JESSI's BIOGRAPHICAL ESSENTIALS, PART II

This is not a good day to peruse the Jessi-Bio. I spent over two hours composing the "Part II" of Mirriam Joan Johnson's early life, liveliness, and legacy, and my wicked, wicked, WICKED pc just flopped like a dead squirrel as I was finishing the piece.
I wrote some exceptional insights about Mirriam's early years, gleaning nuances about that powerful & peculiar "pentecostal style" in terms of her piano playing at Mama Helen's church. Yes ... I plumbed some depths, and am flummoxed. Blogspot used to "save" drafts. I guess they are pissing me off.

In any case, I am devastated by the loss of all that I wrote about Mirriam Johnson's (Jessi Colter's) early fusion of influences. Namely, I went into detail about the tradition of Pentecostal muscianship, the socio-cultural background of Mesa, AZ, and the juicy amalgamation of church-y styles that 11-year old Mirriam must have incorporated into her "sound" by the time she reached the mere brink of her teens.

I went on (with references) about how she was duly sheltered as a young lady (from the skunky honky tonks) but was encouraged in reasonable directions as a young woman by her Mama.

Being totally pissed at the services of blogspot, I noted that Mirriam Joan Johnson gained a fabulous local reputation as a prodigy in Mesa, was guided under the watchful and worthy love-shroud of Mama & Papa Johnson, but still became intuitive and fabulous enough to merit a "smuggler" scenario. Mirriam's sister, Sharon, had married wheeler-dealer producer "Cowboy" Jack Clement, and Jack was "in thick" with twangy guitar superstar Duane Eddy. Though she had particpated-in and won a number of regional singing/songwriting contests, Mirriam was a bit interested in auditioning for Eddy.

Willie Nelson has made more than one semi-nasty remark about Jessi Colter, and we aim to take him to task for his comments (Yes, I am going to rake Willie up one side and down the other), but "lack of ambition" cannot be a slogan wrapped around Mirriam Joan Johnson circa 1960-61. Mirriam's brothers had to secrete her out of the house into a "bar" (Oh MY! That was CLEARLY off Mama Helen's radar), but Mirriam, who could sing like a bird, as we all know, caught Eddy's eye and ear, on that particular evening, and she also caught the very first wave of a tide that would bring her toward shores she had never dreamed of.

The rest of my previously stunning bio was related to Mirriam Johnson's  hypothetical conundrum, as a youngster:

"I suppose I am something of a prodigy. Mama's flock requires me to have a Gospel soul, and I have one, and this sort of pentecostal "soul" requires emphatic piano-playing. Plus, they like soft, roadhouse-y flourishes at-the-edges of hymns, when they break to speak in tongues. I can do that, which makes my piano-playing style rather funky and unique. But I also want to write my own songs, and I think I can take-on the world in that regard, if I want. Do I want it?"

I will revisit Mirriam's development as a very young singer, songwriter, and Evangelical Gospel chanteuse in the next installment. My two-hour "version" was obviously much better and more elaborate. Bear with us.

(Grrrrrrr.....)

JESSI COLTER BIO (UNAUTHORIZED, UNOFFICIAL & THE BEST ONE YOU'LL READ TIL SHE WRITES ONE HERSELF)

Jessi Colter.

Depending upon the year in which you were born, what type of music you like (or the type of music your parents like/liked ... God Rest Their Souls, if they are in the "liked" category), or your basic knowledge of the history of various late 20th-century "alternative pop" musical movements, the name of Jessi Colter might be familiar to you. If it is not, it ought to be, and that is just one of the purposes of this forthcoming biography.

Jessi Colter was a truly major American recording artist for perhaps a six year span, at best, beginning in 1975. She attained a brief but unquestionable "superstar" status that is both enigmatic and tantalizing specifically because of an almost detectable decision, on her part, to walk away from a glaring limelight that she did not enjoy, a stardom she did not desire, and an industry that -- amost appallingly -- did not fight to understand and nurture her exceptional artistry ... even as she was making millions of dollars for that industry.

