Rita Coolidge | |
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Background information | |
Born | Lafayette, Tennessee, U.S. | May 1, 1945
Genres | |
Occupation(s) |
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Instruments | |
Years active | 1969–present |
Labels | |
Spouse(s) | Tatsuya Suda (m. 2004;div. 2012)Joe Hutto (m. 2018) |
Website | ritacoolidge |
Rita Coolidge (born May 1, 1945) is an American recording artist. During the 1970s and 1980s, her songs were on Billboard magazine's pop, country, adult contemporary, and jazz charts, [1] and she won two Grammy Awards with fellow musician and then-husband Kris Kristofferson. [2] Her recordings include "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher," "We're All Alone", "I'd Rather Leave While I'm in Love", and the theme song for the 1983 James Bond film Octopussy : "All Time High".
Coolidge was born in Lafayette, Tennessee. [3] She is the daughter of Dick and Charlotte Coolidge, a minister and schoolteacher, with sisters Linda and Priscilla, and brother Raymond. [4] She is of Scottish ancestry. She attended Nashville's Maplewood High School and graduated from Andrew Jackson Senior High School in Jacksonville, Florida. Coolidge is a graduate of Florida State University, and a member of Alpha Gamma Delta sorority. [5]
After singing around Memphis (including a stint singing jingles), Coolidge was discovered by Delaney & Bonnie, who worked with her in Los Angeles. [5] There, she became a backing singer [6] for artists including Leon Russell, Joe Cocker, Harry Chapin, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Dave Mason, Graham Nash, and Stephen Stills. [7] She was featured in Joe Cocker's Mad Dogs and Englishmen tour and album, singing Russell's and Bonnie Bramlett's song "Superstar". Coolidge did not receive songwriting credits for "Superstar" which later became a hit for The Carpenters. [8]
She became known as "The Delta Lady" and inspired Russell to write a song of the same name for her. [9]
Coolidge also did not receive songwriting credits for the coda of the 1971 single "Layla" by Eric Clapton's band Derek and the Dominos. [10] In 2016, Coolidge stated that she recorded a demo with her boyfriend, the band's drummer Jim Gordon, before they went to England to record with Clapton. Once they met with Clapton, Coolidge played the piece she composed for him and she gave him a cassette. [8] Clapton, impressed by the piece, used it as part of the song in the ending section which she found out by hearing the song over a PA system a year later. She tried to contact Clapton, but was told by his manager Robert Stigwood, "What are you gonna do? You're a girl. You don't have money to fight this." She has not heard from Clapton himself but believes he is aware of the situation. [8]
Though only Gordon has been officially credited with writing the section, the band's keyboardist Bobby Whitlock said:
Jim took that piano melody from his ex-girlfriend, Rita Coolidge. I know because in the Delaney & Bonnie days, I lived in John Garfield's old house in the Hollywood Hills and there was a guest house with an upright piano in it. Rita and Jim were up there in the guest house and invited me to join in on writing this song with them called "Time". Her sister Priscilla wound up recording it with her husband, Booker T. Jones (of Booker T. & the M.G.'s). Jim took the melody from Rita's song and didn't give her credit for writing it. Her boyfriend ripped her off. [11]
"Time" ended up on the 1973 album Chronicles by Booker T. and Priscilla.
In November 1970, she met Kris Kristofferson at the Los Angeles airport when they were both catching the same flight to Tennessee. Instead of continuing to his intended destination in Nashville, he got off in Memphis with her. The two married in 1973, had a child in 1974, and recorded several duet albums, which sold well and earned the duo a Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal in 1974 for "From the Bottle to the Bottom", and in 1976 for "Lover Please". [2]
She also had a credited role as Maria in the Sam Peckinpah directed Western film "Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid" in 1973, where Kristofferson played the role of Billy the Kid.
