BETTY DAVIS Issue #32

They Say I'm Different

By Dan Nishimoto
Published: June 1st, 2007 | 12:00am

In spite of Betty Davis’ high-profile résumé, a familiar combination of politricks and sexism placed her underneath the pop-culture radar. Indeed, this liberated woman, who wrote all of her music, produced all but one of her albums, and fought for her own publishing rights was truly ahead of her time. None of which was lost on Davis, even when she recorded in the ’70s. They Say I’m Different, her aptly titled sophomore release and the second of Light in the Attic’s reissues, captures Davis in a struggle for control over her identity and fate.

While the album echoes her debut’s fuck-worthy funk-rock, Davis ups the ante by exerting her presence. She takes over as producer, organizes a new band of relative unknowns (though a few guests still pass by, including Buddy Miles, Mike Clark, and Pete Escovedo), and turns her pen inward. Her songwriting becomes more affective than shocking, as on the autobiographical title track where she shouts out her upbringing and inspirations. That’s not to say she tones down the shock and awe: “He Was a Big Freak” explicitly details a lover’s (whom Davis identifies as Jimi Hendrix) sadomasochistic tendencies (“I used to get him off with a turquoise chain!”); while her “conventional” numbers, like “Don’t Call Her No Tramp,” dropkicks Russ Meyers’ finest femme fatales with stark portrayals of female empowerment.

Though Davis’ increasingly outlandish funk could not find its place when originally released in 1974, this new attention should be treated as an opportunity to assess how to acknowledge today’s Betty. As Davis herself would acknowledge, the nicest thing she’s called is “different.”