RITA COOLIDGE-THE FORGOTTEN A&M ARTIST

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mr J.

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I've noticed(over the years) that there's never been any discussion or posts on Rita Coolidge.She was one of the few "long enduring" A&M artists,spending 14 years with the label(1970-1984).A curious fact about Rita is She's never had a single album on CD!Two excellent compilations were available in the late 80's(Greatest Hits and Classics-now out-of-print).Universal issued a double-disc anthology in 2004,but the track selection was a little dissapointing compared with the earlier compilations.A few CD reissues on Rita are long overdue(best picks:The Lady's Not For Sale"(1972),"Nice Feelin"(1971)and "Inside The Fire"(1984)
 
She and The Captain And Tennille seem to draw little interest, yet both sold well during their A&M tenures.

I have a bunch of Rita Coolidge LPs and a few from The Captain And Tennille, but rarely listen to them.

A quick check on Amazon reveals a number of Rita Coolidge discs, but I suppose they're mostly compilations.

Harry
 
I don't know if i ve mentioned this in the past, but I got the dvd version of VANISHING POINT for Christmas. Rita Coolidge is featured in the movie, singing a gospel song with fellow A&Mers Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett.

The movie is an icon to car freaks, billed as "the greatest car chase movie ever made". That may be somewhat debateable, but it is a good chance to see some of the more obscure A&M artists doing what they do best.

Barry Newman was the star, along with a wicked 1970 Dodge Challenger. Lots of good era music, along with the afore mentioned A&M connection.


And, I only paid 5 bucks for it as Wal Mart.


Dan
 
I always enjoyed her tune "A Song I'd Like To Sing," from her duet album with Kris Kristofferson. As you guys undoubtedly know, it has a tasty Herb Alpert trumpet solo thrown in as a bonus!

I remember buying that album on the basis of that single and being disppointed that there wasn't more Herb on it.
 
I happen to enjoy Captain and Tennille. I just got a 3-DVD set of their variety show from the 70's as a Christmas present from my mother. I've really enjoyed it. In addition, I also got a Tony Orlando & Dawn DVD. Both are available from R2 Entertainment.
 
I happen to enjoy Captain and Tennille.
I liked the Captain and Tennille's uptempo material best - well, quite a bit of it, anyway. I didn't like the goofy stuff, but their take on "Shop Around" was great and I really enjoyed "Lonely Night (Angel Face)" too. Toni has a pretty strong set of pipes!
 
The only song sung by Rita Coolidge I know is from a James Bond movie and it is called ALL TIME HIGH. It's really a pretty good ballad.

Bruno
 
I’ve got this Rita Coolidge A&M CD. “Ain’t That Peculiar” is my favorite track, but as a whole I find this CD a bit of a yawner.

Rita_Coolidge.jpg


Regards,
Mike
 
Really like both artists.
Sat C&T live at both Disneyland and Knott's Berry Fram theme parks when I lived in Southern California.
Toni was wonderful live- warm and friendly- and her voice incredibly strong and controlled. A shame they didn't last longer- "Come in From the Rain" is one of my favorites. Their version of "Ordinary Fool" in my book.
 
Mike Blakesley said:
...I always enjoyed her tune "A Song I'd Like To Sing", from her duet album with Kris Kristofferson... ...As you guys undoubtedly know, it has a tasty Herb Alpert trumpet solo thrown in as a bonus!

...I remember buying that album on the basis of that single and being disppointed that there wasn't more Herb on it...


That album happens to be Kris (Kristofferson) & Rita (Coolidge): Full Moon...

Yes, that is the only track featuring "Herb Alpert"; Millions of Listens by me have confirmed! :neutral:inkshield:

Herb seems to be overdubbed and that brilliant trumpet playing sounds like a bit of an add-on... You would really know if he was really playing with the group and it would be nice to know the motive behind him being added to that track... (Aside from it being a simple, but catchy Latin beat and putting Herb's name on something still A&M as a "sideman") --Though his appearance on Peter Allen's "The More I See You" (from Allen's Taught By Experts) makes up for his not playing on Chris Montez's version of that song and along with Garland Jeffries' "Matador" (from his LP, American Boy & Girl) stand a lot better in the "Gallery of Alpert Guest Appearances" on Rock LP's...

Rita Coolidge is a very Under-Ated A&M Artist and so are The Captain & Tennille; yet they both seem to be an acquired taste if there aren't enough Topics on either of them to have their own Forums here... :wink:

I saw Rita Coolidge in Concert and she was nice enough to chat and sign a few Autographs for me afterwards... As for her albums, I seem to like The Lady's Not For Sale, Full Moon, Fall Into Spring, It's Only Love and Anywhere, Anytime the best...



Dave
 
DAN BOLTON said:
...I got the DVD version of VANISHING POINT for Christmas.... ...Rita Coolidge is featured in the movie, singing a gospel song with fellow A&M'ers, Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett...

...The movie is an icon to car freaks, billed as "The Greatest Car Chase Movie Ever Made"... ...That may be somewhat debateable, but it is a good chance to see some of the more obscure A&M artists doing what they do best...

...Barry Newman was the star, along with a wicked 1970 Dodge Challenger... ...Lots of good "Era-Music", along with the afore mentioned A&M connection...


Yes, I actually had a VANISHING POINT Thread, which Chronicled the A&M Connections (Kim Carnes, who's another under-ated A&M artist, also appears in it) after I rented the movie a few years ago on VHS...

I don't remember what inspired me to rent it, either... Let alone, think of the Soundtrack; must have read something about either or both looking up someone or something on the Internet... :|

That Soundtrack is a bit of a Rarity, too, as I have gone out to the Record Stores and Trade Shows hoping it would come up in my searches...



