Rita Coolidge: New book “Delta Lady: A Memoir”
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- čas přidán 5. 04. 2016
- What a life Rita Coolidge has had with two Grammy awards, seventeen albums and a string of hit songs.
She also had a string of romantic encounters with some musical superstars including a six year marriage to Kris Kristofferson. - Zábava
I seriously hope she gets the writing credit she deserves!
She deserves it, Magneto.
We need a Rita Coolidge movie❤❤❤❤
Rita is an amazing woman , beautiful voice and person ....nobody's victim with such respect for people around her. Rita if you ever read this you're beautiful on the inside and out ...
I fell in love with Rita from a great distance the first time I saw her then heard her voice. She is still so lovely 50 years later.
yup.........me too...
Women like Rita, Olivia Newton John, Linda Ronstadt, Karen Carpenter, Marilyn McCoo, Maria Muldaur and Freda Payne, among others, were both beautiful inside as well as outside. They were subtle in their sensuality and they all had such wonderful voices. They didn't need sexuality to sell their music and they also didn't need to have their voices altered, either. IMO, the female singers of the last 30 years cannot hold a candle to these women I've mentioned.
"you're a girl singer" - so belittling of a great artist. Rita is top notch in my book.
Thank you. She is an absolute class act, a rarity in the biz.
Incomparable Rita. I've loved her since the 70's and I'm from Bombay India
Sexist remark, toward miss Rita.
She looks great for 70
Man i learn something new everyday. This is an incredible story. Talk about highway robbery. Coolidge is pure class.
Beautiful lady and a beautiful singer.
And a beautiful brain
I could listen to Rita 24/7.
What song is this??? From the 70,s?
Always so beautiful, both on the outside and inside.
Still absolutely beautiful. I played her album smooth in the 70's.
She looks great and is such a talent she should get credit for all of her incredible work. She has such a great and vivid memory
you go Rita!!! Be strong and don't give up
RITA RITA....What a beauuuutiful life you gave us aaaaalllll in this life !!!!!! 💖
JUST FINISHED HER BOOK. I LOVED IT. THANK YOU, RITA❤️❤️❤️
They talk over her, and she is just elegantly patient.
Rita is quite a lady. Love her honesty. Much respect.
Hello Bella
Jim Gordon who at the time was Rita’s boyfriend got the credit and still receives royalties while in prison.
That’s a very sad story in itself.
Rita took the high road but you’d think someone would make it right.
These royalties must be Jim, s main income, I was thinking... Poor man 🤔😳
I've loved Rita since the first time I heard her first album back in the day (still have it!). After hearing this interview, I love her even more! I need to get her book now! Thank you for featuring her...she's such a wonderful singer/writer and person! 🎶❤
70 n so gorgeous.I would trade all the Hollywood beauties for her anyday.
I love Rita's voice. We live in the same town now, but I've never run into her. Especially liked her singing with Kris.
I like her chorus in "after midnight"
What a great lady. I lived in the same little town in California where she lived and I was always hoping I would cross her path. I was a big fan of hers.
.. this happened to me too. Only in hindsight do we know that it did happen and how it happened .. and how the truth lives within us. I say this because it's true for many of us. Rita and I are in the same club, and we've walked the miles together. I echo her words and her sentiments and her truth and I know this, that back in the 70's, when you were a woman, a singer and a songwriter, moving in the circles and all you wanted to do in life was make music, share it and perform it .. but you hooked up with someone, you had a baby .. ... I tell you it's not easy playing your guitar when you're in labour .. Back then all the record company execs and all the publishers, all the engineers and guitarists I ever knew of were men, back in the 70's. Not today thank heavens. My songs were demo'd and recorded but can you find them today? Nup .. Rita, you are braver than I am. You're out there .. :-) but we still have our daughters .. ..
Presenters please allow the lady to speak. She is the interesting person .
Great singer. Love her songs. An amazing woman !
Oh beautiful Rita, memories of the Palomina Club so long ago. I was a frumpy mom of five & you "Lifted me higher" every time I saw you! Going on 80 now & still listen to your voice; like No OTHER in the world. Bless you & thank you. Connie
Fantastic book
Beautiful woman
Back then it was a man's world. Although things have improved, we still have great strides to make.
