Rita Coolidge

"Not only did I want a record deal, but I wanted it at A&M. It was perfection. It was such a family. There was not a day that I went on the lot that I didn't see fellow artists. Karen Carpenter and Cat Stevens were friends of mine. Nobody ever felt like we were going into a place of business. A&M had something there for a while that was just a complete circle of love. When I signed with A&M, they actually said, 'We're not here for a one-hit wonder, if that should happen. We're here for the longevity. We want to build your career and be a part of that. They certainly fulfilled that. They trusted us, and we trusted them."

David Anderle signed Rita Coolidge to A&M Records in July 1971. He first saw her during Joe Cocker's "Mad Dogs and Englishmen" tour.

Rita Coolidge 4-page ad, billboard at A&M Records

In 1975 Rita recorded a jazz album with nine songs at A&M with Barbara Carroll, Chuck Delmanico and Colin Bailey. A&M never released it. Coolidge bought the masters in the 1990s and released under the title Out Of the Blues with two new tracks. 

For 1977's Anytime...Anywhere album, Rita Coolidge told Ed Harrison, "Jerry [Moss] suggested I change my musical direction to appeal more to the adult rock crowd. I tried to do more familiar material. The other albums contained too many new songs." David Anderle added, "Jerry Moss suggested changing the material so it would be more familiar to radio. The initial Coolidge album had material by unknown songwriters." The album turned out to be the biggest commercial success for either of them to date.

Dale O’Brien Z93/Atlanta, Rita Coolidge, Johnny Shuler gold for “Higher and Higher” in October 1977

As the song "Higher and Higher" rose on the Billboard chart, "We're All Alone" was released in Great Britain. "We're All Alone", "Higher and Higher" and "Words" were all hits in England. That success prompted A&M Ltd. to use television ads to promote her. It was only the third time A&M had used TV ads. The first two campaigns to use them were Burt Bacharach and Carpenters.

Rita's performance of "Don't Cry Out Loud" won the grand prize at the Tokyo International Music Festival on June 17, 1979.

Rita's September 1980 performances in Tokyo were recorded for the album Beautiful Evening--Live In Japan that A&M released only in Japan, Australia and Hong Kong. In 2017, the album was expanded with five studio tracks and released on CD internationally.

In 1981, A&M in the U.S. created 30-second television ads for Rita's Greatest Hits album. A&M Records, Ltd. used the ads throughout Britain to support The Very Best Of Rita Coolidge.

During her tenure with A&M, three of Coolidge's songs were placed in motion pictures. In 1980, "Fool That I Am" appeared in the film Coast to Coast; "All Time High" was the theme to the James Bond movie Octopussy in 1983, and in 1984 "Love Came for Me" was in the motion picture Splash.

PROMOTION BY A&M RECORDS

Rita Coolidge New Music On A&M Records
Anytime...Anywhere New Music On A&M Records
Rita Coolidge: Satisfied
Anthology press release
The Best of Rita Coolidge press release