Bettye Swann (born Betty Jean Champion; October 24, 1944),[1] also known as Betty Barton, is an American soul singer. She is best known for her 1967 hit song "Make Me Yours".
Bettye Swann | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Betty Jean Champion |
| Also known as | Betty Barton |
| Born | October 24, 1944 Shreveport, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Genres | Soul |
| Occupation | Singer |
| Instrument | Voice |
| Years active | 1964–1980 |
Career
editSwann was born in Shreveport, Louisiana on October 24, 1944,[2] as one of 14 children. She grew up in Arcadia, Louisiana, and moved to Los Angeles, California, in 1963.[2] Although some sources state that Swann was in a vocal group known as The Fawns who recorded for Capital Records in 1964, she refuted this, saying that she sang with a trio in Arcadia by that name.[3]
In 1964, Swann started a solo singing career, changing her name to Bettye Swann at the prompting of local DJ Al Scott, who became her manager. After a minor hit with the self-penned "Don’t Wait Too Long", her big breakthrough came with "Make Me Yours", which topped the Billboard R&B chart in July 1967 and made No. 21 on the Billboard Hot 100.[4] In 1968, she split with Scott, moved to Georgia, won a new contract with Capitol Records, and had another hit in 1969 with her cover of the Jeannie Seely hit "Don't Touch Me" (No. 14 R&B, No. 38 Hot 100).[5]
In 1972, Swann transferred to Atlantic Records and had a pair of minor hits with "Victim of a Foolish Heart" (later covered by Joss Stone) and Merle Haggard's "Today I Started Loving You Again".[2] After leaving Money Records she lived for a short time in Athens, Georgia.[3] She continued to record until the mid-1970s, but with little commercial success. Her last public performance was in 1980, the year her husband and manager, George Barton, died.[3]
Swann later changed her name to Betty Barton, began working as a teacher in the Las Vegas area, and became a Jehovah's Witness. She retired and, according to a 2005 interview, suffered from a degenerative spinal condition.[3]
In 2015, multiple elements from Swann's 1974 recording "Kiss My Love Goodbye" were sampled in the Galantis single "Peanut Butter Jelly".[6] In 2019, Swann's "Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye" enjoyed a resurgence of interest when it was used as the closing song in the finale of the second series of The End of the F***ing World. In 2021, the Vermont-based rapper Subtex [Zeke Kreitzer] sampled the beginning lines of Swann's 1968 song, "(My Heart Is) Closed for the Season" in his track, "Love Art Pain". In 2023, Swann's song "Little Things Mean A Lot" was used in the "Volvo EX30 – It’s the little things[7]" commercial.
Discography
editAlbums
edit- 1967: Make Me Yours (Money)
- 1969: The Soul View Now (Capitol) - R&B #48[5]
- 1969: Don't You Ever Get Tired of Hurting Me (Capitol)
- 1990: Sweet Dreams (Capitol)
- 2001: The Money Recordings (Kent)
- 2004: Bettye Swann (Astralwerks/Honest Jon's)
- 2014: The Complete Atlantic Recordings (Rhino)
- 2015: The Very Best of Bettye Swann (Kent)
Singles
edit| Year | Title | Chart positions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| US [5] |
US R&B [5] | ||
| 1964 | "Don't Wait Too Long" | — | 27 |
| 1965 | "The Man That Said No" | — | — |
| 1966 | "The Heartache Is Gone" | — | — |
| 1967 | "Make Me Yours" | 21 | 1 |
| "Fall in Love with Me" | 67 | 36 | |
| 1968 | "Don't Look Back" | — | — |
| "Don't Take My Mind" | — | — | |
| "I'm Lonely For You" | — | — | |
| 1969 | "Don't Touch Me" | 38 | 14 |
| "Angel of the Morning" | — | — | |
| "Don't You Ever Get Tired (Of Hurting Me)" | — | — | |
| 1970 | "Little Things Mean a Lot" | — | — |
| "Don't Let It Happen to Us" | — | — | |
| 1971 | "I'm Just Living a Lie" | — | — |
| 1972 | "Victim of a Foolish Heart" | 63 | 16 |
| 1973 | "'Til I Get It Right" | — | 88 |
| "Today I Started Loving You Again" | 46 | 26 | |
| 1974 | "The Boy Next Door" | — | 71 |
| "Time to Say Goodbye" | — | — | |
| 1975 | "All the Way In or All the Way Out" | — | 83 |
| 1976 | "Storybook Children" (with Sam Dees) | — | 84 |
| "Heading in the Right Direction" | — | — | |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart. | |||
References
edit- ^ Ankeny, Jason. "Bettye Swann Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
- ^ a b c Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 2428. ISBN 0-85112-939-0.
- ^ a b c d Keene, Jarret (March 3, 2005). "Swan song". Las Vegas City Life. Archived from the original on April 19, 2009. Retrieved June 24, 2015.
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (1992). Billboard Book of USA Top 40 Hits (5th ed.). Enfield, Middlesex: Billboard Publications Inc. p. 449. ISBN 0-85112-528-X.
- ^ a b c d "Bettye Swann - Awards". AllMusic. Archived from the original on February 4, 2013. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
- ^ Berman, Eliza (June 9, 2015). "Dance Supergroup Galantis: Why We Love When People Cry on the Dance Floor". Time. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
- ^ Volvo Cars (June 12, 2023). Volvo EX30 – It's the little things. Retrieved May 30, 2024 – via YouTube.
External links
edit- Bettye Swann discography at Discogs