It’s simple really. Virtually anyone who has ever heard Betty LaVette sing immediately grasps that she is in possession of one of the most singularly unique voices in American music history. It is a voice that is capable of levels of timbral nuance, pitch inflection and rhythmic phrasing that most singers can only dream of. Informing that incredibly supple instrument is an artistic sensibility that allows LaVette to get to the core of any song she cares to sing, turning it inside out and back to front.

The net result is that she is capable of making songs, no matter how familiar, her own, affording her audience the opportunity to hear material they have known for years as if for the very first time. LaVette’s ability to interpret songs in this manner is a rarefied gift bestowed on only a handful of heavyweight vocalists such as Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Sarah Vaughan and Billie Holiday.

Looking back on the career of a living legend, Let Me Down Easy: Bettye LaVette in Memphis captures the recordings she made in the 1960s for Silver Fox Records, part of the Sun Records family celebrating 70 years. Blending her northern R&B with southern soul, this remastered 180g vinyl LP retrospective includes tracks like the rocking “He Made a Woman Out of Me”, her explosive cover of “Piece of My Heart”, and “Let Me Down Easy.”