The more you hear from the back catalog of Betty LaVette—she changed the spelling to Bettye a few years after recording the songs in this collection—the more perplexing it is that she wasn’t recognized as one of our greatest soul singers until a decade ago. LaVette had already been on the scene for 10 years when she cut the tracks that were to become Child of the Seventies for the ATCO label in 1972. Produced by Brad Shapiro in the storied Muscle Shoals Sound Studios, the sessions reflected the same wide-ranging stylistic breadth that LaVette still employs today, from deep, horn-powered soul to more country-tinged fare. “Your Turn to Cry,” the single released from the sessions, was, like much early ‘70s R&B, bathed in strings and additional vocals, but LaVette’s dynamic power nonetheless shone through. The album, to her chagrin, was never released, and although most of it has now found its way to other compilations, this is its first proper release. Real Gone has augmented the original album tracks with other LaVette odds and ends, from some of her earliest sides, cut in 1962, to other ‘70s waxings, including what might just be the funkiest take on Neil Young’s “Heart Of Gold” ever.