette can seem like soul music's equivalent of Roy Hobbs, protagonist of the bittersweet baseball fableThe Natural. Whether this riveting collection of ten covers by an eclectic range of contemporary female singer/songwriters will change the husky-throated Detroit native's fortunes seems irrelevant: Its spare, dusky groove and intensely emotional, in-the-moment performances seem utterly disconnected from concerns as trivial as fame and fashion. A forceful, timely reminder that soul thrives on the singer and not the song, LaVette doesn't so much cover these songs as reinvent them from the inside out, be it the chilling,a capellaread ofSinead O'Connor's"I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got" that opens the album, a gritty take ofLucinda Williams'"Joy" where the singer burns with a fire that might makeTina Turnerenvious or her recastingDolly Parton's"Little Sparrow" as bluesy omen and "How Am I Different" byAimee Mannas inviting, r&b; shuffle. In a musical era where soulful authenticity and emotional resonance are too often virtual, this album is a delicious dose of the Real Deal.-- Jerry McCulley