Dare to be different

 Suddenly Miles Davis, an African-American Jazz musician,

arguably one of the greatest jazz composer/trumpeter of all

times, changed his music and appearance drastically.

Gone were the Armani suits and his cool, ''noir'' demeanor

and tunes.

Replaced by tight flared pants, colourful shirts, 

outrageous shades (sunglasses) and a new kind of

music that defied all attempts at classification.

Some of Miles's followers were outraged and thought that 

he had ''lost it'', others, predominately young people,

loved his new ''psychedelic/rock/jazz/free-form'' music.

After all, during the late sixties and early seventies there was

a lot of experimentation going on through most of the ''arts''.

In 1968 Miles met Betty Gray Mabry.

 Miles and Betty got married and Betty became Miles Davis's

wife, Betty Davis.

Some describe Betty Davis as a ''wildly flamboyant funk diva with

few equals with the gritty emotional realism of Tina Turner and

the futurist fashion sense of David Bowie, and the trend-

setting flair of Miles Davis.''

The marrige didn't last and in 1969 Miles and Betty divorced.

Betty released her last recording in 1975, ''Nasty Gal'', but like her

two albums before Nasty Gal, it had little commercial

success. 

Betty was mostly viewed as too controversial, too raunchy, 

using lyrics which were too sexually explicit, and with a sexually

aggressive stage persona.

In 1980 her father died and Betty went home to live with her mother.

Dealing with the loss of her father and a blinkered and biased 

music industry took its toll on Betty.

She sub combed to ''the darkness'' and was admitted into

a mental health institution. 

She decided to disappear.

But, her music is still around. I know, because

I have all her albums......

Being different, in my view, always comes with a cost.

Although it may be easy to think of the 60's and the 70's as

wild, experimental, free love and all that....it was also

very biased, tumultuous, patronizing, and a man's, man's world.

I know, cos' I was there.

As a female musician you were one of two B's: 

''Babe'' if you were willing to hop in the sack with any of

the male musicians, or ''Bitch'' if you were not

willing to do so.

At no point were you ever a third B, as in : a human Being.

Betty Davis was a strong, beautiful, talented and opinionated African

American woman.

She followed her own inner voice, she wrote lyrics that reflected 

her experiences, she performed on stage according to her lyrics,

but according to some of her friends, off stage, she was a quiet, 

sensitive, and deep person. 

In my experience as a female musician/song writer/composer/

bandleader, in order to be taken seriously by my fellow musicians

I have had to constantly prove not only that I am

as ''good'' as them, I have had to be better.

''She looks alright, but can she play?''

''You wanna play with the big boy's, you can carry your

own gear.''

''You wrote that tune? Who helped you?'' etc. etc. etc.

(If I turned down the advances made by one of my fellow

musicians the result would often mean a barrage of snide remarks,

crude ''jokes'', and different pieces of equipment

going missing.)

As things are today, it is possible to by-pass the need for a

record contract in order to expose one's talents as an artist to the world.

All one needs is a computer(i-Thingy) and an internet connection.

Well, not all, but there is definitely no need for any

''middle-men'' or even bias-challenged executives.

For artists who perhaps are a bit ''different'' to the mainstream,

who may have had many ''doors'' closed in their faces, I believe

that the fact that it is possible to share your art with others all

over the globe regardless, is fabulous.

Betty Davis fought for her unique voice to be heard, 

but, in the end, there were just too many barriers for her

 to break through.

But, before she called it quits, luckily for us, there are still

a number of albums and some footage available for us to enjoy.

''I needed to fit in or else no contract.

I learned that stars starve in silence."

(Betty Davis, Funk Diva and Performer extraordinaire.)

''Sometimes being different feels a lot like being alone.

But with that being said, being true to that and being

true to my standards and my way of doing things

in my art and music, everything that has made

me feel different.....in the end,

it has made me the happiest.''

(Lindsey Stirling)

about the image: graphite on paper