The Scene of the Crime (2007)

Is there a more wrenching soul singer alive than Bettye LaVette? If so, keep it to yourself, because I'm too wrung out from The Scene of the Crime's intensity to take anything more emotionally potent. Following 2005's Joe Henry-produced comeback disc, I've Got My Own Hell to Raise, Drive-By Trucker Patterson Hood assumes the producer's chair, and his band, the raggedy backup. The hard-livin' laments aren't always easy listening, so it's a relief to get to ''Before the Money Came,'' on which LaVette rejoices at age 61 in finally getting paid!
DOWNLOAD THIS: Hear a preview of ''You Don't Know Me at All'' at Bettye LaVette's Website

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