Betty Davis Nasty Gal LP (Clear Vinyl)

Betty Davis was riding high in the '70s. A new record label, a series of high profile relationships, and intensely sexualized live performances made her a rising star. It seemed like everything was aligned to take the music world by storm. So Betty and band got back into the studio where she would act as writer, producer, and performer, creating what she thought would be her definitive release...

What emerged was the unapologetically uncompromising, self-referential 1975 album Nasty Gal. Now - over 45 years later - Light In The Attic Records reissues a clear vinyl pressing of this final Island Records-release by unparalleled funkstress Betty Davis.

The re-release features liner notes by John Ballon (writer of the Wax Poetics Betty Davis cover story in 2007), original album art, complete lyrics and rare studio and stage photographs. Ahead of its time, Nasty Gal shows Betty digging deeper into her musical and cultural expression than ever before, and delivers from every angle. This is Hendrix and Sly Stone inspired funk-rock at its finest. From the title track's mutant groove and grunt to her onetime husband and jazz legend Miles Davis's co-written ballad "You And I", this lady will tear your heart out! Betty's time is now...

f you were to draw a diagram of funk music in the early 70's, Betty Davis would be dead center.

tAnother classic from one of the founders of funk

On this record, her shot at making it big, she wrote and sang a strain of 1970s, pre-disco, keyboard-based funk, with and without horns, that was sly, sexy and wonderfully raw. The controversy surrounding Davis, however, has always been about her voice. Her ferocious grooves were indisputably strong, taking inspiration from both Hendrix and Sly, and they grew in large part in very similar ways to what George Clinton was doing in his musical universe. But it's Davis's voice that is the edge on which her fans and detractors turn. Her vocal tracks are filled with shrieks, screams and growls. It's a style and approach you either buy into or you don't. It works to perfection on tunes like the title track to Nasty Gal... Betty Davis and her music will always get eternal credit for the artistic path she cut for other artists, particularly women to follow. Perhaps the most lasting judgment on her music came from Prince, who always gave her credit for being one of his most essential inspirations. One nasty girl indeed.