They Say I'm Different

Rate It! Avg: 4.5 (245 ratings)
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ALBUM INFORMATION

Total Tracks: 12   Total Length: 51:56

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Hua Hsu

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Hua Hsu edits the hip-hop section of URB Magazine and writes about music, culture and politics for Slate, the Village Voice, The Wire and various other magazine...more »

04.22.11
The world wasn’t ready for a one-woman Funkadelic in the ‘70s. Are you?
2008 | Label: Light In The Attic / IODA

By 1969 Betty Davis'marriage to Miles was in shambles. There were rumors of an affair with Hendrix; there remains chatter about jealousy and abuse. Perhaps this is what necessarily happens when two effervescent souls meet, and neither relents. She returned to making music, penning songs for the Chambers Brothers and the Commodores. Briefly decamping to England, Davis befriended Marc Bolan, who encouraged her to record her own songs. She returned to the Bay Area and assembled a band consisting of past and future members of Sly and the Family Stone, Graham Central Station, Journey, Tower of Power and the Pointer Sisters.

The result was Betty Davis, released in 1973 on the modest Just Sunshine label. A trio of Bettys strapped in silver, thigh-high moon boots adorns the cover. A savage riff powered “If I'm in Luck I Might Get Picked Up,” a raspy, raunchy mission statement of sorts. Slinking along with Larry Graham's bass-line, Davis sounded like nothing else around — it was erotic without seeming trashy, skillfully executed but flippant toward the proper life.

She moved further to the left the following year, with the aptly titled They Say I'm Different. Davis was already courting controversy… read more »

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Incredible !

NeoSting

The Funk at its excellence. 5 Stars because this album is just a must-have. It is like good wine. Older it goes, better it gets. Ah, and, be happy, with the label of this album, it is not available in my country. WHy ? don't know, maybe music is not universal (ahahah). Thanks for the Night-Internet to let me have this anyway...

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FUNK-O-RAMA!

mcmurma

I was 10 years old when this album was released and was very surprised to find that this fantastic record, this masterpiece of funk had escaped me for 35 YEARS! How the heck the did that happen? No matter, I have found it now. Right on!

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bitches brew

80R6

This is raw and nasty funk like miles davis in his 70s electric period with tough female vocals. If you are serious about your funk, you should get this record.

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A FUNK - SOUL MASTERPIECE !!!

Mike-E-Dread

The best Funk/Soul I've ever found on eMusic...or anywhere! Grab this one(&the self titled on too!) You won't regret it! Don't wait to be a "Big Freak!"

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Oh Yeah....Get This One Too!

Kamaria

The baddest joint on this one is the title track. I'm about to make it my theme song!

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Where did this come from?

whenelvisdied

It seems to have no precedent. It's some of the heaviest funk I've ever heard, and Betty's voice is raw and powerful. Just listen to the intro on "Shoo-B-Doop" or "70s blues", and you'll know whether this is for you. It was DEFINITELY for me.

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Baby you was too far ahead of the game

ackneyladd

Again I can't recommend this LP more highly - her 1st album is so tight musically you'd think that was it but this is in my opinion better, it's hard to put this music into a specific genre-sure funk it probably it's closest name but like all true great innovators it's out there on it's own same way the Miles Davis and Hendrix were, this lady was married to the former and supposedly had a fling with the latter and both of them had fine taste in music and ladies.

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Yowzers

FunkdaFide

What an awesome sound, and what a voice to match!

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YAY!

jMoCantSpin

I had this album on a tape that was dubbed from a tape that was recorded from the original vinyl and had forgotten about it since I no longer have a tape deck. I'm not a huge follower of funk specifically but this album definitely makes me want to explore it more. It is so much fun to listen to. I can't very well describe it... if you're even looking at this page you should definitely be downloading the whole album.

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They Say All Media Guide

Betty Davis’ second full-length featured a similar set of songs as her debut, though with Davis herself in the production chair and a radically different lineup. The openers, “Shoo-B-Doop and Cop Him” and “He Was a Big Freak,” are big, blowsy tunes with stop-start funk rhythms and Davis in her usual persona as the aggressive sexual predator. On the title track, she reminisces about her childhood and compares herself to kindred spirits of the past, a succession of blues legends she holds fond — including special time for Bessie Smith, Chuck Berry, and Robert Johnson. A pair of unknowns, guitarist Cordell Dudley and bassist Larry Johnson, do a fair job of replacing the stars from her first record. As a result, They Say I’m Different is more keyboard-dominated than her debut, with prominent electric piano, clavinet, and organ from Merl Saunders, Hershall Kennedy, and Tony Vaughn. The material was even more extreme than on her debut; “He Was a Big Freak” featured a prominent bondage theme, while “Your Mama Wants Ya Back” and “Don’t Call Her No Tramp” dealt with prostitution, or at least inferred it. With the exception of the two openers, though, They Say I’m Different lacked the excellent songs and strong playing of her debut; an explosive and outré record, but more a variation on the same theme she’d explored before. [The 2007 Light in the Attic edition includes bonus tracks.] – John Bush

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