Tracy Nelson (singer)
| Tracy Nelson | |
|---|---|
| Born |
December 27, 1944 Madison, Wisconsin, United States |
| Years active | 1960s–present |
| Associated acts | Mother Earth |
| Website | tracynelson.com |
Tracy Nelson (born December 27, 1944) is an American singer.
Nelson was born and grew up in Madison, Wisconsin. There, she first learned about R&B music from WLAC radio in Nashville. In her teens, Nelson sang folk music in coffeehouses and with a group called The Fuller's Wood Singers and was lead singer in a band called The Fabulous Imitations.
In 1964, Nelson recorded an acoustic blues album released on Prestige Records, Deep Are the Roots. It featured blues harmonica player Charlie Musselwhite among her backup band. In Chicago, where the album was recorded, Nelson met and learned from artists such as Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, and Otis Spann.
Nelson moved to San Francisco in 1966, where she became part of the music scene there. Her band Mother Earth played the Fillmore Auditorium, sharing bills with the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, and Jimi Hendrix. It was during this period that Nelson wrote and recorded, with Mother Earth, on the album Living with the Animals, her signature song "Down So Low", later covered by Linda Ronstadt,Etta James, and Diamanda Galás.
In the late 1960s, Nelson relocated to Nashville, where she and Mother Earth recorded the album Make A Joyful Noise and the solo effort Tracy Nelson Country. The latter features Nelson's cover of the country classic "Blue, Blue Day". Nelson made a total of six albums with Mother Earth for the Mercury, Reprise, and Columbia labels. She has continued to record as a solo artist for Atlantic and other labels, including MCA, Flying Fish and Adelphi. In 1974, her duet with Willie Nelson, "After the Fire is Gone", was nominated for a Grammy Award. Her 1975 release Sweet Soul Music on the MCA label included Leon Pendarvis and Richard Tee on keyboards and the Sweet Inspirations, and featured covers of Don Nix's "Same Old Blues" and Bob Dylan's "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight".
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