Coolidge's greatest success on the pop charts came during 1977–1978 with four consecutive top 25 hits, remakes of Jackie Wilson's "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher", Boz Scaggs's "We're All Alone", the Temptations' "The Way You Do The Things You Do", and Marcia Hines's "You". [12] Coolidge and Kristofferson divorced in June 1980.
In 1992, Coolidge sang joint lead vocals with Roger Waters on the title track of his album Amused to Death .
She also was among the first hosts on VH1, a US cable network. In 2006, she recorded a standards album, And So Is Love with artwork by Clifford Bailey. [7]
In 1997, Coolidge was one of the founding members of Walela, a Native American-inspired music trio, that also included her sister Priscilla and Priscilla's daughter Laura Satterfield. The trio released studio albums in 1997 (Walela) and 2000 (Unbearable Love), a live album and DVD (Live in Concert) in 2004 and a compilation album (The Best of Walela) in 2007. [13]
Walela means hummingbird in Cherokee. Coolidge considered this group important, not only in honoring her ancestors, who she believes were Cherokee, but also in bringing their culture to others. She is not fluent in Cherokee and is not enrolled in any Native American tribe. The trio performed at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. [14]
Her autobiography, Delta Lady: A Memoir, was published in April 2016. [15]
Coolidge had romantic liaisons with Stephen Stills and Graham Nash. Coolidge leaving Stills for Nash has been cited as a contributing factor behind the initial 1970 breakup of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. [16] She was the "sweet little Indian girl" named "Raven" in the song "Cowboy Movie" on David Crosby's album If I Could Only Remember My Name . [17]
Coolidge was also involved with Leon Russell and Joe Cocker. During the Mad Dogs & Englishmen tour, Coolidge's boyfriend at the time, Jim Gordon, assaulted her, resulting in a black eye for the rest of the tour. Coolidge ended the relationship and never spoke to him again. [10] Gordon was later diagnosed with schizophrenia and convicted of murdering his mother. [10]
Coolidge was married to Kris Kristofferson from 1973 to 1980. [1] Their daughter and her only child, Casey Kristofferson (also a musician), was born in 1974. Their marriage deteriorated after she miscarried her second child in 1977. In her memoir, Delta Lady, Coolidge described her marriage to Kristofferson as volatile due to his alcoholism and infidelity. [10] She revealed he was also emotionally abusive and would belittle her talent. [10] When they divorced she did not ask him for anything. [10] However, in 2016 Coolidge told People that she and Kristofferson still shared a bond. [18]
Coolidge married Tatsuya Suda, a world leader in computer architecture research, on June 19, 2004, in the Cook Islands. [19] Suda, a Japanese citizen, retired in 2010 after a long tenure as a professor at the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences (UC Irvine), when allegations of professional misconduct against him surfaced. Coolidge divorced Suda in 2012. In 2014, he pleaded guilty to a felony charge of receiving illegal payments. [20] [21] Coolidge had lived in Fallbrook, California, where she painted and exhibited her work until 2017. [7]
In 2017 Coolidge rekindled a romantic relationship with Joe Hutto, a former college boyfriend. They married in 2018 [22] [23] and moved back to Tallahassee. [24]
In October 2014, Coolidge's sister, Priscilla, was murdered by her husband, Michael Siebert, in a murder-suicide. [10] The pain of that loss was exacerbated when Siebert's ashes were delivered to Rita's home and she had to dispose of them. [25]
Coolidge was inducted into the Southern Museum of Music Hall of Fame in 2015. [5]
Coolidge has won two Grammy Awards from her three nominations. [2]
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
---|---|---|---|
1974 | "From the Bottle to the Bottom" | Best Country Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group | Won |
1975 | "Loving Arms" | Best Country Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group | Nominated |
1976 | "Lover Please" | Best Country Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group | Won |
Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
US [26] | US Country [27] | AU [28] | CAN [29] | JAP [30] | NET [31] | NZ [32] | UK [33] | |||
Rita Coolidge |
| 105 | — | — | 71 | — | — | — | — | |
Nice Feelin' |
| 135 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
The Lady's Not for Sale |
| 46 | — | — | 27 | — | — | — | — | |
Full Moon (with Kris Kristofferson) |
| 26 | 1 | 40 | 7 | — | — | — | — |
|
Fall into Spring |
| 55 | — | 96 | 41 | — | — | — | — | |
Breakaway (with Kris Kristofferson) |
| 103 | 19 | 99 | 81 | — | — | — | — | |
It's Only Love |
| 85 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
Anytime...Anywhere |
| 6 | 23 | 9 | 4 | — | 15 | 40 | 7 | |
Love Me Again |
| 32 | — | 26 | 39 | — | — | — | 51 | |
Natural Act (with Kris Kristofferson) |
| 106 | 24 | 87 | — | — | — | — | 35 | |
Satisfied |
| 95 | — | 59 | 58 | 65 | — | — | — |
|
Heartbreak Radio |
| 160 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
Never Let You Go |
| — | — | — | — | — | 15 | — | — | |
Inside the Fire |
| — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
Fire me Back |
| — | — | — | — | — | 75 | — | — | |
Dancing with an Angel |
| — | — | — | — | 16 | — | — | — | |
Love Lessons |
| — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
For You |
| — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
Behind the Memories |
| — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
Out of the Blues |
| — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
Cherokee |
| — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
Thinkin' About You |
| — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
And So Is Love |
| — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
A Rita Coolidge Christmas |
| — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
Safe in the Arms of Time |
| — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
US [26] | US Country [27] | CAN [29] | JAP [30] | NET [31] | NZ [32] | UK [33] | |||
All About Rita Coolidge |
| — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
Greatest Hits (released as Fool That I Am in Australia) |
| 107 | — | — | 20 | — | — | — | |
The Very Best of Rita Coolidge |
| — | — | — | — | — | — | 6 |
|
Love from Tokyo |
| — | — | — | 48 | — | — | — | |
Classics Volume 5 |
| — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
A&M Gold Series |
| — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
All Time High: Best of Rita Coolidge |
| — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
The Collection |
| — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
Master Series |
| — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
20th Century Masters – The Millenium Collection |
| — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
Universal Masters Collection |
| — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
Delta Lady – The Rita Coolidge Anthology |
| — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Certification | Album | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
US [12] | US AC | US Country | CA | CA AC | CA Country | UK [38] | AU [28] | ||||
1969 | "Turn Around and Love You" | 96 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | single only | |
1971 | "I Believe in You" | — | — | — | 38 | 16 | — | — | — | Rita Coolidge | |
1972 | "Fever" | 76 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | The Lady's Not for Sale | |
1973 | "My Crew"A | flip | 38 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
"Whiskey, Whiskey" | 106 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
"A Song I'd Like to Sing" (w/Kris Kristofferson) | 49 | 12 | 92 | 53 | 3 | 54 | — | 97 | Full Moon | ||
1974 | "Loving Arms" (w/Kris Kristofferson) | 86 | 25 | 98 | 83 | 9 | — | — | 96 | ||
"Mama Lou" | — | — | 94 | — | — | — | — | — | Fall Into Spring | ||
"Rain" (w/Kris Kristofferson) | — | 44 | 87 | — | 40 | — | — | — | Breakaway | ||
1975 | "Lover Please" (w/Kris Kristofferson) | — | 42 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1977 | "(Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher and Higher" | 2 | 5 | — | 1 | 3 | — | 48 | 6B |
| Anytime...Anywhere |
"We're All Alone" | 7 | 1 | 82 | 5 | 1 | — | 6 | 32 |
| ||
1978 | "The Way You Do the Things You Do" | 20 | 9 | — | 16 | 6 | — | — | 74 | ||
