JESSI BUSY AS EVER: Promoting Upcoming Waylon Tribute (VOL. II) and Singing with Hank Jr. for the Country Music Hall of Fame

The next portion of my Jessi Bio (dealing primarily with Mirriam Johnson's life and work in the "Duane Eddy Years" and her first meeting with Ol' Waylon) will arrive as soon as I get my Christmas shopping done, which of course will be mere moments away. NOT. In any event, Jessi the Lady has been busy this December, still working on her own projects and contributing to great causes. Notably, she has been in Nashville with Shooter and a number of other artists, gearing-up for the eventual release of the second volume in the official Jessi-approved Waylon tribute album, and also helping old friend Hank Williams Jr. in a benefit to raise money for the Country Music Hall of Fame. One of Nashville's most beloved columnists, Hazel Smith, dishes wonderfully about a recent visit with Jessi, and fans can be privy to the details by following this link: http://www.cmt.com/news/hot-dish/1675728/hot-dish-jamey-johnson-gives-jessi-colter-a-20-bill-for-scratch-paper.jhtml

More to come, friends. As mentioned, 2012 is going to be a busy year for Jessi, Shooter, their fans, and Waylon's legions of fans. Stay tuned and enjoy safe and blessedly happy holidays!

Amazing News: Jessi's Autobiography is reportedly in-the-works ... New Album Rumored for 2012

The next installment of my Jessi Colter-bio will arrive as soon as I find time amidst all of my other projects, but until then Colter fans ought to be galvanized by the following news: Jessi has been hard at work on her autobiography -- crafting her life-story at home in Arizona and sometimes in the town of Normandy, near Nashville. The autobiography is confirmed by a recent article about the Jennings estate's indefatigable business-manager, Nikki Mitchell, in the Shelbyville Times Gazette. The article is entitled Ready for the Country? and can be read at http://www.t-g.com/story/1784482.html. As if this news was not exciting enough, a new Jessi Colter studio album is rumored for 2012. In interviews related to the promotion of the latest Jessi & Shooter-approved Waylon Jennings tribute album, Jessi notes that she has been working with Lenny Kaye and a slew of peers for the past three years. The disc is expected to be released by Scatter Records. No matter what the case may be, the idea of Jessi's memoirs reaching the public is particularly extraordinary. Her life has been as adventurous as that of her beloved husband, and with all due respect to the beloved and wonderful Waylon ... I expect Jessi remembers a lot more of the key moments. It would be the musical autobio of the decade, if well-written and candid, and we already know that Jessi is a straight-shootin' and admirably articulate woman. Stay tuned, Colterians!

JESSI COLTER: The Biographical Essentials (PART ONE)

The woman who would become known to the world of pop, country, rock, and American roots music as "Jessi Colter" entered the world on May 25, 1947 (or 1943, according to sources we dismiss due to Jessi's seemingly eternal youth and sexiness) as Mirriam Johnson, the sixth child of seven children born to Helen Johnson of the Mesa, Arizona "neck of the world". Mama Helen (a formidable, hard-working woman of European ancestry) was not only a full-time homemaker for her delightful brood, but an ordained evangelical/Pentecostal minister and feisty preacher with her own church and congregation. Papa Johnson was a one-time racing-car builder, inventor, and entrepreneur who, with his lovely wife, owned copper and turquoise mines sequestered near a lodge-style family camp near the Gila River, deep in the Arizona desert. Remember these things as we outline our story of Jessi Colter's unique beginnings: faith; family; fast cars; and the kinds of wide-open, mystically lonesome Western desert spaces that can often be the domain of genuinely maverick American "outlaw" personalities.

