Betty Barton (born October 24, 1944), better known by the stage name Bettye Swann, is a retired American soul singer. She is best known for her 1967 hit song "Make Me Yours". For one with such a fabulous voice and given the quality of her output, Bettye Swann criminally failed to get the recognition she deserved.
Southern soul chanteuse Bettye Swann was born Betty Jean Champion in Shreveport, Louisiana, one of 14 children. She grew up in Arcadia, Louisiana, and moved to Los Angeles, California in 1963. Although some sources state that Swann was in a vocal group known as The Fawns who recorded for Money Records in 1964, she has refuted this, saying that she sang with a trio in Arcadia by that name.
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", the first of a series of Arthur Wright-produced singles for the independent Los Angeles label Money, her big breakthrough came with "Make Me Yours", which topped the Billboard R&B charts in July 1967 and made #21 on the Billboard Hot 100.This song also served as the title for her first full-length LP.
1967 saw the release of three more Money singles -- "Fall in Love With Me,""Don't Look Back," and "I Think I'm Falling in Love" -- while the next year heralded a leap to major label Capitol for "My Heart Is Closed for the Season." The follow-up, "Don't Touch Me," was the first single released from Swann's second long-player, The Soul View Now; Don't You Ever Get Tired of Hurting Me? followed in 1969, highlighted by the minor hit "Little Things Mean a Lot.”
After a one-off single for Fame, 1971's "I'm Just Living a Lie," Swann transferred to Atlantic Records; her label debut, "Victim of a Foolish Heart," cracked the R&B Top 20 in 1972, and was revived over three decades later by blue-eyed soul upstart Joss Stone. Her next Atlantic effort, "I'd Rather Go Blind," was notable in large part for its B-side, a reading of Merle Haggard's "Today I Started Loving You Again," that proved Swann a superb interpreter of country-soul -- 1973's "Yours Until Tomorrow" was backed by another Nashville cover, this time Tammy Wynette's "Til I Get It Right."
In 1974, she made a return to the lower rungs of the Billboard Hot 100 with "The Boy Next Door" -- the flip side, "Kiss My Love Goodbye," found Swann operating firmly in Philly soul territory, its slick, urbane production courtesy of the Young Professionals team of LeBaron Taylor, Phil Hurtt, and Tony Bell. With 1975's "All the Way In or All the Way Out" she again enjoyed minor chart success, but subsequent recording sessions are undocumented,.
Following the death of her husband and manager, Bettye Swann retired from the music industry aged thirty-six. It was then that Bettye decided upon a change of name and career. In a sense Bettye Swann died and Bettye Barton was born. The “newly born” Bettye Swan embarked on a career in education in Las Vegas and became a Jehovah’s Witness. Never again, did Bettye return to soul music.
That was a great shame. Bettye Swann was one of the most talented singers of her generation. She could breath life, meaning and emotion into lyrics. They were transformed, and the song took on new meaning. Sometimes, it seemed as if Betttye Swann had lived and survived the lyrics. However, despite her undoubtable talent, Bettye Swann didn’t scale the heights that Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross and Gladys Knight did. Nor did Bettye Swann make a fortune from music. Far from it. Bettye Swann made very little money from music. It’s only relatively recently that Bettye Swann has received a small income from the various compilations of her music that have been released.
Her one foray into the public eye was in 2013 when she was persuaded to visit the UK for an appearance at the Cleethorpes soul weekender. She was in good voice and enjoyed herself, singing her heart out to a big audience who clearly adored her and knew every word of her songs. Bettye's personality shone through and as the show went on she came to realise just what a great reception she was receiving and a huge grin came over her face.
Nowadays, Bettye is retired, and lives quietly in Las Vegas. She is a modest and humble woman, who doesn’t court publicity. Instead, Bettye has spent so much of her life helping others. Very few of these people will even be aware of her past, or her rich musical legacy.
(Edited from AllMusic, Wikipedia & Dereks Music Blog)
Cleethorpes Weekender 7/8/9th June 2013. Here’s Bettye singing one of her most popular songs on the UK's Northern Soul Scene "Kiss My love Goodbye". The sound quality is a bit poor due to too many people were in front of the speakers. Also the stage monitor speakers were I believe also turned down. Still great to see Bettye in action.