Song:You're No Good
Album:It's In His Kiss: The Very Best Of The Vee-Jay Years
Most folks will know You're No Good from Linda Ronstadt's 1974 chart topping version. But Betty Everett charted with the song in 1963 though hers was a cover too and it wasn't her biggest hit. Betty Everett was born Nov. 23, 1939 in Geenwood, MS. She grew up singing in church and moved to Chicago in 1957 to persue a singing career. She recorded for small labels until she was discovered by Vee-Jay Records A & R director Calvin Carter in 1963. You're No Good was written by Texas songwriter Clint Ballard Jr. who also wrote the Wayne Fontana & The Mindbenders hit The Game Of Love. The song was first recorded by Dee Dee Warwick (Dionne Warwick's sister) and produced by Jerry Lieber & Mike Stoller for Jubilee Records in 1963. It was not a hit. Carter was in New York City looking for songs and originally planned to have Dee Clark record You're No Good. But instead he gave the song to Betty Everett. Betty would later have a much bigger hit with the more pop oriented The Shoop Shoop Song. But You're No Good and her top ten duet with Jerry Butler Let It Be Me are probably more typical of her soulful singing style. You can get all her Vee-Jay hits including the Butler duets on this comp from the British label Charly Records. After Vee-Jay closed in 1966, Betty bounced around labels like ABC, United Artists, UNI and Fantasy and did have a top five R & B hit with There'll Come A Time in 1969. But she was never able to recreate the success she had with Vee-Jay. Betty Everett moved to Beloit, WI and a 90s attempt to revive her career was derailed by health problems. She died Aug. 19, 2001 at age 61. Here's a video for You're No Good by Betty Everett.
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