Think 1970s. Blues, country, rock, pop and even gospel intertwined in the styles of such acts as the Eagles and Leon Russell.
Rita Coolidge thrived amid the mix.
“The ’70s were pretty slamming,” Coolidge said recently by phone from her home in Southern California.
Coolidge owns a rubber band voice and fit perfectly into the 1970s. She sings pop, and she sings rock, and she sings country and jazz, too. Now, as then, preacher’s daughter Coolidge does as she pleases, and what pleases her at the moment is jazz.
The former Mrs. Kris Kristofferson will appear at East Tennessee State University on Aug. 29 to headline “Jazz at the Culp” to benefit ETSU’s Topalian Jazz Scholarship Endowment and Niswonger Children’s Hospital at Johnson City Medical Center.
Music education resounds for Coolidge, who studied music during the 1960s as a student at Florida State University.
“I think it’s something that should be available to all children,” Coolidge said. “Everyone has a voice. Everyone loves music. It’s the voice of the soul. Music creates balance. It’s vitally important.”
Coolidge ought to know. Her career dates back to the early days of the Nixon Administration, during an era of bell-bottoms and peace signs. No MTV or cable television. No Internet.
Instead, wide-open and wild-eyed optimism coagulated with Coolidge’s talents to fuel her meteoric rise in the music business. She moved to California after graduation from college. And wham! Like a moon rock upside the head, she hit.
“I went to California to work with Leon Russell, Delaney and Bonnie, Joe Cocker, to work on their records,” Coolidge said. “Then, it happened so fast. It happened instantly.”
Not that it was easy. Coolidge landed on Cocker’s now-famous “Mad Dogs & Englishmen” tour in 1970 and earned an education that Florida State could never offer.
“The Joe Cocker tour was an education I didn’t think I’d live through, but it was great,” Coolidge said. “The Cocker tour, I couldn’t keep up because I was so naïve. It was insane.”
That tour led to backing vocals work on records by such superstars as Eric Clapton. Those records reveal Coolidge’s talent. However, check Leon Russell’s records for looks at Coolidge the person.
Remember Russell’s “Delta Lady”? Coolidge was the Delta lady.
“He wrote the song about me,” she said. “Some of his most beautiful songs were written for me. He wrote ‘A Song For You’ about me.”
And why not?
Coolidge was a heart-stopping beauty who looked like an angel and sang like one, too. Signed to A&M Records, Coolidge’s career navigated routes that led to Top 10 records such as 1977’s “We’re All Alone” and duet albums with husband Kris Kristofferson. Coolidge still records, her latest being a jazz album titled “And So Is Love.”
Meanwhile, all those years ago don’t really seem like all those years ago, Coolidge said.
“It just seems like yesterday,” Coolidge said with a slight sigh. “The ’70s in California were the golden age to me. It was constant music. But now I have three grandchildren and just love them to death. Life is good.”
TOM NETHERLAND is a freelance writer. He can be reached at features@bristolnews.com.
IF YOU GO
Who: Rita Coolidge
When: Aug. 29, 7:30 p.m.
Where: East Tennessee State University’s Culp Auditorium, Johnson City, Tenn.
Admission: $25 general admission, $50 VIP admission that includes priority seating and a post-concert reception with Coolidge
Info: (423) 439-4276 or (423) 439-6955
Web: www.ritacoolidge.com
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