Dave


DAN BOLTON said:
...And, I only paid 5-Bucks for it as Wal Mart...


Dan
_________________
DAN BOLTON


I think you paid 5-Bucks for it AT Wal Mart...! :oops: :)



Dave

...Wondering if "Selvage", in another Thread (on CD Cases) is actually "Slevage"... :laugh:
 
Dave said:
DAN BOLTON said:
...And, I only paid 5-Bucks for it as Wal Mart...


Dan
_________________
DAN BOLTON


I think you paid 5-Bucks for it AT Wal Mart...! :oops: :)



Dave


Nope, that's my secret identity...I'm the guy who dresses up like a smiley and slashes all the prices...oops! Secret's out...


Dan
 
Rita is also responsible for my all time favorite James Bond Theme: "All Time High."
Also, don't confuse the Barry Newman "Vanishing Point" for the 1997 TV remake with Viggo Mortensen. The first is a classic. The second a mystic muddle if I ever saw one!
 
My favorite Rita Coolidge tune is "We're All Alone." I believe it was written by Boz Scaggs. The only CD I have of hers is the CLASSICS Vol. 5.

I still enjoy Captain and Tennille. My favorite album of theirs is "Come In From The Rain."
 
I find it interesting that they're not much discussion of her - she is an extremely MELLOW artist, but her stuff was fixture on pop and AC radio in the 70s and early 80s, and she must have been a consistently selling artist for them.

Does anyone else remember an SCTV parody of her and Anne Murray? Basically the two of them standing there singing in a very, very relaxed style, almost not moving (must have been Andrea Martin and Catherine O'Hara impersonating them) while an amped-up announcer is yelling, "THE MOST EXCITING CONCERT DOUBLE BILL IN HISTORY!! SHEER EXCITEMENT!!" etc., etc. Silly but funny.....
 
Yeah, Boz wrote "We're All Alone". Coolidge had a huge hit with this song and hers was, at that point, the definitive version. It even trumped his initial recording of it. It was well-produced and she sang it brilliantly. However, in 1999, he recorded an "unplugged" version that has replaced Coolidge's version as the definitive reading. It's on his album, "Fade Into Light" and it is one of the most beautiful recordings I've ever heard. This album finally saw the light of day here in the U.S. in 2005. If you do nothing else, I urge you to check out his version of "We're All Alone". Once you do, hers will pale in comparison.

Ed
 
All this talk about "Were All Alone".....has anyone ever heard Rita's rendition of "Fever"?Besides being Rita's best recording,I would describe it as totally.....HOT!
 
Mike Blakesley said:
I happen to enjoy Captain and Tennille.
I liked the Captain and Tennille's uptempo material best - well, quite a bit of it, anyway. I didn't like the goofy stuff, but their take on "Shop Around" was great and I really enjoyed "Lonely Night (Angel Face)" too. Toni has a pretty strong set of pipes!

The only song someone has begged me NOT to play is "Muskrat Love". :laugh:
 
Rudy said:
Mike Blakesley said:
I happen to enjoy Captain and Tennille.
I liked the Captain and Tennille's uptempo material best - well, quite a bit of it, anyway. I didn't like the goofy stuff, but their take on "Shop Around" was great and I really enjoyed "Lonely Night (Angel Face)" too. Toni has a pretty strong set of pipes!

The only song someone has begged me NOT to play is "Muskrat Love". :laugh:

Didn't Weird Al or somebody do a parody of that song called HAMSTER LOVE? I remember a line:

"Into your mouth with a shove
Looks like HAMSTER LOVE..."

One of the hooks was a line about a "Deep- Fried Fur Lining"...Yum, yum...


Dan
 
Rudy said:
The only song someone has begged me NOT to play is "Muskrat Love". :laugh:

That's the one that probably did them in, credibility-wise. I know that "Muskrat Love" had been around - America had done it too. Lani Hall and Herb Alpert at least had the sense to change the lyrics and call the song "Sun Down".

Harry
 
Yes, I thought Rita did a very Cool, ...Well, HOT! --version of "Fever"... That would be the one "unusual" number before "Higher and Higher (Your Love Has Lifted Me)" came along... I had a lot of her albums..., --I just limited myself to Greatest Hits...! (Which a store was doubtful they'd be able to sell a CD of which I was trading in, though I suggested that they play it in order to "push the product" and sure enough another customer standing next to me was right, on-the-spot interested in buying it and DID!)... :jester:

"Mushrat Love" was easily something The Captain & Tennille had to turn to, I guess... I remember it just coming on the radio on the way to Grandma & Grandpa's house and that was my first time I heard it, after just discovering America's version on the B-Side of a "Ventura Highway" '45' I had concurrently bought...

I noticed the "Willlis Alan Ramsey" name at the bottom of the label and learned that was the person who WROTE it, so sure enough many years later, I find the album HE did it on--on Vinyl and CD!--though still shortly after seeing the song also covered by Lani Hall...!



Dave
 
DAN BOLTON said:
Didn't Weird Al or somebody do a parody of that song called HAMSTER LOVE?

One of many song spoofs erroneously credited to Al. More than likely this one was generated by the Bob Rivers Radio Comedy group, one of a few suppliers of humor material to the morning FM radio market, nationwide. So if it's not Bob's group it may be one of the others.

--Mr Bill
 
Mr Bill said:
DAN BOLTON said:
Didn't Weird Al or somebody do a parody of that song called HAMSTER LOVE?

One of many song spoofs erroneously credited to Al. More than likely this one was generated by the Bob Rivers Radio Comedy group, one of a few suppliers of humor material to the morning FM radio market, nationwide. So if it's not Bob's group it may be one of the others.

--Mr Bill

Bob Rivers, I bet. He did one called "Chipmunks Roasting On An Open Fire" for Xmas... :whistle:
 
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