Wright, Betty – “Clean Up Woman and Many More Golden Classics ” – [Collectables Records]

Thurston Hunger   4/27/2006   12-inch, Soul

Oh man, this just nails the battle of the sexes in all its
anguish and glory. Betty takes turns being the other woman
on this record at times, but ultimately she is The Woman.
Her voice has supreme sassiness, a little smokiness around
the edges, she sings notes all the way and when she needs
to scream, like at the end of “Lovemaker” it’ll knock the
stripes off that little zebra-stripe number she’s wearing on
the cover of this hits collection. Included among them, two
penned by Blowfly, the title track and “Girls Can’t Do What
The Guys Do.” How that set with the other “Echoes of Joy”
(Betty’s original family/gospel group), one can only imagine.
But the fact is Betty’s voice and groove, are rock solid
and thus unshakeable. Check out, “The Wrong Girl” a soul
spellbinder if ever there was, with Greek tragedy twisting
through. How about the “Baby Sitter,” a cautionary tale to
dead-beat moms complete with “Rock a Bye Baby” quoted in.
Solid soul pop from the sixties and seventies… -Thurston Hunger