Clapton’s a jerk to steal your song then taunt you about it. What a creep !
I still have a crush on the Delta Lady. Eric Clapton is a great musician but he should own up.
I put an edit on the wiki page that he stole this music from you Rita.
I believe her.
Amazing lady. Eric Clapton should be ashamed of himself. We all know the truth Rita.
David Crosby (a real skirt chaser himself) wrote a song about the conflict between Stills and Nash over Rita called Cowboy Movie for his first fantastic solo album, "If I Could Only Remember My Name". Stills and Nash eventually got over it. But one can easily see why both of them had the hots for that drop-dead gorgeous Indian babe named Rita Coolidge! Hubba-hubba!
Linda como sempre. Amo essa cantora.💋♥️
Wow, never knew, and that piano part is note for note rip off. She was one of my moms favs in the 70s and in the late 80s my buddy worked for the Disneyland Hotel and many others as a driver and he drove Rita home and she had him in, gave him one cocktail and told him some cool story's. (No funny biz) she was just cool he said at the time. He also drove Evil Kneival who he said was still a badass, and he delivered juice and coffee to Bob Eukers room, and Bob he said was awesome and energetic, just like on the Miller Lite commercials. Last story same era, he met Peg from married w/ children at the hotel. She was there for some kind of "getting off blow" convention.
Gostei da entrevista
Rita, please rectify the "Layla," situated. Get a credit and money. I don't like lawsuits, but sometimes . . .
True.... sue the bastards....for stealing your song that only YOU can sing ever so sweetly and give it more credit than anyone else who may try...NO SHAME industry!!!
I never thought for a moment that the image I've always had of EC would ever crash, but it has. Injustice in any way, shape or form is unpalatable to me.
Don't judge so quickly... Without knowing all the facts.
@@pabloperez4063, do you know _all_ the facts?
@@JSB103 The facts are simply.
The one to blame is Jim, because he came up with the tune and said it was HIS.
Eric had no reason to suspect Jim was lying.
What I don’t understand is why , in 1970, Rita didn’t go to Eric (she was singing with his band in 1970 a couple of months before with D&B and sure they were friendly, ), and said: "Eric, I WROTE it...not Jim"
Why did she wait decades...?
Here’s a fun fact! Eric beat the sh*t out of his wife, Patti, on a regular basis, for years! Whaddya expect from a classic npd domestic abuser, integrity?
Senhorita Rita Colidge.
I bought and read this book. It was okay. It was sad to me that all the publishers wanted was the salacious tidbits from her rock years. I'd have liked to learn more about her childhood and her post Kris years (tribal activities). There was little of her post Kris years, which succeeded her CSN&Y years.
Hello Lynn, how are you doing today, how’s everything going over there 👉, hope everything is fine?
continua linda
I believe Rita a hundred times before i'd believe Eric once...
Nobody said you were smart but thanks for confirming...........SMFH...........
I doubt what she is saying is true.
It's funny how people can express radical opinions... Without not knowing all the facts. They seem to have been in the band and in the studio when the story happened, and are part of it.
A remember an article in Playboy where Kris and Vera Mills made a movie together and after the movie, they did some photos on a bed which would have been rated X. Later I heard that was the last straw for Rita. I can tell you stories from long ago but I can't tell you what I ate for breakfast. lol
That movie came out in 1976, The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With the Sea.
@@Phoenix85006 And it was Sarah Miles.
Kris is a junky and does not deserve Rita😡
Her music was plagiarized, how terrible. I can empathize with her on a lot of levels when some asshole steals your stuff right from underneath you esp. without your permission. Rita is a beautiful woman and I'm glad she came out with this new book, going to be my next purchase.
The songwriting credit situation with Eric Clapton sound very similiar to Marianne Faithfull with Mick and Keith on 'Sister Morphine.'
She done run through the phone book!
Whatever his name is, he is rude. He interrupted Rita several times, plus finished her sentences here and there.