That inimitable, pioneering Western lifestyle formed the foundation of a loving family guided by the strong hand of Mother Helen's unshakable faith. These were key factors in the development of Jessi Colter's character. Throughout her adult life, Jessi has been known as a woman of class, sass, grace, independence, and a sizzling sense of humor as wry and dry as the desert sands from which she seemingly sprung. She is a woman of the American "West" and, though fame has enabled her to travel the world and light-up everything from concert stadiums and record company offices to glitzy Nashville, New York, and LA soirees, her identity will always be authentically linked to the gorgeous-but-arid land of her birth, and to the faith that permeated her stark and very "deep in the West" Arizona upbringing. It has always amazed me that some folks think that the only people who dwell in "the country" are to be found in the South. Sorry, honey -- that is Establishment Nashville smoke & mirrors, along with a lot of other twisted territorial foolishness. Authentic rural music is defined by whatever off-the-beaten path, outside-the-big city, hardscrabble outskirt and otherwise backwater American region can be found. Nashville is about as "country" as Times Square. Yet it has been the mecca for giddy artists who craved acceptance and who were subsequently eaten-up and spit-out. This, good friends, is why the term "outlaw" was even applied to country & western music to begin-with. Listen and learn from the likes of Waylon Jennings and his posse. Even so, every outlaw worth his or her salt tends to take a circuitous route on the journey to "find themselves" and gorgeous Jessi Colter was no exception.

There can be little doubt that children in large families often find wonderfully strategic ways to make themselves heard and to demonstrate their usefulness. Kids are resilient in this regard and the creative child can employ particularly effective methods in order to secure the attention and love that all normal children need and desire. Little Mirriam Johnson proved herself quite useful indeed; Mama Helen's church congregation needed a piano player and, when Mirriam demonstrated a swift talent for tickling the ivories soon after lessons commenced at age seven, a prodigy was just around the proverbial corner. Within four years, the scene must have looked portentous, like something out of a rollicking (but evangelistic) rock & roll bio-flick: Helen preaching God's love and the holy words of Scripture to her tongue-speaking flock, churning them into a crescendo of hallelujahs and prophetic exaltation, while, at the nearby upright piano, 11 year-old Mirriam was just beginning to strike the first, authoritative notes of a Gospel nugget like His Eye is On the Sparrow. The kid could play, and, with the help of God and the spirit-filled orchestration of Mama Helen, that church swooned and swayed with the searing brand of intense "soul" that has been the bedrock and constant wellspring of some of the greatest American musical artists of our time. Mirriam Johnson had soul -- and she came by it the real way ... hard work, innate talent, and instilled inspiration. No one had to "attach it to her" years later in some industry boardroom at the Capitol Records Tower in Hollywood.

An eleven year-old girl striking the keys and filling a room, filling hearts with the wonderfully aching chords and melodies of soul-stunning Gospel music -- Gospel music up at the sharp end. That was only the beginning, folks, but what a beginning it was!

(STAY TUNED FOR PART TWO)

Lame Liner-Notes Notwithstanding, 3-Album Jessi Colter Release is a MUST-HAVE!

I received the much-anticipated, remastered, reissued 3-album Jessi Colter set from Amazon a few days ago and can report that the project is absolutely gorgeous from start to finish ... with one horrific exception. More about that in a minute. As indicated in prior entries, there has been a relative flurry of Jessi Colter classic 1970s album reissues on CD, beginning with the two-fer by Raven Records (I'm Jessi Colter + Diamond in the Rough + 3 tunes from That's the Way a Cowboy Rocks and Rolls) and now by BGO Reissues (I'm Jessi Colter + Jessi + Diamond in the Rough). The former set, which offered 23 songs and the entirety of Jessi's uber-classic Capitol debut disc, is the less attractive of the two offerings, all things being considered. The latter is superior because it is includes Jessi's first three superb Capitol albums in toto (on two compact discs), in chronological order, more lavishly packaged than the Raven product, and notably "remastered from the original tapes"; the Raven product's packaging does not make this claim).

More than anything else, the BGO product gives us the crucial sequence of Jessi Colter songs exactly as they were released to her fans from Spring 1975 to July 1976, with pristine, digitally remastered audio quality, lots of sexy Jessi-photos and a nice slip-case. The photos are all derived from the three original album covers and sleeves, each obviously rendered in their stand-alone photographic glory, i.e. you get the clean photos of Jessi without the album credits superimposed. The cover (seen above) features Jessi famously attaching bling from the back cover-shot of I'm Jessi Colter. The insert-booklet features shots from both the I'm Jessi Colter album front-cover and the Jessi album sleeve -- the gorgeous sepia head-shot of smiling Jessi-in-profile and the Jim Moffit "parchment" artwork listing all of the songs from Jessi and each song's musical motif ('Without You' = Trouble, 'Hand That Rocks the Cradle' = Maturity, etc.). The jewel case's tray-card preserves the wonderful Jim Moffitt painting of Jessi in-the-woodlands that graced the back cover of Jessi, only without the album credits in the mix. I always loved that painting and thought it captured the almost mystical ambiance of an album I still consider to be Jessi's artistic masterpiece (though just by-a-hair ... after Out of the Ashes and Mirriam).

