Betty with the Miles

My friend sent on a link to a track by Betty Davis, aka, Betty Marby.  No.  Not the Bettie with the eyes, but Betty with the Miles.   She had been a song writer and a model in New York City in the late sixties, hanging with Hendrix and Sly Stone.  In 1967 she met Miles Davis and the next year she’d married him.  She’s credited with introducing Miles to Hendrix and Sly’s music and not only the direction of Miles’ music during “Bitches Brew”, but the title of the album itself, as well. 

A bit of digging and I come to find that she was featured on the cover of Miles album “The Filles de Kilimanjaro” in 1968.  I was surprised that I’d never dug in to that album and came to realize that there were a few others in that period that I’d bypassed.  I’ve had “The Sorcerer” 1967, "Nefertiti" 1967 and “Miles in the Sky” 1968, all up in the speakers today.  All four have the classic core-quartet of Tony Williams on drums, Ron Carter on bass, Wayne Shorter on tenor sax and Herbie Hancock on keys. 

I’d only really known “E.S.P.” and “Miles Smiles” albums with this line up.  It’s remarkable how I could have missed so much output.  I had I wondered but than confirmed that it wasn’t Mrs. Betty Davis on the “E.S.P.” album cover.  No.  That was Francis Davis, Miles first wife, who apparently left him immediately after that shot was taken. 

Miles had her recorded at Columbia Records in 1968 and 1969.  I’ve got it on now and it’s fabulous.  The photo on the cover has her looking like some biological sister of Jimi.  The band is tight and her outlandishness that is more full flush on later recordings is favorably subdued on these dates.  For some reason Columbia never released these tracks, until only just recently.  Seems like damn near everyone from Miles band and the Band of Gypsies besides Miles or Jimi make an appearance on this disc.  That mythical pairing remains forever alluring.  Her own albums are pleasant discoveries and regardless, Mrs. Davis, I now know, had definitively shaped pathway of the entire jazz tradition, bringing people together as she did. 

Tuesday, 01/24/17