I doubt Coolidge wrote as much of the MUSIC for the coda as everyone thinks she did. Everyone forgets that this “revelation” came out in her book with details (read excerpt below). It’s kinda fascinating how this story has been grossly exaggerated - to the point where some people think she wrote the entire song (her story changes in every interview). The story has taken on a life of its own to the point where its clear that most of what people think is just not true - but Coolidge keeps riding the wave.
Beyond drumming, Jim Gordon was an accomplished musician since he was a teen - he could read and write music. Read what you want on Blogs, Facebook posts or what Bobby Whitlock (keyboardist) says. While Whitlock appreciated Gordon’s talent immensely, he did NOT like Gordon personally. I’ll stick with what she wrote herself in her book, which is quite telling (again, read excerpt below).
It is my belief that, AT BEST, she made some minor additions to Jim’s original piece, and that’s about it. Should she have been added to the writing credits? Maybe, sure. But she did not even come up with the initial idea for the song ‘Time’ - Jim Gordon did. She said so herself in HER book (read below). Nor did she have the speck of musical talent that Jim Gordon did (he wasn't some hippie, half-assed drummer and, he produced several albums). Finally, it’s pretty easy for Coolidge to make this accusation when really, the only one who can truly refute it was in jail and then eventually died there.
Below is what Coolidge wrote in her book about this matter. There are important facts that will sneak by if you’re not reading carefully. And for what it’s worth, Coolidge didn’t write any of her hits.
*********************
Excerpted from Delta Lady: A Memoir by Rita Coolidge with Michael Walker.
Copyright (c) by Rita Coolidge. Reprinted by permission of Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers
“One afternoon in 1970, Jim Gordon came over to my house in Hollywood, sat down at the piano, and played for me a chord progression he’d just composed. Most people know Jim as one of L.A.’s top session drummers in the early ‘70s -- he played on everything from Glen Campbell’s “Wichita Lineman” to the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds album -- but he was also a capable pianist, and because he was exposed to so many styles of music, he had a well-developed sense of melody and structure.
"The chords Jim played for me were in the key of C sharp and built to an eight-note refrain before the progression repeated. There was something haunting about it, especially when the bright major chords suddenly dipped to B-flat 7th for the refrain. It also seemed deeply familiar-like when you meet someone you’re immediately attracted to who seems at once both exotic and approachable.”
“I loved Jim’s progression, but at the moment that’s all it was -- a stunning riff, not a song. As we played with it, a second progression suddenly came to me, a countermelody in the key of G that “answered” and resolved the tension of Jim’s chords and built to a dramatic crescendo that bridged the song’s beginning and ending. I wrote lyrics that reflected the melody’s sense of fatalism and hope (“my darling believe me, don’t ever leave me, we’ve got a million years to show them that our love is real.”). Jim and I ended up calling it “Time (Don’t Let the World Get In Our Way)” and taped a demo. We played the song for Eric Clapton when we were in England touring with Delanie and Bonnie"
“I remember clearly sitting at the piano at Olympic Studios while Eric listened to me play it all the way through (so does Bobby Whitlock, Delaney’s and Bonnie’s ace piano player, who was on the session).”
"Jim and I left a tape cassette of the demo with Eric, hoping of course that he might cover it. Nothing came of it, and I largely forgot about it. But our song, with Jim’s wistful melody and my sweet countermelody, would come to haunt me the rest of my life."
WHAT BOBBY WHITLOCK HAS SAID
Below is what Bobby Whitlock has said about this matter. A broadcasting executive named Linda Wnek interviewed Dominos keyboardist Bobby Whitlock, who had his own opinion about the piano piece.
Even Whitlock’s ‘recollection’ doesn’t jive with what is in Coolidge’ book (again, that changes in every interview she does). What part of the writing session was he there for? Did he hear what musical piece Jim Gordon walked in with? Besides that, Whitlock’s comments come off as angry and resentful towards Jim Gordon. Perhaps that’s because Gordon plays the piano at the top of the coda and not him? (Whitlock verified this in many interviews). Or perhaps it’s because he (Whitlock) overdubbed and finished the coda and didn’t receive a “credit” for that portion? There definitely seems to be some animosity towards Jim Gordon on his part (again, numerous interviews, conversations on his YT Channel, the Clapton doc has subtle digs). Whitlock partially blames Gordon for the premature demise of the Dominos.