The liner notes provided with the BGO collection are, unfortunately, an abomination. For a three-album reissue of this significance, the folks at BGO might have paid their staff writer to do a little more than pull inaccurate information from the web in such a clearly disinterested, disoriented manner. The guy possibly didn't give much of a rip, stating a few dry statistical facts about Jessi's career and then meandering down every possible tangent by following Wiki-links about other artists. For example, in "writing" about Jessi's early days as a songwriter alongside Duane Eddy, our intrepid investigator notes that Dottie West recorded one of Jessi's songs in 1965. He then apparently googled Dottie West and started giving us a completely unnecessary run-down of Dottie's recording career. Huh? This sort of extended "walkabout" occurs with almost every mentionable individual connected with Jessi's records (session players, producers, coffee-brewers, you get the picture). Jessi's actual music and style are never really discussed. This was not the case with the Raven reissue's liner-notes, where the writer obviously took time to analyze Colter's music, influences, and impact before rendering insightful commentary.

Research, people. It's called research! One of the things that has always annoyed me is the underestimation of the great Jessi Colter, and the BGO package's lousy liner-notes only magnified that irritation, but the musical legacy preserved is beyond reproach, and that is what matters most. Moreover, I will be correcting any "underestimation issues" with my upcoming Jessi-bio, which I swear is indeed upcoming. I simply need to organize it and find a window of time in which to lay it out here on the blog. My bio of Jessi and analysis of her music is based upon extensive research and citation of legitimate sources ... not sloppy Wikipedia hen-scratch.

Buy the BGO three-fer collection here, at Amazon, or at your preferred online retailer. Who knows how many they will print? To have these immaculate Jessi Colter classics in such polished-up, contemporary media format is a Godsend, folks. And please wait patiently for the Jessi-bio. I promise that it will be fascinating, and that it will shine a powerful light upon this iconic outlaw-lady's important (and too often overlooked) contribution to original American roots music. Cheers for now, y'all.

A Veritable Avalanche of Jessi Reissues? Now There Appears to be a "Three-Fer" as 1976's 'Jessi' Enters the Mix

Raven Records in Australia got the ball rolling a couple of weeks ago with their release of the Two-for-One CD featuring Jessi's classic Capitol albums I'm Jessi Colter (1975) and Diamond in the Rough (1976), but I'm stumped as to the source for the release you'll find available for pre-order here. The packaging certainly looks very reminiscent of the Raven Records offering (see previous blog entry for more details), only this time we have an "album cover" dominated by the muy sexy Roy Kohara shot of Jessi in the woods putting on her bling -- the shot used on the back cover of I'm Jessi Colter. This product, however, promises not two but three "digitally remastered" Jessi albums (a total of thirty songs) on two CDs. No longer is Diamond in the Rough a sonic bookend, as it is in the Raven Records twofer; Jessi's early 1976 Capitol bestseller, Jessi, is part of the line-up and here fills-in a crucial chronological gap.

Jessi was, of course, positioned as the follow-up to the hugely successful I'm Jessi Colter and, for many reasons and in many respects, Jessi was considered by numerous critics and fans to be an even superior work. That is saying something, given the splash she made critically and commercially with I'm Jessi Colter and the expectations that must have been in the air for an appropriate "sequel". Stamped indelibly (as were the first four of Jessi's Capitol albums) with the red-hot, on-target production of Ken Mansfield, Jessi still stands -- in my own opinion -- as her artistic apex, just slightly edging I'm Jessi Colter and Out of the Ashes. We'll be delving into deep discussion about all of her records soon enough, but for now let it be noted that 1976's Jessi pushed some astonishing new boundaries in terms of raw stylism, soulful authoritativeness, and originality. This was no "pop" record ... and no "country" record, for that matter.

It was Jessi Colter music, up at the sharp-end.