"Words" | — | — | — | — | — | — | 25 | — | |||
"You" | 25 | 3 | — | 17 | 1 | — | — | — | Love Me Again | ||
"The Jealous Kind" | — | — | 63 | — | — | — | — | — | |||
"Love Me Again" | 68 | 20 | 83 | 73 | 35 | — | — | — | |||
"Slow Dancer" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 60 | |||
1979 | "Hello, Love, Goodbye" | — | — | — | — | 27 | — | — | — | ||
"One Fine Day" | 66 | 15 | — | 89 | 4 | — | — | 68 | Satisfied | ||
"I'd Rather Leave While I'm in Love" | 38 | 3 | 32 | 87 | 1 | 24 | — | — | |||
1980 | "Somethin' 'Bout You Baby I Like" (w/Glen Campbell) | 42 | 39 | 60 | — | 36 | 23 | — | — | Somethin' Bout You Baby I Like (Glen Campbell album) | |
"Fool That I Am" | 46 | 15 | 72 | — | — | 52 | — | — | Coast to Coast soundtrack | ||
"We Could Stay Together" (w/Booker T. Jones) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 60 | The Best of You(Booker T. Jones album) | ||
1981 | "Let's Go Dancing" (w/Booker T. Jones) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 60 | Satisfied | |
"The Closer You Get" | 103 | — | — | — | 16 | — | — | — | Heartbreak Radio | ||
1983 | "Lake Freeze" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Lake Freeze – The Raccoons Songtrack | |
"All Time High" | 36 | 1 | — | 38 | 1 | — | 75 | 80 | Octopussy soundtrack | ||
"Only You" | — | 37 | — | — | — | — | — | — | Never Let You Go | ||
1984 | "Something Said Love" | — | 15 | — | — | — | — | — | — | Inside the Fire | |
1990 | "I Stand in Wonder" | — | — | — | 49 | 21 | — | — | — | Fire Me Back |
Kristoffer Kristofferson is an American retired country singer, songwriter and actor. Among his songwriting credits are "Me and Bobby McGee", "For the Good Times", "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and "Help Me Make It Through the Night", all of which were hits for other artists.
"Layla" is a song written by Eric Clapton and Jim Gordon, originally recorded with their band Derek and the Dominos, as the thirteenth track from their only studio album, Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs (1970). Its contrasting movements were composed separately by Clapton and Gordon. The piano part has also been controversially credited to Rita Coolidge, Gordon's girlfriend at the time.
James Beck Gordon was an American musician, songwriter, and convicted murderer. Gordon was a session drummer in the late 1960s and 1970s and was the drummer in the blues rock supergroup Derek and the Dominos.
Bonnie Bramlett is an American singer and occasional actress known for performing with her husband, Delaney Bramlett, as Delaney & Bonnie. She continues to sing as a solo artist.
Carl Dean Radle was an American bassist who toured and recorded with many of the most influential recording artists of the late 1960s and 1970s. He was posthumously inducted to the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame in 2006.
Delaney & Bonnie was an American duo of singer-songwriters Delaney Bramlett and Bonnie Bramlett. In 1969 and 1970, they fronted a rock/soul ensemble, Delaney & Bonnie and Friends, whose members at different times included Duane Allman, Gregg Allman, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Leon Russell, Bobby Whitlock, Dave Mason, Steve Howe, Rita Coolidge, and King Curtis.
Mad Dogs & Englishmen is a live album by Joe Cocker, released in 1970. The album's title is drawn from the 1931 Noël Coward song of the same name and Leon Russell's "Ballad of Mad Dogs and Englishmen". Only four songs of the 16 on the original album were drawn from his first two studio albums. Besides the contributions of bandmate and musical director Leon Russell, it draws equally from rock and soul. Accompanying Cocker is a choir, a three-piece horn section and several drummers.
Stephen Stills is the debut solo album by American musician Stephen Stills released on Atlantic Records in 1970. It is one of four high-profile albums released by each member of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young in the wake of their 1970 chart-topping album Déjà Vu, along with After the Gold Rush, If I Could Only Remember My Name and Songs for Beginners. It was primarily recorded between CSNY tours in London and Los Angeles. It was released in the United States on November 16, 1970, and in the United Kingdom on November 27, 1970.