THIS IS WHITLOCK IN THE INTERVIEW REFERENCED ABOVE:
“That piano part in my opinion has nothing to do with this song that Eric wrote entirely himself. It’s about his experience. Not Jim’s! Jim took that piano melody from his ex-girlfriend Rita Coolidge. I know because in the Delaney & Bonnie days I lived in John Garfield’s old house in the Hollywood Hills and there was a guest house with an upright piano in it.”
Whitlock continued, “Rita and Jim were up there in the guest house and invited me to join in on writing this song with them called ‘Time.’ I didn’t hear it as rock ‘n’ roll and bowed out of the little songwriting session … I still don’t think that it’s rock ‘n’ roll and really has no place on Eric’s incredibly soul-on-the-line-for-the-world-to-hear song about his world and his experience. Jim took the melody from Rita’s song and didn’t give her credit for writing it. Her boyfriend ripped her off … That piano coda taints the integrity of this incredibly beautiful song. It has no place on it … I think ‘Layla’ rocks without a piano on it.”
She never tells her story the same way that's in her book. In her book, she claims that she added the counter Melody, but in other interviews that I watched her in or read, she never mentions that. She's always saying that she wrote The Bridge, the melody, to the actual song and the lyrics. no mention of adding anything to the instrumental, which is the coda. I'm convinced that she didn't add to the instrumental. only wrote the actual song. as far as Bobby Whitlock goes, he has done a complete 180 and now sticks up for Jim when people accuse him of stealing from rita.Bobby also has a problem with her taking credit for the song Superstar. He's on record saying she had nothing to do with the actual writing of that song. I think it's convenient to make these claims knowing full well, Jim was never going to address it. I just feel like she's not being completely honest.
Yeah, I know that 'Superstar' story. She claims to have come up with the idea of the Carpenters' biggest smash hit. LOL - And she wants writing credit for that too. All because it 'came to her in a dream'. Like...what? But according to Leon Russell (and every one else there) Coolidge said to him (Russell) one day that to her, Dionne Warwick was the first 'Superstar'. And THAT is what sparked the idea in Russell for a song.
Coolidge cracks me up. She was just a groupie, lucky to be working and wants credit for others peoples true artistic talent because she happened to be in the room. Next up, she'll claim she wrote 'American Pie' because Don McClean saw what was on her lunch plate at the studio commissary. @@JayCali-ej6vd
I like the fact that you post the excerpt from her book. I can't believe how many people who claim read her book get every detail wrong. It's crazy that people think Jim wasnt capable of writing that instrumental on his own. I just feel like Rita wants to attach her name to Layla and Superstar because those were hits that happened to be written by her ex-boyfriends. If she was such good songwriter, why didn't she do more of her own tunes. People need to realize there's two sides to every story and it's not just Rita's.
People will believe WHATEVER is written on the internet. Thanks for the response.
Want more? Here is what the great drummer Hal Blaine said about Gordon in August, 2005 in a letter he wrote as an addendum to an article written in 'Vintage Drummer'. Below is what Hal wrote in full (he “played great piano”). This excerpt is soooo easy to search on the internet but people are just too lazy....
HAL BLAINE:
“Jim Gordon was a handsome young guy with blonde curly hair and a magnetic smile. He was a great reader and played perfect time. Jim came along when Earl Palmer and I kind of had the Hollywood scene almost to ourselves, Jim came along and saved many a date. He was calm, cool, and played great piano as well as drums and percussion. A perfect ear and a perfect personality. He got along great with everyone. Jim was becoming what Earl Palmer and I had earned earlier for ourselves, a great reputation. Shocking how the drug culture can grab you up, chew you up, and spit you out. I hope his many fans understand the plague that drugs can create. Take note drummers, It's not worth it!
I still consider Jim Gordon a great talent who went down the wrong street due to mental illness. I started hiring him on dates. He was perfect for whatever we were recording. He learned quickly what not to play. Sometimes that takes players years to learn, and often the hard way. Jim was everybody's friend, including mine, and still is.”
Hal Blaine
August 1, 2005
@@JayCali-ej6vd
That song sounds like “Killing me Softly” in the beginning. Dont know which one was first. Lori Leiberman’s Killing Me Softly came out in ‘73?
