Betty Carter at the Village Vanguard


Betty Carter at the Village Vanguard is a 1970 live album by Betty Carter featuring her performing with her trio at the Village Vanguard. It was Carter's first live album to be released, and the first album issued on her own label, Bet-Car Records. Originally eponymously titled, it was given its present title for its 1993 release on CD by Verve Records.
The track listing and personnel on Betty Carter at the Village Vanguard is very similar to that of the album Finally, Betty Carter, which she recorded six months earlier. However, the original producer of Finally ran off with the master recording, and it remained unreleased until 1975. Carter released At the Village Vanguard on her own label to effectively supplant the stolen album in her discography. Despite the superficial similarities between the two albums, the more intimate setting and Carter's lively interplay with the audience give At the Village Vanguard a very different feel from Finally, which was recorded at the Judson Hall Theatre.
The song "Ego" uses the tune of Randy Weston's composition "Berkshire Blues" with Carter's own lyrics.

Track listing

  1. "By the Bend of the River" – 1:52
  2. "Ego" – 3:04
  3. "Body and Soul" – 5:21
  4. "Heart and Soul" – 3:30
  5. "The Surrey with the Fringe on Top" – 7:38
  6. "Girl Talk" – 4:20
  7. "I Didn't Know What Time It Was" – 2:08
  8. "All the Things You Are" – 0:59
  9. "I Could Write a Book" – 2:18
  10. "The Sun Died" – 5:31
  11. "Please Do Something" – 3:03

    Personnel

Recorded May 22, 1970, at the Village Vanguard, New York City, New York, USA