BETTYE SWANN - THE MONEY MASTERS

Bettye Swann scored an R&B hit with ‘Don’t Wait Too Long’, her catchy debut single for Money in 1965. She seemed to have a bright future but her follow-up, the Motownesque ‘The Man That Said No’, did not chart, nor did the tougher-sounding ‘The Heartache Is Gone’. However, Money’s perseverance paid off when the self-written ‘Make Me Yours’ pressed all the right buttons and spent two weeks at the top of the R&B charts in 1967. The song was later covered by Z.Z. Hill and Spencer Wiggins, becoming an established soul classic.

Bettye wrote many of her own songs at Money. Among the few exceptions was an exquisite rendition of Sam Cooke’s ‘A Change Is Gonna Come’ from her “Make Me Yours” LP. An earlier album had been scheduled after her first hit but was shelved when the follow-ups failed. That album would have contained ‘The Dance Is Over’ and a faster version of her later single ‘I Think I’m Falling In Love’, both included here.

Tracklist

1. Make Me Yours
2. You Gave Me Love
3. Lonely Love
4. The Dance Is Over
5. Fall in Love With Me
6. I Will Not Cry
7. A Change Is Gonna Come
8. I Think I’m Falling in Love
9. Don’t Take My Mind
10. The Man That Said No
11. What Can It Be
12. The Heartache Is Gone
13. Don’t Wait Too Long
14. Our Love