In Clapton's bio, I don't remember this story about Layla.
I think I am liking the man less and less.
Me too. No doubt😣😣
Is there another part to this interview?
Gata Diva❤❤❤❤❤
Eric Clapton took something precious from someone, then something precious was taken from him.
I have always said ..layla
Is an original song ...
By Rita Coolidge..
Iric clapton & his manager
Try to steel that song
From this perfect women.
We Love you!!
Rita Coolidge..always & forever...we all know you
Are the greatest song writer that has ever exsisted..God bless you
Dear..
LMAO, The WHOLE first part of the song was written by EC and BW ! Are you nuts? Is RC claiming she wrote that to? There is question to her even writting the coda, (end) of the song, which may be Jim Gordon or a collaboration between both RC and JG. By NO MEANS did RC have anyone to do with original Layla song, the coda? Maybe!
WOW. RC is so beautiful, sexy, and talented, DAMN!
I wonder if Leon Russell was before Jim Gordon or after
Before. They met in Memphis where she was living and he was arranging and playing on Delaney and Bonnie's album they were recording at Stax.
Rita u are beautiful.as a women and as asinger..love u to bits..thank u for bird on a wire..my favourit..
You must remember former junkies often retain a nasty streak and Erik may be one of them. The music business was not always as righteous and loving as the punters thought.
The Music Industry is a very Sleazy Backstabbing dog eat dog business.
Im a witness to a lot of the unfortunate dishonesties and rip-offs.
Creep Clapton. Stole George Harrison's wife. Stole Rita Coolidge's song. Anything else? Feel free to add and elaborate.
It was Jim Gordon who stole this second part of "Layla" from Rita.
As to the first half of the tune Eric Clapton wrote, the main riff was actually stolen from Albert King's version of "As the Years Go Passing By."
I just did ..
Clapton stole the song and used it to stole Harrison's wife.
@@ClassicTVMan1981X , Genius , Duane Allman is the one who came uo with the riff that he said was influenced by the AK song!! Stop being a EC. Hater
@@robmorrison1043
I am not an EC hater, though.
Eric did her dirty.
Perhaps if Rita had "put out" for Eric he may have given her writing credits! That is where the money is in the music industry! Just ask the former Byrds! Gene Clark wrote most of the songs and he was tooling around in a Porsche while the rest of the Byrds were still taking the bus, according to David Crosby!
não sei falar ingles, mas parece que a entendo...
Hey Eric. Put it to rest, we all know the truth already..
God, Its like they stole her child....Its a big bad world we live in ...
What goes around comes back to bite
Women AND ALL people need to get ON BOARD
i read that rita coolidge is not of cherokee descent and reality is from the chickasaw tribe by geographical location to her origin which is alright by me if she is chickasaw also i read that burt reynolds claims cherokee blood but reality is he his of the creek nation tribe which is alright by me
Where'd ya read that? Everywhere I see says she's 3/4 Cherokee, from a Cherokee father and a Cherokee-Scottish mother. Any good reason not to believe that's a true fact?
Robert Stinkwood.
I never really got too excited over Clapton
I never thought his music was so great. Now he's just a piece of dirt to me.
I ended up here to see the rita coolidge i remembered from her days with kris kristofferson... fuck
During those times a lot of drug use by many involved in this story. We all know people sometimes do things under the influence they normally wouldn’t do. I’m not making excuses for anyone it’s just a fact.
When Eric received award for Layla being best rock song ever he never mentioned Mr Gordon by name. Personally I think he did that for a reason. May have been his way of acknowledging what most everyone knew. Although If that was the case he should have mentioned Rita by name.
Had no idea. I'm disappointed in Eric
Do more research, honey, her gripe isn't with Clapton, it's with Jim Gordon who, by the way, wrote and recorded the Piano Coda before he met Coolidge. She has backed-off since.
Clapton did NOT steal the song you moron. It was Jim Gordon.
@@TheresaPowers Clapton could have given her credit once he found out but he didn't
Jim Gordon assaulted her too.
Wow! Clapton ripped off Rita Coolidge? She should have sued!!
