Betty Davis: Funk’s Untamed Catalyst

Betty Davis (born Betty Mabry, 1944–2022) exploded onto the 1970s with a raw, erotic funk that made both record executives and censors sweat. A songwriter first, model second, and performer by her own admission “pushed” onto the stage, she wrote and arranged fierce grooves that put desire, power, and female autonomy at the center of the mix. Her voice was a rasp, her image all skin, sequins, and defiant stare—and the combination rewired the circuitry of funk and rock.

Miles and Betty: a combustible year that changed music

Betty met Miles Davis in 1967 and married him in September 1968. In twelve intense months, she jolted his taste and wardrobe—introducing him to Jimi Hendrix and Sly Stone, psychedelic rock, and the flamboyant fashion that would help usher in his electric era. Miles put her on the cover of Filles de Kilimanjaro and cut “Mademoiselle Mabry” in her honor; the seeds she planted sprouted into Bitches Brew and the fusion future.

Their breakup was as charged as their courtship. Miles later claimed jealousy and suspected infidelity (he accused her of an affair with Hendrix), while Betty flatly denied it and pointed to Miles’s violent temper as the real reason. After filing for divorce in 1969, Miles told Jet the split rested on “temperament.” Betty, meanwhile, refused to be tamed—leaving the marriage with her agency intact and her songs ready.

A sexy, outspoken persona—too hot for TV

Davis’s records were sexual manifestos: If I’m in Luck I Might Get Picked Up; Shoo-B-Doop and Cop Him; Nasty Gal. Onstage, she snarled and strutted in barely-there costumes, drawing boycotts and TV bans in the U.S., even as Europe leaned in. She was criticized, censored, and dismissed—and kept doubling down. Carlos Santana called her “indomitable… Musically, philosophically and physically, she was extreme and attractive.” The NAACP and religious groups pressured radio not to play her; she built a cult instead.

Impact on funk

Betty’s blueprint—female-authored, rhythm-forward, brazenly erotic—pushed funk’s language from innuendo to assertion. She arranged her own sessions, fronted bands with Tower of Power horns and Sly’s rhythm acolytes, and wrote in first-person power. That stance influenced later artists who treated sexuality as authorship, not accessory. Even when her albums didn’t chart big, their aesthetic and swagger did.

Career arc and retreat

After the marriage ended, Betty bounced to London, then California, recording three studio albums in quick succession: Betty Davis (1973), They Say I’m Different (1974), and Nasty Gal (1975). A fourth, Is It Love or Desire?, was shelved until 2009. She spent a year in Japan with silent monks, then returned to Homestead, Pennsylvania; after personal losses and struggles, she largely withdrew from public life, emerging only occasionally, including a 2017 documentary and a 2019 new song written by her and voiced by Danielle Maggio.

Salacious moments and the sharp lines

• Money and autonomy: “I was pushed into being an artist… Writing was nice because I could make my bread in a quiet way.” She called herself a “bread head” and framed artistry as survival and independence.
• Miles vs. Betty: He said she was “too young and wild.” She said, “Miles and I broke up because of his violent temper.” She also bristled at his claim about Hendrix: “It was disrespectful to Jimi and to me.”
• Refusing the Clapton collaboration: She briefly dated Eric Clapton—but wouldn’t collaborate. A line in the sand that matched her reputation for doing it her way.
• Industry backlash: Banned from U.S. TV for a sexually aggressive stage persona; boycotts and moral panics shadowed her shows even as her sound seeped into the bones of funk.

Playlist: Betty’s essential cuts + deeper digs

Start here (signature heat)
1) If I’m in Luck I Might Get Picked Up (1973)

2) Shoo-B-Doop and Cop Him (1974)

3) Nasty Gal (1975)

4) They Say I’m Different (1974)

5) Shut Off the Light (1975)

Turn it up (hard funk and attitude)
6) Steppin In Her I. Miller Shoes (1973)

7) Git In There (1974)

8) Your Mama Wants Ya Back (1975)

9) Talkin’ Trash (1976)

10) Dedicated to the Press (1975)

Obscure, shelved, and cult favorites

11) Stars Starve, You Know (Is It Love or Desire?, recorded 1976; released 2009)
12) It’s Not Easy (Is It Love or Desire?, 2009)
13) Whorey Angel (Crashin’ From Passion, recorded 1979; issued 2023 officially)
14) Hangin’ Out in Hollywood (bootleg sessions, 1979; later comp)
15) The Columbia demos: Politician (Cream cover, 1969) and Born On The Bayou (CCR cover, 1969) show her rock edge

Miles-era touchpoint (context track)
16) Mademoiselle Mabry (Miles Davis, 1968)—a portrait of Betty’s influence woven through Miles’s electric pivot

How to recreate on Spotify

Search “Betty Davis” and add the tracks above from her albums: Betty Davis (1973), They Say I’m Different (1974), Nasty Gal (1975), Is It Love or Desire? (2009 reissue of 1976 sessions), Crashin’ From Passion (official 2023 release of 1979 recordings). Include “Mademoiselle Mabry” from Miles Davis’s Filles de Kilimanjaro. Arrange in the order listed for a narrative arc—from provocation to deep cuts.

Why she endures

Betty Davis authored her body and beat—refusing to be anyone’s muse or mannequin. In a single furious decade, she made desire sound like sovereignty and turned funk into a first-person declaration. The industry tried to mute her; history didn’t.