Remembering Betty Davis, Eternal Funk Diva
essence.comBlack arts renaissance, with jazz’s hopping sound and joie de vivre running through the streets. Davis’ own psychedelic groove incorporated jazz, along with the blues and its seed, rock n’ roll—she cited B.B.
King and Big Mama Thornton as influences. Davis wrote her first song, “Bake a Cake of Love,” within a year of the move. Throughout her life, she maintained that she would have preferred to slink into the comfort of being an obscure songwriter versus a singer.
Davis attended the Fashion Institute of Technology, a time that she said “had a lot to do with [her] makeup as a person.” She made money juggling writing material for singers and modeling as a part of Wilhemina’s roster.
It was also during this time that she met rock’s bubbling Black stars, Jimi Hendrix and and Sly Stone. She married Miles Davis, who was 19 years older than her, in 1968.
Read more on essence.com