Soul music is rooted in gritty perseverance, so pairing up stalwarts Bettye LaVette and Charles Walker works on so many levels, it's a miracle it hasn't happened until now. A celebration of resurrection, "Yours and Mine" nods to hard knocks and surprise finishes — a fairy-tale story brought to electrifying life by two people who've lived to tell it.
LaVette and Walker came up in the same circles, only to fall off the radar and eventually get rediscovered by a new generation. Listening to the raw power and emotion of their voices — with the ace musicianship of The Dynamites behind them — it's hard to fathom music this gripping taking a back seat to anything. As Walker and LaVette eloquently note, soul music is about survival and faith. And while "Yours and Mine" may be a personal statement for these two, it's a hero's journey to the rest of us — an exhilarating affirmation of the power to prevail.
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