I recently met Betty Pride, who told me about her CD, so I decided to check it out! It was one of the best jazz CD\'s I\'ve ever listened to and hope that she can continue to make many more!!

Arts and Entertainment Pride does the blues right Sounds Music Review Published Friday, August 10, 2007 by Winfred Cross, The Charlotte Post Betty Pride Cold Hearted Woman Betty Pride, producer Rating: 3 & 1/2 Stars Blues singers are generally some of the best singers on Earth simply because they’ve lived most of what they sing about. Even if they haven’t they are always convincing enough to make you believe they have. I don’t know anything about Betty Pride’s life other than she can sing the heck out of the blues. She indeed may be the “Cold Hearted Woman” she sings about - or not. That point is moot. She convinces you she’s a cold hearted woman, as mean as she can be. She’s daring some good-looking man to fall in love with her to find out. She, of course, says don’t and tells you all that she’ll do if you do. But she knows her not so coy challenge will be taken, and that’s what she wants. That’s what I call a singer. Pride mixes some standards with her own compositions to come up with a tasty mix of blues, R&B and, for some, beach music. Pride sings in front of a crack backup band that sounds seasoned, but not grizzled. Pride is her own story. She reinvents these older tunes and dazzles on her own stuff. Of particular interest is Bill Withers’ haunting “The Love That Made Me Laugh.” This is one of my favorite Withers tunes and Pride’s version is sassy. She tells her lover “I’m giving all I have to give/If you don’t want me/I don’t want to live.” Pride doesn’t let this party go without sharing. Nappy Brown (“Nighttime Is The Right Time”) drops by on the classic “Stand By Me.” Yeah, it’s been done a zillion times, but good songs are good songs. Brown and Pride do it justice. Blues fans should add this collection without thinking. Those who are just discovering the blues shouldn’t overlook this, either. “Cold Hearted Woman” she may be, but Pride is certainly a singin’ cold hearted woman in her own right. You can buy the CD at www.bettypridemusic4u.com. Send this page to a friend

Being a Boomer never felt so good! Betty Pride takes me back because her voice is real to the great blues singers and the band is what you truly heard at the blues joints. Oh yeah...wonderful! Betty's voice lets you close to the edge of pain and then slides you right over with a craving to get a little closer.. so you listen again...and again!

COLD HEARTED WOMAN Betty Pride’s career has traversed a wide musical landscape, encompassing jazz, R&B, C&W and gospel – including stints with Maurice Williams & The Zodiacs and The Famous Southern Sisters. But, now her concentration lies with the blues – and what a blues singer she is. “Cold Hearted Woman” is a statement of intent from one of the most talented blues chanteuses it has been my pleasure to hear for some time. Pride is one tough blues cookie. Just listen to her growl out the lyrics on “That’s Alright”. She takes this Jimmy Rogers classic and turns it into a tough slab of R&B replete with rasping sax, rolling piano and fuzzed out guitar – her mean vocals defying anyone to cross her. You had better believe that Pride is one “Cold Hearted Woman”, her overt sexuality and latent menace giving her the demeanour of the “Fatal Attraction” of the blues – the threatening nature of her vocals in stark contrast to Donald Dean’s beautifully understated fretwork. “That’s The Way Love Is” is classic horn-fuelled 60’s Memphis Soul – “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy” with it’s anguished vocals, churchy organ and baying horns had me thinking of her as a female Don Covay – whilst “Fever” is given lowdown street blues cred as vocals and sax intertwine seamlessly before Pride scats with guitarist Donald Dean. Pride shows her softer side on a wistful rendition of Bill Withers “The Love That Made Me Laugh”, the sweet soul of Al Bragg’s “Share Your Love With Me” and a deeply soulful workout on Dylan’s “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door” – before letting rip on the frantic “Mojo” inspired rocker “Run Away From Me’. The set is closed out with a great version of Ben E. King’s “Stand By Me”, which is given a blues sensibility as Pride duets imperiously with R&B great Nappy Brown. A great singer and a red-hot band. What are you waiting for? Buy It! (www.bettypridemusic4u.com) www.cdbaby.com/cd/bettypride Words 314 Rating 9 Mick Rainsford