Robert Christgau: Dean of American Rock Critics

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Betty Wright

  • I Love the Way You Love [Alston, 1972] B+
  • Danger High Voltage [Alston, 1974] A-
  • Explosion [Alston, 1976] B

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Consumer Guide Reviews:

I Love the Way You Love [Alston, 1972]
You'd never guess it from "Clean Up Woman," but this album is the perfect union of the Betty who has worked in the Alston studio since 1964 and the Betty who won't be nineteen until September 21--teen love in all its moral passion and sweet concupiscence. Does her voice shoot upwards on "I'll Love You Forever Heart and Soul" because her spirit is soaring or because he just touched between her legs? Both, I hope. B+

Danger High Voltage [Alston, 1974]
In which the entire T.K. Productions gang--Willie Clarke, Casey & Finch, Little Beaver, Tommy Thomas, Clarence Reid, Bo Horne--pitch in on six prime Miami originals and native-sounding imports from Detroit, New Orleans, and New York. Like all but the greatest girl-group voices of the '60s, Wright's not an original stylist, but she's never sounded brighter or sassier, and she's always sounded bright and sassy. On her own "Tonight Is the Night" she also sounds sad, happy, confused, determined, virginal, and horny. A-

Explosion [Alston, 1976]
Inevitably, she's turning into a warm, perky soul pro, and given how unfashionable simple soul has become we ought to be grateful. But the only times I'm on my knees are on "I Think I'd Better Think About It," in which she resists temptation--to infidelity rather than mere fucking by now--and "If I Ever Do Wrong," in which she thinks some more. B