Betty Davis' second full-length featured a similar set of songs as her debut, though with
Davis herself in the production chair and a radically different lineup. The openers, "Shoo-B-Doop and Cop Him" and "He Was a Big Freak," are big, blowsy tunes with stop-start funk rhythms and
Davis in her usual persona as the aggressive sexual predator. On the title track, she reminisces about her childhood and compares herself to kindred spirits of the past, a succession of blues legends she holds fond -- including special time for
Bessie Smith,
Chuck Berry, and
Robert Johnson. A pair of unknowns, guitarist Cordell Dudley and bassist
Larry Johnson, do a fair job of replacing the stars from her first record. As a result,
They Say I'm Different is more keyboard-dominated than her debut, with prominent electric piano, clavinet, and organ from
Merl Saunders,
Hershall Kennedy, and Tony Vaughn. The material was even more extreme than on her debut; "He Was a Big Freak" featured a prominent bondage theme, while "Your Mama Wants Ya Back" and "Don't Call Her No Tramp" dealt with prostitution, or at least inferred it. With the exception of the two openers, though,
They Say I'm Different lacked the excellent songs and strong playing of her debut; an explosive and outré record, but more a variation on the same theme she'd explored before. [The 2007 Light in the Attic edition includes bonus tracks.] ~ John Bush