Album: Bettye Lavette, Interpretations (Anti-)

Raspin', chokin', dramatisin' soul veteran tackles a mixture of veteran Brit-rock songs, from the Animals, Beatles, Stones and The Who to Pink Floyd and Elton.

Accompaniment is of the tastefully restrained variety, with plenty o' Memphis folded in, over which Bettye pops and squeaks like an old door. Tempos are at the slow end of the scale. And I'm disappointed to report that not one interpretation exceeds the original, with the possible exception of Led Zep's "All of My Love". A possible case of idiom misfire.