RITA COOLIDGE

'Rita Coolidge' (born May 1, 1945, in Lafayette, Tennessee) is a Grammy Award winning American Singer.

Contents

Early career

The Delta Lady

Solo career

Personal life

Hit singles

Albums

External links

Early career

Rita Coolidge's early career was as a backing vocalist, for artists such as Joe Cocker, Eric Clapton, and Leon Russell. Her performance of "Superstar" on the Cocker/Russell ''Mad Dogs and Englishmen'' album helped gain her attention.

The Delta Lady

She became known as "The Delta Lady" and inspired Leon Russell to write a song of the same name for her. She is also the "sweet little Indian girl" mentioned in David Crosby's song "Cowboy Movie" released on his album ''If I Could Only Remember My Name''. It was during this time that she met Kris Kristofferson; the two married in 1973. With him, she recorded several duet albums which sold well, and earned them 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''.

Solo career

She had several solo hit singles during the late 1970s with cover versions. Her first hit, "(Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher and Higher," a cover of the Jackie Wilson song, was also her highest seller, reaching number two on the U.S. charts in 1977. She followed that with Boz Skaggs's "We're All Alone" which reached number seven later that same year.
Other hits were "One Fine Day" (written by Carole King and a hit for the 1960s girl group the Chiffons, "We're All Alone" (originally recorded by Boz Scaggs and also covered by Frankie Valli), "I Don't Want to Talk About It" (written by Danny Whitten), "The Way You Do the Things You Do" (The Temptations), and "I'd Rather Leave While I'm in Love" (Carole Bayer Sager). In 1980 Coolidge also was the voice of Melissa Raccoon in the Christmas Raccoons,and reprised this role for a subsequent special The Raccoons on Ice in 1981. Both of these specials served as a predecessor to the critically-acclaimed Canadian animated series the Raccoons
She scored her last hit in 1983, with "All Time High" for the James Bond film ''Octopussy''. Another well-known movie song, although not really a hit for Coolidge, was the love theme from the movie ''Splash'', entitled "Love Came For Me".
In 1997, Coolidge was one of the founding members of Walela, a Native American music trio, that also includes Coolidge's sister Priscilla and Priscilla's daughter Laura Satterfield. The trio released albums in 1997 and 2000. Walela means hummingbird in Cherokee.
In 2004, Coolidge released an anthology of her complete career, entitled ''Delta Lady — The Rita Coolidge Anthology''.
In 2006, Coolidge released a jazz CD, ''And So Is Love''. That same year, she toured the United Kingdom on the "Once in a Lifetime Country Tour" with Don Williams and Kenny Rogers.

Personal life

Coolidge married Kris Kristofferson in 1973.
Her marriage to Kristofferson ended in 1980.

Hit singles

Year	Song	UK	US Hot 100	US AC	Album
1969	"Turn Around and Love You"	-	96	-	(Single)
1972	"Fever"	-	76	-	''The Lady's Not For Sale''
1973	"My Crew" (B-side of "Fever")	-	-	38	''The Lady's Not For Sale''
1973	"Whiskey, Whiskey"1	-	106	-	''The Lady's Not For Sale''
1973	"A Song I'd Like to Sing" (with Kris Kristofferson)	-	49	12	''Full Moon'' (with Kris Kristofferson)
1974	"Loving Arms" (with Kris Kristofferson)	-	86	25	''Full Moon'' (with Kris Kristofferson)
1974	"Rain" (with Kris Kristofferson)	-	-	44	''Breakaway'' (with Kris Kristofferson)
1975	"Lover Please" (with Kris Kristofferson)	-	-	42	''Breakaway'' (with Kris Kristofferson)
1977	"(Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher And Higher"	48	2	5	''Anytime...Anywhere''
1977	"We're All Alone"	6	7	1	''Anytime...Anywhere''
1978	"The Way You Do the Things You Do"	-	20	9	''Anytime...Anywhere''
1978	"Words"	25	-	-	''Anytime...Anywhere''
1978	"You"	-	25	3	''Love Me Again''
1978	"Love Me Again"	-	68	20	''Love Me Again''
1979	"One Fine Day"	-	66	15	''Satisfied''
1979	"I'd Rather Leave While I'm in Love"	-	38	3	''Satisfied''
1980	"Somethin' 'Bout You Baby I Like" (with Glen Campbell)	-	42	39	''Somethin' 'Bout You Baby I LIke'' (Glen Campbell album)
1980	"Fool That I Am"	-	46	15	''Coast To Coast'' Soundtrack. Later appeared on ''Greatest Hits''
1981	"The Closer You Get"²	-	103	-	''Heartbreak Radio''
1983	"All Time High"	75	36	1	''Octopussy'' Soundtrack
1983	"Only You"	-	-	37	''Never Let You Go''
1984	"Something Said Love"	-	-	15	''Inside The Fire''

¹"Whiskey, Whiskey" did not chart on the Hot 100, but reached number six on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart.

²"The Closer You Get" did not chart on the Hot 100, but reached number three on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart.

Albums

'Released'	'Album'	'US Billboard 200'	'Record Label'	'Notes'
February 1971	''Rita Coolidge''	???	A&M
November 1971	''Nice Feelin'	???	A&M
October 1972	''The Lady’s Not For Sale''	???	A&M
1973	''Full Moon'' (with Kris Kristofferson)	???	A&M	First duet album for Kris and Rita
April 1974	''Fall Into Spring''	???	A&M	Album has never been released on cd
1974	''Breakaway'' (with Kris Kristofferson)	???	Monument	Second duet album for Kris and Rita
November 1975	''It’s Only Love''	???	A&M	Album has never been released on cd
March 1977	''Anytime…Anywhere''	???	A&M	Album released on cd in Japan in the early 1990’s in very limited quantities
May 1978	''Love Me Again''	???	A&M	Album released on cd in Japan in the early 1990’s in very limited quantities
1978	''Natural Act'' (with Kris Kristofferson)	???	A&M	Third and final duet album for Kris and Rita
September 5, 1979	''Satisfied''	???	A&M	Album released on cd in Japan in the early 1990’s in very limited quantities
1980	''Greatest Hits''	???	A&M
August 1981	''Heartbreak Radio''	???	A&M	Album has never been released on cd
October 1983	''Never Let You Go''	???	A&M	Album has never been released on cd
1984	''Inside The Fire''	???	A&M	Album has never been released on cd
1990	''Fire Me Back''	-	Attic	Cd not released in the United States. Later released in other parts of the world as ‘’Someday’’.
1991	''Dancing With An Angel''	-	Attic	Cd not released in the United States
1992	''Love Lessons''	-	Caliber/Critique	First United States release since 1984. Later released in other parts of the world as ‘’Cherokee’’
1993	''For You''	-	Alpha	Cd not released in the United States
July 21, 1995	''Behind The Memories''	-	Pony Canyon	Cd not released in the United States
1996	''Out Of The Blues''	-	Beacon	Nine of the 11 songs were recorded in 1975. Later released in other part of the world as ‘’Book Of Songs’’
1998	''Thinkin’ About You''	-	Innerworks	Later released in other parts of the world as ‘’Letting You Go With Love’’
2005	''And So Is Love''	-	Concord

External links

★ RitaCoolidge.com

★ Gallery of Rita Coolidge's A&M

★ Records discography