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Taking its title from a song inspired by her, this anthology open with Rita's first (very minor) American hit in 1969 and samples her music over the next thirty years, although thirty of the tracks here are from the seventies and ten from the eighties, leaving the nineties to be represented by just two tracks. By far Rita's biggest commercial success was her 1977 album, Anytime anywhere, which yielded some big international hits and was also a big seller in its own right. Rita's own eclectic musical tastes and her desire not to be stereotyped may have made her music more difficult to appreciate, but she remains a talented singer and this anthology explores her diverse music.
Rita was born in Nashville so you might expect that country music would figure somewhere in the mix. It does, but mostly via her duets with Kris Kristofferson, to whom she was married for a while. On her solo recordings, country influences are less evident. In fact, Rita was much more interested in soul music and that shows through much more strongly in the music that she recorded. She might have established herself as a white soul singer as Dusty Springfield had in the sixties, but she didn't want to restrict herself to one genre, preferring to record whatever she wanted. As this anthology shows, soul is as near as you'll get to a one-word genre description of Rita's music, but there are so many other influences mixed in.
This compilation contains an informative booklet, dutifully listing which album each track first appeared on, though most of those albums have never been released on CD. All of Rita's American hits are included, though the only hits to make the top twenty in the pop charts all came from her album Anytime anywhere - Your love has lifted me higher and higher (a slowed down version of the Jackie Wilson original), The way you do the things you do (a cover of the song that gave the Temptations their big breakthrough in 1964) and We're all alone (a cover of a Boz Scaggs song). Curiously, no other songs from that album are included here, although her untitled 1971 debut album is represented by four tracks here, as is her 1975 album It`s only love.
Rita's lesser American hits include Fever (a cover of the song made famous by Peggy Lee), A song I'd like to sing (a duet with Kris, who also wrote the song), Loving arms (another duet with Kris), Something `bout you baby I like (a duet with Glen Campbell) and All time high (the theme from Octopussy and probably Rita`s biggest success with an original song). All those are here along with Rita's other minor hits. Rita's best duet with Kris may be Please don't tell me how the story ends, recorded when their marriage was breaking up. The diversity of Rita's music is illustrated by the inclusion of covers of songs by Neil Young (I believe you), Ethel Waters (Am I blue?), Leonard Cohen (Bird on a wire), Allen Toussaint (Basic lady) and Exile (The closer you get - this song was later made famous by Alabama, a couple of years after Rita covered it). Another notable cover is Only you, which is not to be confused with the similarly titled Platters classic. This song was originally a big UK hit for Yazoo (a group headed by Vince Clarke and Alison Moyet but known as Yaz in the USA), but which became an even bigger UK hit for the Flying Pickets.
With all those covers, it's also worth mentioning that Rita recorded plenty of original material too, though she was generally less successful with those records. Here you'll find several songs written or co-written by Donna Weiss, a song writing friend of Rita's, as well as a couple by Marc Benno, among Rita's early recordings, but it would be fair to say that covers dominate this compilation. In the nineties, Rita co-wrote Cherokee (included here) with her sister and niece. It's a great song, coming from a family of mixed European-Cherokee blood.
For those who must classify their music according to a particular style, Rita Coolidge is a nuisance as she defies classification, but for those who just enjoy great music, Rita Coolidge is worth a listen and this anthology provides an excellent introduction to her music.
Top reviews from other countries
Peter Durward Harris
Fitting anthology of an under-rated singer
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 31 March 2009
Gregory E. Sanchez
A Great Collection, oh so close to perfection....except
Reviewed in the United States on 11 February 2004
Kindle Customer
Great voice, noisy arrangements
Reviewed in the United States on 2 January 2007
