Betty Bibbs

I love those sassy ladies of R & B who take no nonsense from their men, know what they want and make damn sure they get it. As you can tell from these tracks, Betty Bibbs seems to have been a member in good standing of that particular club. Her early Chi-town cuts weren’t up to much, the best being an underproduced version of Bobby Bland’s “If You Could Read My Mind", but her later recordings straddling the line between blues and soul were ever so much better.

A session on the West Coast produced by Jimmy McCracklin made a fine 45 on Kent. The boasting bluesy toe-tapper “Enough For Everybody” is good but the ballad “Everyone But Me” is in a different league. After a dramatic opening instrumental flourish Betty comes in weaving her way through a stop-go tour de force. The two unissued cuts from the same session confirm her strong vocal style. The dancers favourite “Pounds Of Soul” has a some tasty piano fills behind Betty’s committed singing, and the blue tinged slowie “First Come First Served” is an early version of a song she later recut for Geneva.

I don’t know which of the other two 45s by Betty came first, but my guess is the excellent double sider for Saxy. And don’t be fooled by the fact that both 45s have Detroit addresses – at least 3 of the 4 tracks were recorded down south. The Saxy one of the great unknown Memphis discs, cut at Hi, and featuring the usual superb musicianship of the session men there. “Who’s Gonna Take Care Of Me” is on of those great chugging midpacers that the Hodges Brothers and the Memphis Bulldog specialised in, and “The Story Of My Life” is a first class southern soul deep, with some lovely male harmonies.

The Geneva disc is another fine double sided effort, both sides giving full rein to Betty’s hard edged vocalising. The midpaced “I Want Some Satisfaction” is a real strutting grower, and the issued version of “First Come First Served” hits all the right spots. I’d put a lot of money on this side being cut at Hi as well - maybe even from the same session as the Saxy release. Those horns couldn’t have come from anywhere else, and the drummer is certainly Howard Grimes. In any event this bluesy deep ballad is a track that all deep fans should own.  

The writer’s credit for a fair chunk of her work is given to Beulah Facyson – could this be Betty’s real name? No it isn't, it's producer Jimmy McCracklin's wife!

UPDATE ~ Dave Porter writes (see Links) that Betty's real name is Betty J Batiste.

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