Remembering the Next Level Dazzling Debut Album of Funk Diva Betty Davis
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It was the spring of 1996 when I first heard a Betty Davis song.
Hired to write the record company bio for Joi Gilliam, a fierce artist who’d been discovered by producer Dallas Austin, two years before she had released the dazzling debut The Pendulum Vibe.
With an eclectic sensibility, Joi’s music and persona was next level as was her influences.
When I received the advance for her sophomore joint Amoeba Cleansing Syndrome, I got stuck on the ballsy of the bluesy psychedelic soul/hard funk diva of “If I’m in Luck I Might Get Picked Up.”
Though Joi usually performed original material that she wrote, the liner notes revealed that the song was a cover credited to Betty Davis.
I was puzzled: having come of age during the Superfly ‘70s era, back when I was constantly listening to and buying new music, especially soul and funk, I was surprised that I’d never heard of the artist who had written such an outrageous and funny song: I said I’m fishin’ trick and you can call it what you want then I said I’m wigglin’ my fanny (ha ha oh man get down) I want you dancing I’m a doin’ it doin’ it (get down) This is my night out.”
After playing the track a few times, I was on a mission to discover more about that mysterious woman who, I later learned, had drifted away from the music industry in the late ‘70s and hadn’t been heard from since.
Davis died earlier this month, February 9th.
She was 76 years old.
Michael A. Gonzales is one of the greatest living American music journalists and hip hop historians. He is creator and curator of The Black List on Facebook.
