Clapton, impressed by the piece, used it as part of the song in the coda section which she found out by hearing the song over the PA system a year later. Once they met with Clapton, Coolidge played the piece she composed for him and she gave him a cassette. In 2016, Coolidge stated that she recorded a demo with her boyfriend, the band's drummer Jim Gordon, before they went to England to record with Clapton. "Layla" Ĭoolidge didn't receive songwriting credits for the piano coda in the 1971 single " Layla" by Eric Clapton's band Derek and the Dominos. She became known as "The Delta Lady" and inspired Russell to write a song of the same name for her. She was featured in Joe Cocker's Mad Dogs and Englishmen tour and album, singing Russell's and Bonnie Bramlett's song " Superstar." Coolidge did not receive songwriting credits for "Superstar" which later became a hit for The Carpenters. There, she became a background singer for artists including Leon Russell, Joe Cocker, Harry Chapin, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Dave Mason, Graham Nash, and Stephen Stills. Early career Īfter singing around Memphis (including a stint singing jingles), Coolidge was discovered by Delaney & Bonnie, who worked with her in Los Angeles. She is a member of Alpha Gamma Delta sorority. Coolidge is a graduate of Florida State University. She attended Nashville's Maplewood High School and graduated from Andrew Jackson Senior High in Jacksonville, Florida. She is of Cherokee and Scottish ancestry. She is the daughter of Dick and Charlotte Coolidge, a minister and schoolteacher, with sisters Linda and Priscilla, and brother Raymond.
Life and career Early life Ĭoolidge was born in Lafayette, Tennessee.