...Nicolette sang with a ton of artists...it's a quite impressive "who's who" list;
Larson's work with
Emmylou Harris — the album
Luxury Liner (1977) prominently showcased Larson on the cut "Hello Stranger" — led to her meeting Harris' associate and friend
Linda Ronstadt who became friends with Larson. In the spring of 1977, Larson was at Ronstadt's
Malibu home when neighbor
Neil Young phoned to ask Ronstadt if she could recommend a female vocal accompanist, and Ronstadt suggested Larson, becoming the third person that day to put Larson's name forward to Young. Young came over to meet Larson who recalled: "Neil ran down all the songs he had just written, about twenty of them. We sang harmonies with him and he was jazzed."
[3]
The following week Ronstadt and Larson cut their vocals for Young's
American Stars 'n Bars album at Young's
La Honda ranch — the two women were billed on the album as the Bullets — and in November 1977 Young invited Larson to
Nashville to sing on the sessions for his
Comes a Time album, an assignment which led to Larson's being signed to
Warner Brothers, an affiliate of Young's home label
Reprise. Larson continued her session singing career into 1978, accruing credit on recordings by
Marcia Ball,
Rodney Crowell, Emmylou Harris' (
Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town) and
Norton Buffalo. Larson also contributed vocals to
the Doobie Brothers'
Minute by Minute whose producer
Ted Templeman would be responsible for Larson's debut album
Nicolette.
[4]
1978–1983[edit]
Larson's work with Commander Cody had led to her being signed to the
C&W division of
Warner Bros. Records. However her debut album
Nicolette, released September 29, 1978, was an eclectic mix of rock, C&W and R&B which recalled
Maria Muldaur's
eponymous debut from 1973. Despite the release of her album so late in the year, Larson was acclaimed Female Vocalist of 1978 by
Rolling Stone who opined no one else could sound as if she were having so much fun on an album.
Nicolette reached No. 15 on Billboard's album chart aided by the hit single "
Lotta Love", a
Neil Young composition. Larson's "Lotta Love" peaked at No. 8 the week of 10 February 1979, the same week the single off
Comes a Time: "
Four Strong Winds" a duet with an unbilled (on the single) Larson, debuted on the Hot 100 on its way to a No. 61 peak. (A track from the
Comes a Time sessions featuring Larson: "Sail Away", was included on the otherwise live Neil Young album
Rust Never Sleeps released in 1979.)
Warner Brothers also issued the limited edition (5,000 copies) promo-only
Live at the Roxy album comprising a December 20, 1978 concert given by Larson at the
Sunset Boulevard nightclub. Larson was also featured on the
No Nukes album recorded in September 1979 at
Madison Square Garden backed by
the Doobie Brothers in her performance of "Lotta Love"; Larson can be seen in the
No Nukes film but her performance was not included.
Like Maria Muldaur, Larson would be unable to consolidate the commercial success augured by her debut: the second single off
Nicolette, "Rhumba Girl"1 just missed becoming a major hit for Larson at No. 48 and her second album
In the Nick of Time released November 1979 failed to showcase Larson's voice attractively. Don Shewey in
Rolling Stone opined: "Larson's rough-edged, down-home tone is definitely appealing — especially when she backs up the likes of Neil Young and
Steve Goodman[whose
High and Outside album featured a duet with Larson: "The One That Got Away"] — but as a soloist, her limited vocal resources are "severely taxed" — "It's symptomatic of Nicolette Larson's problems as a performer that the finest singing on
In the Nick of Time is by
Michael McDonald. 'Let Me Go, Love'...McDonald's entrancing vocal presence...so overshadows Larson's that she seems to be playing second fiddle rather than sharing the lead. Elsewhere, Larson is dwarfed by
Ted Templeman's typically luxurious production".
[4]
Released as the album's lead single, "Let Me Go Love" was only reached No. 35 in February 1980 — that year Larson would be heard more on the airwaves via guest appearances on "Say You'll Be Mine" by
Christopher Cross and the
Dirt Band's "Make a Little Magic". Larson had enough residual popularity from her debut for
In the Nick of Time to become a moderate success. Because she had no major hit, Larson's 1980 and 1982 album releases,
Radioland (her last album produced by Templeman) and
All Dressed Up and Nowhere to Go, were unsuccessful, even though both releases showed Larson back in strong vocal form. Larson almost had a hit with her remake of "
I Only Want to Be With You" (No. 53) perhaps the least effective track on
All Dressed Up and Nowhere to Go; that album was produced by
Andrew Gold.
Larson had continued her session singing career accruing credits on releases by
Tom Johnston,
Linda Ronstadt (
Mad Love),
Graham Nash,
John Stewart,
Albert Hammond and
Rita Coolidge. Larson again backed
the Doobie Brothers on their
One Step Closer album - she can be heard on the hit "Real Love" - and a song Larson co-wrote with
John McFee and
Patrick Simmons entitled "Can't Let It Get Away" was a 1981 single release for the Doobie Brothers in
Japan; the song was also featured on the Doobie Brothers'
Farewell Tour album (1983). Larson also contributed a harmony vocal on the track "Could This Be Magic" on the
Van Halen album
Women and Children First (1980) to thank
Eddie Van Halen for contributing a guitar solo to the
Nicolette album track "Can't Get Away From You" against
David Lee Roth's wishes. (Larson would be the maid of honor at Eddie Van Halen's marriage to
Valerie Bertinelli.)
...among my many favs is a duet with Mike McDonald who also wrote the song...don't think I've ever heard a male and female voice blend together so perfectly.
