Bettye Lavette's career has been long and, until the last decade, relatively unsung. Her very first recording, "My Man-He's A Lovin' Man," back in 1962, hit the r&b top 10, but over the next twenty years she scored only a handful of other r&b hits, none even grazing the top 100 of the pop charts. And, due to record company troubles, she released only one album during this time. Taking a break from the music business after failing to chart in the seventies, Lavette started her comeback in the new millennium as an unreleased album was issued in Europe and garnered some praise. Her star really began to rise with the release of the Joe Henry-produced I've Got My Own Hell To Raise in 2005, which made it onto numerous "best-of" lists for the year (and was long featured on Indy CD and Vinyl's main listening station). Her next album, The Scene Of The Crime, garnered a Grammy nomination, and now we have the release of the third album in her "comeback," Interpretations: The British Rock Songbook. While it might seem odd that a black r&b artist from Detroit would decide to tackle an album's worth of songs originally made famous by the Beatles, Who, Rolling Stones, Elton John, Moody Blues, Animals, and Pink Floyd, among others, the genesis of the album was Pete Townshend and Roger Daltry hearing her cover of their Quadrophenia-era song, "Love Reign O'er Me" (included here as a bonus track). They were knocked out, which gave Lavette the idea to do an album's worth of such material. A wise decision, as the results presented here are always outstanding, and occasionally completely redefine the songs chosen. Opening with the Beatles' "The Word," and continuing on with covers of Traffic, the Animals, and Led Zeppelin, the album really kicks into high gear with her rendition of George Harrison's "Isn't It a Pity". Transforming the song from Harrison's rather generalized lament about how relations falter, Lavette turns it into a heartbreaking indictment (far more than just a "pity") about how we can end up treating each other. And all this is done here, and on most of the other songs, with just spare piano, bass, guitar shadings, and her incredible voice. In a tour-de-force performance, Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here" follows, presented as an agonized desire for companionship rather than just a wistful "wish". Perhaps the most amazing choice on Interpretations is the next tune, Ringo Starr's easy-going hit "It Don't Come Easy." When she sings "I don't ask for much/all I want is trust/ but you know it don't come easy," she completely flips the delivery from Ringo's good-time sadness to a plea that this love PLEASE come easier. Similarly, the sadness and anger she infuses into the line, "The future it won't last/it will soon be old tomorrow" carries the song into a whole different, and more definitive, sphere than the original. Excellent covers of Paul McCartney's "Maybe I'm Amazed," the Rolling Stones "Salt Of The Earth," and a beautifully understated "Nights In White Satin" (which gets to the essence of the song with her shouts of "And I love you. . . ") come next. The album concludes with a stunning take on Elton John's "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me," making Elton's diva-like performance of the song seem tame in comparison to the power unleashed by this true diva (sorry, Elton). All in all, this is one glorious listening experience. Interpretations not only delivers surprise after surprise, it helps you reconnect with great, familiar songs by allowing you to hear them with new ears and imbued with fresh meaning. Quite an accomplishment for a 63-year old soul sister on her second-go-round with the music industry.