Search - Betty Everett :: Shoop Shoop Song: It's in His Kiss

OVERLOOKED LEGENDARY SINGER~TOO HOT!!!!

Bradly Briggs | TOLUCA LAKE, CALIFORNIA | 09/02/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Betty Everett possessed one of the finest fiery turbo-charged voices filled with passionate urgency from the soulful sixties but never received her just due in the music world. Listen to "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss)" and realize this athem alone should have made this great singer a household name but it doesn't stop there as Betty Everett was way beyond being a one hit wonder!!! "You're No Good" is another example of this great singers talent as this is the definitive version as it is bluesy, haunting, and totally brilliant and this classic should have gone to #1 without a doubt!! Fiery and passionate is Betty's great performance of "Too Hot To Hold" and this Ashford/Simpson rocking soulful athem should have been a mega-hit and by now it is clear that this lady had extremely poor promotion which aside from the great production on all of her songs there was apparantly zero promotional dollars to work with so all of these great songs received limited exposure!!! Another extraordinary performance make "Gettin' Mighty Crowded" another overlooked classic that is the best from this era as Betty turns this Van McCoy original inside out with a smoldering vocal that will stay with you and swirl around in your head long after its over!! Twenty-six outstanding classics make this collection a keeper as this kind of raw and earthy yet super-fine greatness will never happen again. Arrangements are first-rate again making this collection a totally overlooked vocal masterpiece and sadly Betty Everett is no longer with us but leaves behind this set of wonderous performances for all who love great singing to enjoy. Betty goes head-on into a couple of Dinah Washington standards "I Don't Hurt Anymore" and "Where Are You" and shows that she had the chops to be a great blues/jazz singer with her own special feel for a song plus a full-voiced brilliant sound. Longing and yearning for romance create a touching vocal in "Can I Get To Know You Better" while a tough and funky vocal on "Hound Dog" is totally amazing and sounds like a hit!!! A tropical jazz delight "June Night" again show what a great Jazz Singer Betty was but never known to be and this was a sad oversight for her and also the audience that never was to be. This great singer is at the top of the list of "GREATS" who were underexposed and overlooked and this collection is a complete reminder of this on each and every great song. A biting urgency make "Someday Soon" another overlooked gem along with the gorgeous "No Place To Hide" which would have made a great two-sided hit!! Van McCoy's "Gonna Be Ready" is another memorable soulful classic as is Ashford/Simpsons "The Shoe Won't Fit" which both sound like they would have been huge hits if given any airplay at all...A great driving rhythm track and a charged fiery vocal make the Carole King/Gerry Goffin "I Can't Hear You" the definitive masterful version of this classic which was an R&B chart hit that should have gone to #1 on Top 40 radio!!! Another stellar performance make the closing "Until You Were Gone" a winner in a collection full of them~amazing that all these great performances of such a diverse nature didn't make this lady the well known legend that her work clearly makes her...besides these great songs and performances in this collection, Betty Everett also scored high with duets recorded with legendary great Jerry Butler such as the gorgeous mega-hit standard "Let It Be Me" and the 70's hit "There'll Come A Time". The Music Industry needs to give this lady some overdue honors such as an honorary Grammy Award and Induction into The Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame for her classic body of great recordings!!! Betty Everett deserves this and better late than never...don't miss this extraordinary collection or other recordings from this great artist. Thank You Betty Everett and we miss you..."

60's R+B - much more than It's in his kiss

Peter Durward Harris | Leicester England | 08/03/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This brilliant compilation of Betty's music only contains solo recordings - if you are looking for her duets with Jerry Butler, they are not here. Let it be me and the other duets can found elsewhere.Betty's rousing version of It's in his kiss is the only song she is famous for, but the other twenty four tracks here demonstrate her versatility. Betty's first hit was You're no good, which was a top sixty hit for her and has since become something of a classic. The Swinging Blue Jeans covered it and had a top three British hit with it, then Linda Ronstadt covered it in the seventies and had a #1 hit in the American pop charts. Neither of those versions is any better than Betty's.Betty's version of Hound dog is brilliant, yet different from Elvis's version. She had a series of minor hits with I can't hear you, It hurts to be in love and Getting mighty crowded - all of which are included here, but it's amazing that they didn't chart higher.For whatever reason, Betty, who had a strong, passionate vioce, didn't become the big star that her talent deserved, but this is a highly entertaining collection of her music."