Bettye LaVette wants some attention. The 62-year-old soul survivor has played plenty of rooms over her four-decade career where she was an afterthought, nothing more than background music and wallpaper. Now she wants you to listen. On the occasions she has joined the Drive-by Truckers on stage, she would first lay some ground rules: “You cannot stand there and blow smoke in my face and you have to be quiet. Don’t do anything that you wouldn’t do at your grandmother’s house.”
LaVette got her wish Sunday evening, playing before the lights, cameras, and captive audience of an Austin City Limits taping. She made the most of it, reminding folks what they’ve been missing all these years with a montage of early R&B hits and misses, starting with bad-girl anthem “Stealer” from her lost 1972 Atlantic LP, Child of the Seventies. She strutted in high heels before sitting cross-legged at the front of the stage for a hushed rendition of the sparse Willie Nelson tune “Somebody Pick Up My Pieces.” LaVette’s smoky voice may not be as powerful as that of Aretha Franklin, but every syllable is packed with emotion. She cries as much as sings her way through heartbreakers like 1969’s “Let Me Down Easy” and 2007’s “Choices.” Finally, people are listening.
Pinetop Perkins opened the evening sporting a snazzy red suit and matching fedora. The blues institution was introduced by fellow Muddy Waters band veteran Willie “Big Eyes” Smith (the two play Antone’s tonight) as the only man to ever have been snapped at by an alligator and kicked by a Mississippi mule. Live nearly a century and you’re deserving of a few fish stories.
Perkins, who has been punching out albums like a man short on time, was perky on the keys on juke joint jumpers “Big Fat Mama” and “Got My Mojo Working” and the slow blues of Leroy Carr’s “How Long” was in masterful hands. Gary Clark Jr., who’s learned a thing or two from the old-timers, squeezed the last drop of blues from each note on several standout guitar solos. The young bluesman is still more comfortable on stage than off and looked bemused and embarrassed afterwards when a gushing fan described his performance as “metaphysical.” The Honeydripper star certainly hasn’t let Hollywood go to his head.
This article appears in April 18 • 2008.
