After receiving from AMM the links to the Betty & Dee album and listened to the same, my interest was more than piqued as to the actual identity of the two fine, female, singers. I started by looking up the catalogue number on the album on an online database of Buddah’s releases. Dead end. Number doesn’t show up and the number itself is different from the rest of the catalogue numbers. Next, I researched the overall history of the Buddah label, and stumbled up on article at https://www.bsnpubs.com/buddah/buddahstory.html that contained a deep, detailed, dive into the history of the labels and the artists that recorded with it. Toward the end of that article, I came upon this passage: Of greater import was the rise, after a change in musical direction, of one Norman Connors, who would become the in-house musical director for the label for much of the rest of the decade. A drummer by trade he had played with John Coltrane, Miles Davis and Phraoh Saunders, among other jazz all stars his biggest contribution to Buddah was his ear for talent, and it is because of him that the label was able to launch careers for Phyllis Hyman, Michael Henderson, Dee Dee Bridgewater and Aquarian Dream, among others. Connors had recorded for Buddah since 1972, primarily on their jazz subsidiary Cobblestone label. His first single in an R&B mode, "Valentine Love," featured Henderson (who wrote the song) and Jean Carn on vocals and would crack the R&B Top 10 that fall; by mid-'76 he would become the label's prime hit maker, both as recording artist and producer. Dee Dee Bridgewater?!? The jazz chanteuse? Was Dee Dee the Dee?!? Coincidentally, Ms. Bridgewater in the mid 2000s, had forged a relationship with the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, a fantastic grouping of NO jazz musicians, and had toured and recorded with them. I had done some renovation projects for the orchestra at its home base, and through that had forged friendships with several of its members. I emailed one such contact and gave him the details about the puzzle that we were trying to solve. A couple of hours later, half of identities were confirmed: it was DEE DEE BRIDGEWATER. When I inquired about who the other half was, I was told that he likewise knew that answer, but felt like he needed to get Dee Dee’s approval to release that name. Another short wait later and the other half was likewise identified: BETTY EVERETT (claim to fame was the Shoop Shoop song, a/k/a Its In His Kiss). Sadly, Betty died years ago. So, Betty and Dee Dee were under contract with Buddah as two promising, young, singers. Also under contract was a songwriter, Jim Weatherly. The label wanted to promote its songwriting capabilities and thought the best way to do it would be to have its 2 new young singers record an album of Weatherly material, not for sale to the public, but more for dissemination to other songwriters, labels, and artists who did not write their own material. And, to show that Dee Dee has a keen sense of self deprecating humor, my buddy noted that when things would start going haywire during rehearsals or recording sessions, Dee Dee would often chime in with “you think this is bad, you should hear the crap I recorded with Buddah!”
Article Courtesy Of Pmac
sterling work Pmac with all your contacts in the Business many thanks m8!
AMM
