Chi Coltrane--Thunder and Lightning (1972)

     Just like the lack of information in her biography, Chi Coltrane has been somewhat of an enigma throughout her career. Born from a Canadian mom, and German dad, (who was a violinist) in Wisconsin, Chi (pronounced Shy) was signed to a contract on the strength of a demo of self written songs in 1971.
     "Thunder and Lightning" was the best of that demo, but the entire first album is a gem, and shows her as Laura Nyro type with top notch piano skills. The song reached the top 20 as did the debut album.
      Since then she had experienced the problems of many artists, poor management at the beginning of her career, and a follow up album that was great, but failed to make inroads in the market. (she has released 10 in total) Coupling with an aversion to self-promotion has caused this wonderful talent to never become more than a one hit wonder in the states, despite a strong cult following. She has had a great deal more success in Europe.
     She has resurfaced with a "comeback" album, you can read more about that here: http://www.chicoltrane.com/