A Unrepentantly beautiful Black girl, in New York City, in the 1960′s…at Nineteen years old, was surely deluged with pre-internet ‘friend requests’ from anybody with a pulse. Skipping around town with a group of girls called the Cosmic Ladies, which included One of her best friends, Devon Wilson, was how she was often seen. A mutual attraction with the crème de la creme of that era’s rock and funk music scene was soon formed including bonds with Jimi Hendrix, who was Devon Wilson’s boyfriend.
From lower left: Stella Benabou Douglas Shapiro, Colette Harron, Devon Wilson, Mrs.Miles (Betty) Davis, and John Edward Heys
321 East 9th St, East Villiage ,NYC, 1968. Captured by: Raeanne Rubinstein
(John Edward Heys.)
She put that ‘influence’ to use by finding an investor and opening up a New York City nightclub called Uptown Cellar. In a city that has a famous and infamous nightlife history, many people work for years in the industry and struggle to open up their own venue. Betty’s ascent to being an owner was rather remarkable in it’s simplicity. She was considerably young and it was the late 60′s, a time where Black Power was on the rise but even a liberal town like New York City was still rife with discrimination towards all the ‘Betty’s’ of the world. Turns out that totally wasn’t a problem.
When Betty opened Uptown Cellar she was not just the owner but also the DJ. She was moving effortlessly through New York City, meeting tons of top-shelf musicians and still nurturing her true talent of song writing. She went to a club called Electric Lady and saw the Chambers Brothers perform and being struck by their singing, decided that she needed to write them a tune. She approached the Band after the show and pitched the idea and it was a go. Now, normally it doesn’t work like that. That outcome is often painted differently, where the song idea is declined and one of the Chambers brothers asks for Betty’s number to go for a whiskey on a date to be named later. But there was the issue of her inevitableness. Naturally the song, ‘Going Uptown’, became a hit for the Chamber Brothers, and put Betty Mabry on the map as a song writer.
Jimi Hendrix and Devon Wilson.
Miles Davis & Betty