Betty Wright and the Roots: Betty Wright: The Movie

I stumbled across this album on release day on emusic. I had no idea it was coming.  But the thought of Betty Wright mixing it up with The Roots sounded pretty appealing. I learned about Betty from Joss Stone’s first album (The Soul Sessions).  I was very impressed by that first Joss Stone album – she was 16 at the time and sounded amazing – how could this be?  Well reading the credits I saw that a Betty Wright was very involved in the production.  Further research revealed that Betty was a moderately successful soul singer from the 70s.

This is my first Betty Wright album and it sounds great (I have a few of her hit singles).  It is retro, but has some modern touches too (e.g. guest raps by Snoop and Lil Wayne). The Roots have crafted a very nice subtle late 70s/early 80s soul vibe.  There are plenty of younger singers playing this retro soul game these days, why not give a genuine vintage artist a chance?  If you like Erykah Badu, Joss Stone, Jill Scott, Adele etc. give this LP a chance.