Music |
Beth Hart
By
Published: Feb 18, 2016
Category:
Soul
BETH HART ON TOUR: The last time I saw her, I wrote that she raised Joplin from the dead, honored Aretha, nodded in passing to Etta, and then drove on into territory she alone occupies. “Life’s a bitch, it kicks the shit out of you,” she said. “But here we are, having a good time. It’s a miracle.” Yes, it was. And yes, she is. I’m looking forward to seeing her at Town Hall in New York on February 26. You might seriously consider seeing her in Miami, Durham, New York, Saint Johnsbury, Albany or Bethlehem, or in 20 cities in Europe. Here’s the tour schedule.
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Amy Winehouse had 14 tattoos. She smoked crack cocaine and took heroin. She was bulimic. As her best known song announced, “I don’t want to go to rehab.” And she didn’t. She died in 2011, aged 27.
The tragedy and squalor of her life make it hard to remember that Amy Winehouse was the greatest female singer of the decade.
Beth Hart has 9 tattoos. She started drinking as a kid; at 13, she spent a day at Alcoholics Anonymous. On the verge of a great career — she portrayed Janis Joplin in the musical “Love, Janis” — she moved on to drugs. She didn’t want to go to rehab. She wanted to die. She had a seizure. Her husband lay on top of her, crying. Only then did something shift for her: “I realized, ‘This is an amazing person that I have in my life and he loves me. That means there must be something good inside of me.’”
The next day, she went into rehab.
Beth Hart has been sober for a decade now. So when I say that she is the next Amy Winehouse, I mean it in the best possible way: She has a talent with no ceiling. None. I wish I could see her tonight. I will make do — early and often — with her astonishing, thrilling, satisfying-on-many-levels CD, “Bang Bang Boom Boom.” [To buy the CD — and get the MP3 download free — from Amazon for a ridiculous $10, click here. To buy the MP3 download from Amazon, click here.]
A large claim. So I ask you to watch just the first 2:15 of Beth doing the Etta James classic, “I’d Rather Go Blind,” at the Kennedy Center honors.
Let me set the scene. Jeff Beck, the great guitarist, had seen Beth sing a few months earlier. She was huge in Europe, small here — her ancient history scared record companies away. No matter, he invited her to sing before the President and Mrs. Obama, a distinguished audience and, on television, the world. Her mission: honor Buddy Guy.
Beth comes onstage. Her name means nothing; only insiders know her. “I looked up, saw Buddy up there and just tried to sing it to him.” In the video, she sings one line. Then the director cuts to Buddy Guy’s face. And stays on it. Because it’s always a moment to savor when a legend gets blown away — though it gets some competition for Chills & Thrills when the song ends and there’s a totally unexpected, completely justified standing ovation.
In past CDs, Beth Hart has channeled Joplin, Aretha, Etta, Billie Holiday, Otis Redding. On this one, in her notes, she also acknowledges “the great Amy Winehouse.” Not doomed Amy, but the Amy who, in her music, hoped love would redeem her. And so, on “Bang Bang,” her songs sometimes even touch on… happiness. But really, the words don’t matter much. The performance is. Innovation? Not her thing. Passion is. Rage. Abject, on her knees, devotion. Think: If Janis Joplin could sing on key…
We chatted on the phone. Some high points:
Her next CD: “It’s a very focused narrative about survival and facing your own shit. The issue is midlife, which is for me a lot about getting over my anger at my parents and feeling their love — the most amazing experience of my life.”
Connecting with audiences: “They haven’t changed. I have. I feel a deeper connection now because of my own awareness. When I was younger, I was fighting hard to be a certain way — to show I was strong. I now see that was a losing battle. It would put me in the ground.”
On needing drugs and alcohol to express your feelings: “I haven’t had a drink for 15 years. I’m way over the cutting, the throwing up, the not eating. But after being stone sober for five years, I found myself in the psych ward, sober and out of my mind. Now that I’m medicated, I can access my feelings so much more, I think because of therapy and learning how to tell the truth. There are some days when I sit at the piano and say, ‘I’m such a liar, I can’t get to the truth,’ but if I keep at it, I do.”
A woman with a wide emotional range chooses songs with a big range. You’ll hear echoes of Billie, Janis, Etta, Fiona Apple. The common thread: drama. Don’t be fooled by a soft, thoughtful opening — this woman will soon be spitting and foaming. Take another piece of your heart? That’s all she does. Like this:
Beth Hart is your aerobics music. Your party music. Your dance in the dark when you’re loaded moment. Your blues. Your necessary music.
“I want to know love before I die,” she sings. “Open the window.”
She sure has.
