For today, I wanted to share with you “Gypsy of Love“, a deep Soul track from Miami (United States) with Caribbean & Reggae flavors and driven by a bewitching synth, taken from the 1st album of the singer & musician Betty Padgett, recorded in 1975 only one evening the local ‘Criteria Studios” and really hard to find nowadays.
Born in Newport (New Jersey) in the late 50s, she moved to Miami (Florida) during her high school. There, as a talented teenage singer, she joined her 1st band “Joey Gilmore and the T.C.B Express”. After a gig at the Elks Club (Fort Lauderdale), she was approached by soul legend Milton Wright (responsible for the rare groove classics “Keep It Up” and “You Don’t Even Know Me.”) to record her first album, released on the mythical Miami-based record label “Alwa” (subdivision of “Ultra”, label known for its Caribbean Soul & Funk releases – remember Frankie Zhivago Young’s ones ?).
Shortly after the release, some of the tracks from of her album created quite a buzz & became hits, such as “Sugar Daddy” or “Gypsy of Love“.
The years after, she recorded tracks for TV/radio ads, released several albums until 2013 and toured a lot sharing the scene with great figures as Little Beaver, Gwen & George McCrae, K.C. & The Sunshine Band, Latimore & Jackie Moore.
Here is the Nigerian release of her debut album, out in 1979 on the legendary Nigerian label “Tabansi“, as a proof of its interplanetary success – Enjoy !
Betty Padgett – Gypsy of Love (United States/Nigeria, 1979, Tabansi)
You can also listen to this song on my Youtube Channel here : https://youtu.be/bKE51s_A998
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Have a nice Sunday, see you next week for another musical rediscovery !
Armand de Preseau
