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Her voice was a frequent back-up to stars like Eric Clapton, Leon Russel and Stephen Stills. Grammy Award-winning Cherokee singer and songwriter Rita Coolidge also had solo hits like “(Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher and Higher” and “We’re All Alone.” Now Coolidge is out with a memoir, Delta Lady, that recalls her days with the icons of music. As our July Native in the Spotlight, Coolidge relives her memories as a sought-after singer and muse in the L.A. music scene.
Hello! Thank you for this interview. I heard it on the day it aired then again this morning on the archive as a reminder of Rita’s work and stance on life. So inspiring that I got her book at the library. I will ingest it as wisdom. She and her friend Bonnie Bramlett sang backup on a song I wrote and singer, Leon Ware covered. What a songwriter does not get to do it choose who sings their song and definitely does not get to have a say on the band and singers. So when I saw Rita’s name on my song, “Words Of Love”, I cried tears of joy. I hope one day to meet her. She is a gift. Thank you again! Zenobia