Ruthann Friedman | |
|---|---|
 Ruthann Friedman at the UnUrban Coffee House. Santa Monica, CA 12-12-2023 | |
| Born | July 6, 1944 |
| Occupation | singer-songwriter |
| Notable work | "Windy" (songwriter) |
| Spouse(s) | Jeffrey Carlisle m.1979 |
| Children | 2 daughters |
Ruthann Friedman (born July 6, 1944) is an American folk singer-songwriter and guitarist best known for writing the hit song "Windy" for the American sunshine pop band the Association.
Born in Bronx, New York, [1] Friedman spent her formative years in the San Fernando Valley, north of Los Angeles after her family moved to Southern California when she was 10. [2] She started playing guitar at the age of eight while listening to Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger and Josh White.
After moving to California, Friedman recalled feeling "very isolated" with few friends, so she started playing guitar in her room. [2] Her first song gained her a spot on the television talent show Rocket to Stardom at age 12. While at Ulysses S. Grant High School, she started playing "Hoot Nights" at The Troubadour in West Hollywood, [2] [3] where she met the musicians Steve Mann and Hoyt Axton and became part of the growing musical scene of Los Angeles. [4]
Her first paid performance was at the Green Spider Coffee House in Denver, Colorado at the age of nineteen. Soon she was part of the "Hippie Migration," traveling the California Coast and living off earnings from her performances. While staying in San Francisco, California, Friedman befriended the members of Jefferson Airplane, Country Joe and Janis Joplin. Her friendship with Van Dyke Parks not only influenced her deep commitment to music but also introduced her to The Association, who recorded her song "Windy" in 1967. Friedman wrote "Windy" in 20 minutes while living in an apartment in David Crosby's house. [3]
In 1968, she was part of the band Petrus, which also included Peter Kaukonen.
Two years later, Constant Companion, her first solo album, was released by Reprise Records. [5] She also wrote and sang the songs for the cult movie The Peace Killers , [6] released in 1971. While on tour promoting the album, Friedman suddenly returned to her family's Los Angeles home after a family tragedy and stopped recording music altogether in 1972–73. [2]
In 2006, Water, a San Francisco label, reissued Constant Companion, [5] renewing interest in Friedman's music. Prior to the 2006 reissue, Friedman had been out of the music business for more than thirty years, spending the intervening time running her own stationery company, raising two daughters and earning a degree in English from UCLA. [7] Later in 2006, Water released a compilation of rare and previously unreleased home recordings from 1965–1971, Hurried Life . [8]
After the re-release of Constant Companion, Friedman was invited to play at a local festival. She recalls that she had "to learn to play [guitar] again" and was taught the songs from her album by a guitarist at a local folk venue, McCabe's Guitar Shop in Santa Monica, but "it took about two years [of practicing] for me to get my chops back." [3] Friedman has been performing locally in Los Angeles since that time.
Constant Companion
"Carry On (Glittering Dancer)" from the album Constant Companion (2006 and 2014 reissues)
Hurried Life(Lost Recordings 1965–1971)
White Dove / Motorcycle Madness
Chinatown
Windy, A Ruthann Friedman Songbook
Jefferson Airplane was an American rock band based in San Francisco, California, that became one of the pioneering bands of psychedelic rock. Formed in 1965, the group defined the San Francisco Sound and was the first from the Bay Area to achieve international commercial success. They headlined the Monterey Pop Festival (1967), Woodstock (1969), Altamont Free Concert (1969), and the first Isle of Wight Festival (1968) in England. Their 1967 breakout album Surrealistic Pillow was one of the most significant recordings of the Summer of Love. Two songs from that album, "Somebody to Love" and "White Rabbit", are among Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".
Hot Tuna is an American blues rock band formed in 1969 by former Jefferson Airplane members Jorma Kaukonen (guitarist/vocals) and Jack Casady (bassist). Although it has always been a fluid aggregation, with musicians coming and going over the years, the band's center has always been Kaukonen and Casady's ongoing collaboration.
Surrealistic Pillow is the second studio album by the American rock band Jefferson Airplane, released by RCA Victor on February 1, 1967. It is the first album by the band with vocalist Grace Slick and drummer Spencer Dryden. The album peaked at number three on the Billboard album chart and has been certified platinum by the RIAA. It is considered to be one of the most influential and quintessential works of the early psychedelic rock and 1960s counterculture eras.
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Insight Out is the third album by the American pop band the Association and was released on June 8, 1967 on Warner Bros. Records. It was the band's first album release for the Warner Brothers label and it became one of the top selling LPs of the year in America, peaking at number 8 on the Billboard Top LPs chart and being certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. Critic Richie Unterberger has attributed much of the album's success to the inclusion of the U.S. hits "Windy" and "Never My Love", which reached number 1 and number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart respectively and were among the most-played records on AM radio during the late 1960s.
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