Rita Coolidge--(Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher and Higher (1977)

     Rita Coolidge was attempting to break through as a solo artist in 1977. She had made her mark as a backup singer with Delaney & Bonnie, then a succession of top name artists through the early to mid-70's. Her natural beauty was also the focus of more than a few musicians (Stephen Stills, Graham Nash, Kris Kristofferson, to whom she was married most of that decade).
     She charted with a couple of songs in the 72-73, but had been out of the public eye since early 1974. It was this song however, that brought her back to the spotlight in a big way. A cover of Jackie Wilson's 1966 hit was streamlined into more of a 70's pop/dance groove, and gave her a number 2 hit as well. This started a string of four straight top 40 hits through 1977/78. The hits stopped coming after 1983's, "All Time High" from the James Bond movie "Octopussy", however it was far from the end of her career.
     After she left A&M records, she recorded for a series of small label, and went back to backup singing through much of the 80's, but in 1994 she joined her sister Priscilla and neice Laura Satterfield on an album put together by Robbie Robertson called, "Music for Native Americans". The song, "Cherokee Morning Song" inspired the women to return to the music of their childhood (Rita & Priscilla's dad was full blooded Cherokee, and a Baptist minister.  Their mother was half Cherokee/Scot) and formed the group Walela  which recorded three albums from 1997-2004.
     Her last recording is an album of Jazz standards which can be found here: http://www.ritacoolidge.com/