If I could have one wish today, it would be for everyone who reads this to get a free copy of Betty Davis’ self-titled album. Sure, there are better and more important albums I could wish upon you all, but I figure you already own London Calling and it’s not like you’re going to go through life without having a crack at enjoying Ziggy Stardust. No, today I feel like sharing the love of Betty Davis, Miles’ second wife and the first lady of all things funky.
Today at work I was feeling down, drained and supremely bored. I tried a little coffee, still felt weak at the core, then popped in Betty Davis, which helped immediately. Betty Davis: stronger than coffee and way more black (at least the way I take it).
MP3: Betty Davis - If I’m In Luck I Might Get Picked Up
This is the first track on Betty Davis’ self-titled record and one that’s arguably the most revealing about the woman behind the album. It’s important to note that Betty wrote all the lyrics and did the arranging for the entire record; she’s no mouthpiece for a man or other woman. Everything from the first to the last note is something ladled out from this bitch’s brew. And, to me, that’s what makes “If I’m In Luck, I Might Get Picked Up” so much fun to try to get a read for.
Betty Davis the person is, from what I’ve gathered, a remarkable individual. She introduced Miles Davis and Jimi Hendrix (who intended to collaborate until Jimi’s death prevented it), modeled, recorded albums and succeeded at about everything she tried her hand at. So that’s why it’s so funny to me that a few of her songs on this record are so submissive. “Your Man, My Man” is sung to another woman with whom she has been “sharing” her man. The song alternates between trying to convince the other woman to share their man and wanting to fight her; when it seems like in real life Betty would have immediately just slapped the crap out of the man and had a drink with the other woman. So why all the submissiveness? Well, because she’s just fooling us - and that’s the point.
On “If I’m In Luck, I Might Get Picked Up,” Betty Davis is preparing for a night out on the prowl for a man. But whether for the man’s benefit or for hers, she’s convincing them both that she’s just a poor little thing… However, she shows her real hand though all the bluffing once or twice. The best — and most funny — is that the few times the background male vocals are heard, they’re practically begging for her approval. He says “I wanna take her home, man” during one verse and says he “know[s] where [she's] coming from” a little later. For a girl who’s saying she’d have to get lucky in order to get lucky that night, she’s clearly got one guy already champing at the bit for a chance with her.
