A sprawling collection of musicians and their friends careening across the country, the shy Coolidge mostly observed and learned. In ’69 Rita accepted a featured soloist position with Joe Cocker’s Mad Dogs and Englishmen. She was soon a much in-demand vocal accompanist.
“I just left everything behind and started again.” “I never even went back to Memphis,” she says. Everyone knew who I was…” Sure enough, “Turn Around and Love You” had been a surprise top ten hit, but only in L.A. “When I got to L.A.,” recounts Rita, “I just couldn’t believe it. Delaney and Bonnie even took her with them, back to Los Angeles to help them sing on their famous Accept No Substitutes album. When the latter visited town, they were enthralled with Rita’s voice. Memphis was meanwhile being rediscovered by a whole new crop of Southern rockers like Leon Russell and Delaney and Bonnie. The finest voice that company had seen in some time, she earned the rather dubious honor of recording a solo single for the company – “Turn Around and Love You”. First she sang locally, then ventured to Memphis at a jingles company. Later, to pay for art supplies, she would turn to her first love again. Priscilla took off on a vocal scholarship, Linda gave up singing and Rita went to Florida State University to pursue a degree in Art.
They worked as a trio, winning local state fairs and talent contests before eventually going their separate ways. Her first group was The Coolidge Sisters, which includes siblings Priscilla and Linda. He positioned her at the center of his choir and young Rita quickly learned to sing and perform. Now, with last year’s breakthrough acceptance of three top five singles – “Higher and Higher”, “We’re All Alone”, and “The Way You Do The Things You Do” – Coolidge is among the most well-deserved success stories in music.īorn in Nashville and raised in East Tennessee, her father, Dick Coolidge, was the minister at a small church outside of Lafayette. Her vocal sensitivity has long been legend among her peers – she can summon an entire mood of sweet fire or soulful abandon with a single nuance. Much more than a song stylist, Rita Coolidge is an artist’s artist.
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