Read This: Now’s the time to rediscover the music of funk queen Betty Davis
The career of legendary trumpeter Miles Davis could have gone in a very different direction in the late 1960s. Like other jazz musicians, he could have stuck to his old ways and become a “trad” nostalgia act. Instead, he started incorporating elements of psychedelic rock and funk into his music, resulting in such classic albums as Bitches Brew. A big reason for this was his turbulent but productive relationship with North Carolina-born singer Betty Mabry, who introduced him to such then-new musicians as Jimi Hendrix and Sly And The Family Stone. Davis’ marriage to Mabry only lasted a year, but that was enough to change his music permanently.
Under the name Betty Davis, Mabry recorded her own series of pioneering, sexually charged funk albums in the 1970s. Those albums never received the full support of the press or the public when they were new, but Mabry’s discography is ripe for rediscovery. On the eve of the singer’s 71st birthday, MTV has posted a highly intriguing article by Molly Lambert entitled “Betty Davis: A Cult Genius Revealed, Once Again.”