In her 45-year career thus far, Jessi Colter has released only nine solo studio albums*. Never the less and quite significantly, four or maybe five of those nine albums can be legitimately described as "classic" American recordings of superior caliber (I'm Jessi Colter, Jessi, Mirriam, Out of the Ashes, and a bit less likely ... Diamond in the Rough). Time-capsule worthy material. Most artists are lucky if they can produce just one 4-to-5-star original effort! Jessi, as mentioned, has at least four or five in the bag -- six, when you count the "Outlaws" album", and she isn't finished by any means. Keep in mind that her 2006 release 'Out of the Ashes' generated critical raves to rival the best of her 70's heyday.

Jessi Colter was indeed a crucial presence on that collaborative album that made undeniable history as a landmark boot-squashing statement of artistic independence. On the Wanted: The Outlaws album, Jessi Colter helped her fellow mavericks explode and then redefine the parameters of a claustrophobic, insular, often hypocritical musical genre ... a genre that claimed to include all of the wide-open, far-flung musical "contributions" of the American continent, but which was ironically tied, bound, and gagged to one city and to its interests: Nashville. As both a groundbreaking "crossover" and "outlaw" artist, Jessi Colter paved a big way for artists creating "sounds" outside the status quo, and American country music has since flourished when it has ventured into this territory (while remaining original). Colter paved the way for a veritable red-carpet of successful artists, precisely because Jessi Colter was so big doing the thing she was doing. There is documentation behind this, as if it were not evident enough to the Good Soul that looks back and wonders what made those great days of American Music actually tick.

Jessi Colter helped change the face of a genre, for the better. And her music remains true -- resurgent, revitalized, beguilingly ahead-of-its-time, perhaps more relevant than ever. Moreover, she is still creating, supposedly.

Jessi Colter is, of course, today best-known as the faithful wife and singing sidekick of uber-character/troubador Waylon Jennings. Though this is indeed an accurate appraisal of her career "status", it is also very much incomplete in terms of portraiture. Jessi Colter was, in fact, the bigger seller, more prolific songwriter, and brighter national/international "star" than her towering husband for a little while.

The great thing about Jessi Colter's career was that she burst bright and brilliantly, sometimes almost in spite of her glorious husband's "issues" and then she retreated from the very industry that sought to pigeon-hole them both ... in order to dedicate herself to her beloved husband (and, indeed, to the elaborate solving of his issues). But there is much more to be told than that.

We are indeed about to tell the Jessi Colter Story. Stay tuned.

*Jessi's 1990s kids' album will be discussed separately

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.

Yes, Indeed ... a Classic Colter Capitol "Three-Fer" is being Reissued and is Available for Pre-Order on Amazon

It only took a little digging, and it seems a tad strange, but two sets of significant Jessi Colter classic album reissues are indeed at our fingertips. The Raven Records "twofer" release of Jessi's I'm Jessi Colter and Diamond in the Rough albums is already out there, but totally beating them/competing with them (and we'd have to say probably "winning") is the Bgo/Ka label's "three-fer" reissue of Jessi's first three Capitol albums (on two audio CDs) on September 27. Have a looky-loo over at Amazon and pre-order.

The Bgo/Ka set is actually less expensive than the Raven product, and boasts the advantage of three complete albums, in the chronological sequence of their appearance in Jessi's mid-1970s heyday, with the crucial inclusion of her masterpiece Jessi album. 30 tracks in total, compared with 23 tracks on the Raven package (the latter threw-in a smattering of tracks from That's the Way a Cowboy Rocks and Rolls).

Read the posts of previous days for more background on these releases. We don't know what has occasioned this sudden efflorescence of Jessi Colter "classic" reissuing, but we like it! Unless Jessi signed-away the rights to her wonderful Capitol back-catalogue long ago, then she must have had some say in the licensing of these works for import remasterings and releasings now.

A bit of a mystery.

In any event, I know that I'll be purchasing the digitally remastered "three-fer" (which promises new album notes, etc.) just as I purchased the Raven Records offering. Dare we hope that someone will next appear with a "four-fer" (I'm Jessi Colter, Jessi, Diamond in the Rough, and the equally glorious Miriam)? Stay tuned for more info as it may be gathered and shared. All sorts of things are on the way, otherwise: the massive Jessi Colter "blog bio" I am crafting, lyrics to all of Jessi's songs (!), and links to various sites (Jessi's official site, Shooter's site, Waylon's site, etc.). We're gonna get all "Jessied-Up" without a doubt.

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.