Spooky Lady's Sideshow is the fifth solo album by Kris Kristofferson, released in 1974 on Monument Records. It was preceded and followed by duet albums with his wife, Rita Coolidge. It was recorded shortly after Kristofferson's appearance in the movie Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. The album mostly consists of songs about decline due to alcohol and drug abuse. That theme of decline proved to be (unintentionally) prophetic as this was Kristofferson's first album that failed to see commercial success on a large scale.
"Love the One You're With" is a song by American folk rock musician Stephen Stills. It was released as the lead single from his debut self-titled studio album in November 1970. The song, inspired by a remark Stills heard from musician Billy Preston, became his biggest hit single, peaking at No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1971. David Crosby and Graham Nash, Stills's fellow members of Crosby, Stills & Nash, provide background vocals on the song. Also providing the backups are Rita Coolidge, her sister Priscilla Jones, and John Sebastian. They all sing the "Do Dos" that come before the instrumental portion and the outro. The song was also recorded by the Isley Brothers, The Meters, Bucks Fizz, Luther Vandross, Bob Seger and Richard Clapton, among others.
Full Moon is a duet album by Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge, released in September 1973 on A&M Records. It is the first of three duet albums by the couple, who married weeks before the album's release, and arguably the best. Unlike Kristofferson solo albums, it features several covers.
Breakaway is the second duet album by Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge, released in 1974 on Monument Records. It is one of three duet albums by the couple. Unlike Kristofferson solo albums, it features several covers. "I've Got to Have You" and "I'd Rather Be Sorry" had both previously been hits for other artists; they appear here by Kristofferson for the first time.
Natural Act is the third and final duet album by Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge, released in 1978 on A&M Records. The couple would divorce the following year. The album was released while Coolidge's career was at a peak; her recent albums Anytime...Anywhere and Love Me Again had seen much commercial success. Natural Act is Kristofferson's only album to chart in the United Kingdom.
"Superstar" is a 1969 song written by Bonnie Bramlett and Leon Russell, that has been a hit for many artists in different genres in the years since. The best-known versions are by the Carpenters in 1971, Luther Vandross in 1983, and Sonic Youth in 1994.
Eric Clapton at His Best is a two-LP compilation of Eric Clapton's work after he left his earlier band Cream, released in September 1972. It was concurrently released with a two-LP compilation of Cream tracks, Heavy Cream, along with "at His Best" solo retrospectives by Cream's other members Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker.
The Lady's Not For Sale is a 1972 album by Rita Coolidge, and was released on the A&M Records label, AMLH 64370. It was later reissued on the Music For Pleasure label, MFP-50500. The inner gatefold photo was shot on location by Terry Paul at Stonehenge in the English county of Wiltshire.
"Let It Rain" is a song and single written and released by the British rock musician Eric Clapton and Bonnie Bramlett; it appears on his 1970 debut studio album Eric Clapton. In 1972 it was released as a single as part of the promotion for his compilation album Eric Clapton at His Best
Priscilla Coolidge was an American recording artist and sister of singer Rita Coolidge.
"Loving Arms" is a song written by Tom Jans and first recorded as a duet by Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge for their 1973 album Full Moon.
"Lover Please" is a 1962 song written by Billy Swan and first recorded by the Rhythm Steppers in 1960. It is most known for the version performed by Clyde McPhatter on his 1962 album Lover Please! which set it up to reach No.7 on the U.S. pop chart. Overseas, it reached No.6 in Norway. The song ranked No.41 on Billboard magazine's Top 100 singles of 1962.
Preceded by Sheena Easton For Your Eyes Only , 1981 | James Bond title artist Octopussy ("All Time High"), 1983 | Succeeded by Duran Duran A View to a Kill , 1985 |