10 more entirely self-written compositions shine on this collection, each tune exploring the sensual, spiritual, and passionate journey of the heart in love's labyrinth. The brilliance of this particular record seems to rest in the fact that Colter managed to underscore the femininity of her perspective (as she did so well on I'm Jessi Colter) while simultaneously expanding the scope of her music's universal relevance -- a jaw-dropping trick if ever there was one. This was a record women and men could love equally. Again, every track on Jessi is a slice of brilliance, with churning album-opener The Hand that Rocks the Cradle being, arguably, the best song song she ever wrote and sang in her life ... a country-rock anthem that still makes the hairs on your neck stand up and salute. The big hit off this album was the radiant, almost mystically declarative It's Morning (And I Still Love You), but one wonders whether, by this time, Capitol was beginning to experience a real conundrum when it came to promoting the genuinely uncategorizable genius they had been sort of shuffling back-and-forth between pop/rock, AOR, MOR, and country markets for over a year. With the Outlaws album craze only a few months away, the label's last chance to establish, pinpoint, develop, and/or fine-tune Colter's distinctive and independent marketing "identity" for posterity may have been compromised. Ironic, indeed.

Whatever the case may be, Jessi proved to be another mammoth hit for Colter, equalling the No. 4 peak of her previous album on the country chart in Spring 1976, climbing high into the Billboard Pop Top 200, and forcing a few hold-out critics (who may have remained a tad skeptical of the uber-pop appeal of I'm Not Lisa) to eat a bit of crow. Therefore, it makes much more sense for any current company bent on reissuing "classic" Jessi Colter albums to do so with the inclusion of Jessi, if only because there is such a palpable gap in style when I'm Jessi Colter and Diamond in the Rough are considered in sequence without it. Whomever is releasing this triumvirate of essential Colter albums is to be commended, but the name of the label eludes us at this juncture (it is not given at CDUniverse) and we will have to see from whence, exactly, this intriguing new configuration is slated to emerge. Jessi Colter's "people" are apparently not saying much in the way of publicity. Let's hope The Great Lady herself is aware that her work is being reissued so she can take some well-deserved pride in the process. Stay tuned. My Jessi "bio for the blog" is coming relatively soon, as well.

Timely New Release/Reissue: 2 Jessi Colter Classic Capitol Albums

There will be much to write and to explore about the superb Jessi Colter, including imminent work on her bio for this particular website, but priority must be given to some excellent recent news regarding the pioneering "outlaw" singer-songwriter.

Namely, Australia-based Raven Records has just released a "2-for-1"reissue of Jessi's classic Capitol albums I'm Jessi Colter and Diamond in the Rough on one audio CD! Both albums are featured in their entirety, along with three bonus tracks from Colter's underrated 1978 Capitol offering, That's the Way a Cowboy Rocks and Rolls. Available now at Amazon. com, the 23-song collection marks the most comprehensive (and extensive) collection of Jessi Colter's back-catalogue ever, for a number of reasons. No solo Jessi Colter album* has ever been remastered and reissued for official sale heretofore, and this effort by Raven Records provides fans (old and new) with the opportunity to revel in the glory to two pristine, complete collections. It is a pleasure to note that the record has been selling well at Amazon, hovering in the Top 1000 throughout the first two weeks of its release. That's not bad at all for an import that is not receiving any significant press or publicity, but for those who know anything about Jessi Colter's career, the brisk sales are not necessarily a surprise.

I'm Jessi Colter was unquestionably a landmark album in what has since become known as country music's "outlaw" movement, but the enduring success of this record actually transcended a number of genres following its release in Spring 1975.

Having been signed to Capitol's pop division in Hollywood within the framework of Ken Mansfield's Hometown Productions in 1974, Colter hit the studio with 10 completely self-written tunes and the rest, as they say, is history. With former Beatles manager Mansfield at the board and a stellar assemblage of musicians from Nashville, Los Angeles and beyond, Colter crafted a studio masterpiece that sounds as if it was recorded in the funkiest, most welcoming, most fun swampland honky-tonk the world has ever known. Weaving a seamless tapestry of roots, spiritual, blues, pop, rock, and country influences on the loom of her authoritative and gorgeously bittersweet voice, Colter unfurled a powerful set of tracks that explored a woman's journey through love, loss, heartbreak, unbridled freedom, and hope.

