1 on the Cashbox Top Country Albums chart, No.

Her second album, titled I'm Jessi Colter was also released that year and reached No. 4 on the Billboard Pop Chart, becoming a crossover hit in 1975. 1 on the Billboard Country Chart and peaked at No. The song was Colter's breakthrough single it reached No. On the label, she released her debut single, ' I'm Not Lisa'. In 1975, Colter signed with Capitol Records. However, her face appears on several Jennings record covers from this period. It was Colter's only album for RCA, and she left the label soon after. She released her debut album, A Country Star is Born, on RCA, with Jennings and Chet Atkins co-producing The album was not successful and did not make an impact on the country music market. On March 25, 1970, she played keyboard for her husband during his appearance on The Johnny Cash Show. That year, Waylon Jennings and Colter sang duet on two top 40 country chart hits. Johnson, now billing herself as 'Jessi Colter', resumed her recording career in 1970. The following year, she met country artist Waylon Jennings who helped her secure a recording contract with RCA Victor.Ĭareer Early career: 1970–1974 She continued to tour with Eddy until divorcing in 1968. After a second single failed to even get regional airplay, Johnson did not record again for nearly a decade. The first, 'Lonesome Road', received scattered airplay in several US markets, though not enough to make any national charts. After marrying guitarist Duane Eddy in 1961, and still using her real name of Mirriam Johnson, she released two singles that were issued on the Jamie label.

Īfter graduating from Mesa High School in 1961, she began singing in local clubs in Phoenix. At age 11, Colter became the pianist at her church. Her mother was a Pentecostal preacher and her father was a racecar driver. Mirriam Johnson was born on May 25, 1943, in Phoenix, Arizona, and raised in a strict Pentecostal home. In 1976 she was featured on the collaboration LP Wanted: The Outlaws, which became an RIAA-certified Platinum album. Five years later, Colter signed with Capitol Records and released 'I'm Not Lisa', which topped the country charts and reached the top five on the pop charts. Īfter meeting Jennings, Colter pursued a career in country music, releasing her first studio LP in 1970, A Country Star Is Born. Mirriam Rebecca Joan Johnson (born May 25, 1943), known professionally as Jessi Colter, is an American country singer who is best known for her collaborations with her husband, country musician Waylon Jennings, and for her 1975 crossover hit ' I'm Not Lisa'.Ĭolter was one of the few female artists to emerge from the mid-1970s ' outlaw country' movement.

Leather and Lace by Rebel Carter