By 1972, hardworking soul chanteuse Bettye Lavette had been recording outstandingly tough-minded soul sides for small regional labels for almost a decade, yet commercial success was elusive. When Bettye finally entered the famed Muscle Shoals Sound Studio with hitmaking producer Brad Shapiro in late 1972, her success seemed guaranteed. Yet Atlantic Records opted to shelve the fruits of these sessions despite their remarkable qualities, and they didn't see U.S. release until Rhino Records repackaged them as Child of the Seventies in the mid-‘00s. Even a cursory listen to this exceptional material makes it clear that Child of the Seventies could have stood alongside Ann Peebles’ I Can’t Stand the Rain and Betty Wright’s Hard to Stop as one of the era's best female soul albums. Shapiro’s production work is lush but hard-hitting, closely resembling the melodramatic sound that he'd craft for Millie Jackson’s career-making release Caught Up only a few years later.