We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago….she was called “Delta Lady” by the some of the many male musicians that vied for her attention.
“She” was Rita Coolidge, If you only know here by her soft pop hits of the late 70’s and early 80’s, you should take a listen to her first LP “Rita Coolidge”, released in February of 1971. Coolidge was part of a loose collection of musicians & singers known as Delaney & Bonnie & Friends. She sang background for their late 60’s and early 70’s LPs which got her gigs with all kinds of people including Joe Cocker, Leon Russell, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Graham Nash & Stephen Stills. She sang lead on the song “Superstar” on Joe Cockers LP ‘Mad Dogs & Englishmen”
She also,according to many reports, wrote the piano coda at the end of ‘Layla” which Clapton “borrowed” and never gave her credit for.
Coolidge was beautiful and talented which drew the music boys like honey. She had romances with many including Russell, who wrote Delta Lady and A Song For You about her…
She left Stephen Stills (who wrote Cherokee & Sugar Babe for her) for Graham Nash, which led to a temporary breakup of CSNY in 1970. She married Kris Kristofferson in 1973 and won two Grammys with Kris for duets in 1974 called “From The Bottle To The Bottom” and in 1976 “Lover Please.
When it came time to record her first LP, most of her friends showed up to help…Russell, Stills, Nash along with a solid group of pros like Clarence White, Chris Ethridge, Booker T. Jones (her brother in law), Duck Dunn, Bobby Womack, Jim Keltner, Spooner Oldham, Jerry McGee, Ry Cooder, Plas Johnson, Jim Horn and Chuck Findlay. And she picked out a fine collection of songs to cover..ranging from Van Morrison’s “Crazy Love” to Otis Redding’s “The Happy Song”…to Neil Young’s “I Believe In You” and Marvin Gaye’s ‘Ain’t That Peculiar”. She also did a soulful version of Booker Jone’s soon to be classic ‘Born Under a Bad Sign”….and the Steve Young song ‘Seven Bridges Road” that would be done by the Eagles years later. It didn’t do well on the charts…but it gives you a snapshot of how artists of the day, helped each other out in the studio. You probably missed this one when it was new…here it is!
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