Perhaps wisely (and perhaps not; more about that on another day), execs at Capitol decided to launch the haunting lead single, I'm Not Lisa, through their country music division in hope that it might "cross over". Though the record definitely had some ideal country flourishes (thanks mostly to the yearning slide-guitar of the late, great Ralph Mooney), the song (and indeed the entire album) was really uncategorizable; Colter was a stunning original, perhaps best described as some kind of deep-in-the-west, swampy "earth-mother-in-heels" counterpart to Carly Simon or Bobbie Gentry, but without the wry Hollywood affectations of Simon or the barefooted, Mississippi angst of Gentry. Soulful, sensual, and eminently poetic, Colter came across as a world-wise tour de force songwriter and stylist; Capitol's cross-over dreams were not to be dashed.

I'm Not Lisa became one of the biggest success-stories on the 1970s musical landscape -- an almost instant multi-format smash, million-seller, and unforgettable American classic. Shooting to the No. 1 spot on the country charts and to No. 4 on the pop lists, the aching-but-irresistible ballad captivated the nation and made Colter an overnight superstar. It also secured an enormous audience for her extraordinary album. I'm Jessi Colter blasted its way to the No. 4 spot on the country chart and into the Pop Top 50 -- the latter an amazing and rare achievement for an artist who had been launched primarily through country markets. Moreover, the quality of the record guaranteed regular spins for the entire collection on MOR and Album Rock stations.

It is a credit to Colter's talent and to the uniform superiority of the album's material that I'm Jessi Colter exhibited considerable staying-power -- remaining on the charts for over a year and easily pushing past the 500,000 "gold" sales mark. Reviewers from Rolling Stone to Billboard lauded the strength of the disc, enamored of everything from the radiant talent exhibited in each song to the now-legendary cover artwork by photographer Roy Kohara. Another big country and Billboard Top 100 hit followed in summer 1975 as What's Happened to Blue Eyes stormed the charts, but any of the 10 tracks on this winner could have been a single: For the First Time, I Hear a Song, Come On In, Storms Never Last, Who Walks Thru Your Memory (Billy Jo), etc. In fact, Storms Never Last was covered with some success that year by artists as diverse as Dr. Hook and Dottsy, but Capitol missed the boat on that count, because Colter's original (the album's closing track) was a knockout and would have easily been another million-seller.

A boatload of Grammy and CMA nominations ensued for Colter after her magic year, along with endless placements on year-end "Best Of" lists and awards as "Best New Artist of 1975" from both Billboard and Cashbox. Today, the album has been given new life by Raven Records and is available in all of its shimmering, jaunty, rollicking splendor for memories to be rediscovered ... and new memories to be made.

No less significant regarding this reissue is the inclusion of Colter's late 1976 album, Diamond in the Rough, also produced by Mansfield and his Hometown team, along with Colter's husband, a certain gent named Waylon Jennings. While Diamond in the Rough came perhaps a bit too swiftly on the heels of Colter's seemingly unstoppable momentum following her 1976 masterpiece follow-up album, Jessi, and her participation in the earth-shattering Wanted: The Outlaws collection with Jennings, Willie Nelson, and Tompall Glaser, the tracks on Diamond stand strong and remain stylistically distinctive, representing authentic "Colter" in the midst of her heady career peak. Sultry, more playful, and perhaps more introspective, the lady shines as wonderfully as the gem noted in the title track. It is little surprise that Diamond in the Rough also broke into the Top 5 country albums list and vaulted high onto the Billboard pop albums chart as well -- yet another big-seller for Capitol's mystique-enshrouded "Miss Jessi".

Both albums and their respective histories will be reviewed and discussed in even greater detail on this site in the coming weeks, but for now it is most important to note that two classics from an incomparable artist have been resurrected for the pleasure of the public! Sound quality (as far as the remastering) is lovely and the liner notes well-written and detailed (save for a few scattered errors). I'm Jessi Colter, in particular, holds up astonishingly well almost 40 years after its initial release. Fans of Colter, the "outlaw" movement, alt-country, Americana, 1970s pop, or roots rock would be well-advised to make a beeline to Amazon and purchase this long overdue, nicely priced, and exceedingly welcomed reissue.

Get 'em while they last, friends. Get 'em while they last. In the meantime, stay tuned for more news and views, including the aforementioned, upcoming, full Colter bio.

*Colter's work has appeared on countless compilation albums (country and pop) since the '70s, most notably the fine "best of" collection, An Outlaw ... A Lady on Capitol.