Essra Mohawk
| Essra Mohawk | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Sandra Elayne Hurvitz |
| Also known as | Sandy Hurvitz |
| Born |
23 April 1948 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter |
| Instruments | Vocals, Piano, Guitar, Mandolin |
| Years active | 1964–present |
| Associated acts | The Mothers of Invention, Schoolhouse Rock |
| Website | http://www.essramohawk.com/ |
Essra Mohawk (born Sandra Elayne Hurvitz on April 23, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter who has recorded a dozen albums, many receiving critical acclaim.
Her best known songs are Sufferin' Til Sufferage and Interjections! (both from Schoolhouse Rock!), Change of Heart, recorded by Cyndi Lauper and Stronger Than the Wind, recorded by Tina Turner.
She was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her first record, The Boy With The Way, credited as Jamie Carter, was issued on Liberty Records in 1964. As Sandy Hurvitz, she was then discovered by Shadow Morton, who placed her songs with both the Shangri-Las ("I'll Never Learn") and the Vanilla Fudge ("The Spell That Comes After"). While living in New York City in 1967 she met Frank Zappa, who persuaded her to perform for a short time with The Mothers of Invention and then signed her to his Bizarre Records production company. Her first album Sandy's Album Is Here At Last was released on Bizarre/Verve in December 1968.
In 1969 she was signed by Reprise Records after executive Mo Ostin discovered her singing at a club in New York. The resulting album, Primordial Lovers, was later stated as being "one of the best 25 albums ever made" in Rolling Stone magazine. The album featured contributions from CSN&Y drummer Dallas Taylor and former Rhinoceros members Doug Hastings and Jerry Penrod. Essra nearly joined Rhinoceros in its original line up. While recording the album, she married her producer Frazier Mohawk and from then on was known as Essra Mohawk. "Essra" (S-ra) is an abbreviated form of Sandra. She was scheduled to perform at the in August 1969, but her manager missed a turn, resulting in them barely arriving before the end of the last act on Friday evening, too late to perform.
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