BETTYE SWANN
She was born Betty Jean Champion in Shreveport, Louisiana, on October 24, 1944, and grew up in Arcadia, about 50 miles east. There, she sang with a female group called the Fawns. They were not, however, the same Fawns who recorded for Money Records during Bettye’s tenure with the label.
As a young woman, she relocated to Los Angeles to pursue her dream of making it in the music business. By then, she had taken on the professional name of Bettye Swann. On her 20th birthday, she signed with the independent record label, Money. In early 1965, she reached #27 on the Billboard Rhythm & Blues chart with “Don’t Wait Too Long.” Swann would have to wait two more years for her next charted single, a number she wrote herself.
“Make Me Yours” supplanted Stevie Wonder’s “I Was Made to Lover Her” at #1 on the Billboard R&B chart dated July 22, 1967. It held the top spot for two weeks. (On the pop chart, it peaked at #21.) The session included guitarist Charles Wright, who later had hits with the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band; pianist James Carmichael, who would produce the Commodores; vibraphonist Roy Ayers, who would play with Herbie Mann and have a successful solo career; and bassist Bob West, who would write songs for the Jackson Five.
Arranger/producer Arthur Wright remembered Bettye Swann as a shy, capable artist who liked to be prepared. “She wanted to be involved in every part of the record, and we had a good time. The only problem was that high note where she comes back into the song after the sax break. She didn’t like to sing high notes.”
Shortly after “Make Me Yours,” Swann married her manager, George Barton. They relocated to Georgia, where Barton became a music promoter on the colorfully named Chitlin’ Circuit. Within a year, however, Swann was back in L.A. When her contract with Money expired, she signed with Capitol and worked with producer Wayne Shuler, a fellow Louisianan. He had wanted to make an R&B version of Jeannie Seely’s country hit, “Don’t Touch Me,” and found the perfect vehicle in Bettye Swann. The resulting single became her second-biggest hit, reaching #14 on the Soul chart (#38 pop). It also was the first of many country-soul recordings that Betty Swann would make. She even recorded a duet with Buck Owens!
By 1972, Swann had left Capitol for Atlantic. There, she had her third-biggest hit, the decidedly non-country “Victim of a Foolish Heart.” Her final charted single, on Big Tree Tree, was a 1976 duet with Sam Dees. After that, Swann left the music business, moved to Las Vegas, and assumed her husband’s surname of Barton. She became a teacher in the Las Vegas school system, working with special-education students.
Swann’s fellow soul diva, Candi Staton, remembered her as “a beautiful lady. She was really, really friendly. Soft-spoken, very generous. Just a down-home girl, someone you’d be glad to know.”
Charted singles:
“Don’t Wait Too Long” (1965) R&B #27, Pop #131
“Make Me Yours” (1967) R&B #1 (2 weeks), Pop #21
“Fall in Love With Me” (1967) R&B #36, Pop #67
“Don’t Touch Me” (1968) R&B #14, Pop #38
“Angel of the Morning” (1969) Pop #109
“Don’t You Ever Get Tired (Of Hurting Me)?” (1969) Pop #102
“Little Things Mean a Lot” (1970) Pop #114
“Victim of a Foolish Heart” (1972) R&B #16, Pop #63
“Til I Get It Right” (1973) R&B #88
“Today I Started Loving You Again” (1973) R&B #26, Pop #46
“The Boy Next Door” (1974) R&B #71
“All the Way In or All the Way Out” (1975) R&B #83
“Storybook Children” (duet with Sam Dees, 1976) R&B #84