You know what, I think it's classier that she didn't. She proved its not about the money, it's about the acknowledgement, and she's gone out there and got that for herself, so good for her.
She was going to until the studio records went public and showed that Jim Gordon had written and recorded the Piano Coda BEFORE meeting her. That Piano Coda was recorded before Derek & The Dominos formed, before Clapton played with Delaney & Bonnie and met the Dominos. Coolidge has also taken credit for writing Kristofferson songs that were composed before they met. Starting to get the picture???
@@natfeerick1 - No, she got caught when the original studio recording records were produced and shot holes in her story.
Well I'd like to see that evidence for myself before commenting further
@@natfeerick1 - And you can't do research?
No respect for Eric Clapton, none. Smdh how can he look at himself in the mirror and be ok w what he sees.....
Yes, Clapton knows, and he could do this right? Don't get it. "Well love the one you are with".
So how is Stephen Stills involved now?
Wasn't "I am woman" written by Helen Reddy's guitarist? plagiarism must be common in the pop field.
Ray Burton wrote that song and he's still writing today .. .. :-)
p.s. Reddy claims she wrote it but hell, if she was ever a songwriter she'd have continued writing. Right ???
It was co-written by Reddy and Ray Burton.
I love the figure on that lady in the pink dress.
What is she doing on Fox news? Im confused.
Stones, Zeppelin, Deep Purple et al borrowed heavily from American artists.
Too bad when push came to shove, the studio records showed that Gordon wrote the Piano Coda, recorded it, and shelved it until the Layla Sessions, two years BEFORE she hooked up with Jim Gordon. She has eased up on this since the studio records went public. Rita is also taking credit for writing songs that were actually penned by Kristofferson BEFORE he met her. Rumor has it she wrote all the Beatles catalog, too. She is making her career taking credit for things she had nothing to do with.
After she disrespects EC on Bell bottom blues, dhe forgets to add that EC added BW to the credits, and BOUGHT back his rights the the Layla album which BW sold off years ago. EC had his attorneys get it back for him
Music sounded different totally
Rita , love your work , BUT , you and Boz need to come clean about ALL ALONE , cause you know and I know neither you or Boz penned that tune . John Hohia , a session keyboardist on the Tamala / Mowtown label wrote the tune dedicated to his wife Aime who was dying of cancer at the time of writing . Whilst Boz sang the original , Close your eyes Aime , you chose to alter the lyrics and sing Close your eyes and dream . I'm finding your reference to the Layla rip off as hypocritical don't you think . Now you are of Native American decent , John and I are of Maori New Zealand decent which links us to indigenous peoples of the world and with that comes a responsibility to purity of spirituality . Please acknowledge John as he is arthritic and in need of help. He has a CZcams channel , content of which holds his contribution to classic Mowtown tunes . Thank you .
Wake up grey-haired old dude....music is like software - it"s a combination of influence and creation. Who are you Dan Rather? Rita is a class act. Shame on you.
I'm real disappointed w/ Eric Clapton.
Stop interrupting her!! Shut up!
No surprise about Clapton. Was always a taker.Clapton-one of the most overrated musicians on the planet.Benefited from great musicians who played with him.
Bullshit. The man is musically beyond reproach.
Your a Moron, Jim Gordon is the one who screwed her out of the credits of the coda at the end of the song. As far as Clapton he is the most revered and influential guitarist of his generation who set the bar so high that few will ever reach or surpass him.
@@robmorrison1043 - Except when push came to shove, the studio records indicate that Gordon wrote and recorded the Piano Coda before he met Coolidge. He wrote it long before the Dominos were formed and pulled it out as an idea to close Layla. Coolidge has a litany of claims of writing songs she had nothing to do with.
You idiot. Clapton did NOT steal the song. Jim Gordon and Rita wrote it and later Jim used it when writing Layla with Clapton. dumbass.
That female presenter is very annoying, she Isn't needed, interjecting constantly & adding nothing to justify her actually being there.
No use for Eric.
So unfair
I just lost all respect for Eric Clapton
Hello Ann, how are you doing today, how’s everything going over there 👉 I hope your day was blessed 😇 Ann?