Album Notes

Immersed in times that worship belting gods and gymnastic, gospelizing goddesses, the work of Betty Johnson, appearing at the Oak Room at the Algonquin Hotel through July 2, may at first startle, so unexpected is she, so unaccustomed are we to her style. It's a style that throws us back to another era in song, one in which singers sought to deliver songs directly, with heightened emotion, poise and poignancy, yet without encumbrance. True to her roots and rooted in her style, this is how Johnson succeeds in making everything seem polished by the arrival of every final cadence; this is a show in which the artist's craft if perfected anew by the time the evening is done.

This is Johnson's second appearance at the Algonquin in less than a year, but this time she comes doubly armed: her daughter daughters Lydia Gray and Elisabeth Gray. When they sing together-it happens only once,with the hymn"In The Garden"-one gets glimpses into how some talents are strictly hereditary, indeed.

Not surprisingly, Johnson and Gray call their evening "A Family Affair," but what they don't realize is a shocker-for at the end of the show,we're part of their family too.

Leonard Jacobs -Cab Magazine

"Betty Johnson and her daughters, Lydia Gray, and Elisabeth Gray is a welcome re-addition to Gotham's nitery life-a breath of romance, maturity, and gentleness amid the urban din."

Martin Schaeffer, Back Stage 9/23/93

"Like Mmother, Betty Johnson, daughters Lydia Gray and Elisabeth Gray sing with warmth and taste the great American popular standards."

-Stan Martin, WQEW-New York