LaVette, Staples make cover songs their own

BETTY LAVETTE, MAVIS STAPLES, Red Butte Garden, Sunday

Every song sung by Bettye LaVette and Mavis Staples is an original.

Even if the vast majority of the songs performed for a relatively sparse crowd at the Red Butte Garden amphitheater Sunday night were actually covers, by the time the two legendary singers finished with them they owned them. Considering the types of artists covered, such appropriations are truly admirable.

They were also timely for the singers, since both have released albums of cover songs that fit a theme this year. Staples' album is a collection of protest songs from the 1960s, while LaVette's are her take on songs written by an eclectic group of women.

LaVette, who played the first of the two 75-minute sets for the co-headliners, quickly made clear her intention to put everything she had into the performance. Even during the slow-burning break-up song, "Your Turn to Cry (Your Time To Cry)," she collapsed to her knees and sang with a passion that made it seem as if she was doing the crying.

Where she truly shone, however, was when she cut loose with a hybrid of blues, R&B and straight rock 'n' roll. That mix was most notable on her interpretation of Lucinda Williams' "Joy," in which the bayou stomp of the original was replaced by the grittier blues of LaVette's Detroit hometown.

Even after 45 years of singing, LaVette's voice is still powerful, as best evidenced by her a cappella version of Sinead O'Connor's "I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got." She also showed off the fire in her voice during "Serves Him Right," which is a tale about a cheating man who gets "bit by his own snake."

Following LaVette was not an enviable task, but Staples and her exceptional backing band proved worthy of the challenge.

While her set consisted almost entirely of covers, the highlight of the evening was "Why (Am I Treated So Bad?)," written by her father, Pops Staples, in response the desegregation clashes in Little Rock, Ark., in 1957. The song was often sung by the Staples Sisters before speeches from Martin Luther King Jr. and was one of the primary civil-rights anthems.

While Staples used the first part of the song to deliver a speech about the clashes, the real energy and tension of the song actually kicked in after Staples left the stage and allowed guitarist Rick Holmstrom to take charge. His feedback-drenched, extended jam with drummer Steven Hodges was masterful and possibly did a better job of portraying the emotions surrounding the song than the lyrics.

Not that Staples simply stayed on the sidelines. Aside from a couple of solos from Holmstrom, she was definitely the star, seizing such classics as the Band's "The Weight" and Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth" with her incredible gospel voice.

Overall, the night was one of those perfect summer concerts at Red Butte, when the weather is stunning, the crowd is focused on the stage, and the performers are legends who may never return to Utah.

E-mail: jloftin@desnews.com