Rita Coolidge - The Lady's Not For Sale (1972)

Rita Coolidge's third album is a fine mixture of covers and originals that manages to showcase her fine vocal abilities as well as show off an impressive array of friends. Booker T. Jones contributes not only his fine flute skills, but also two songs. Noted guitarist and songwriter Marc Benno also lends his impressive, laid-back guitar work all throughout the album. His "Donut Man" adds an air of lazy funk to the proceedings. Bob Dylan's "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight" probably gets the most soulful reading, with Coolidge's take on Leonard Cohen's "Bird on a Wire" following close behind. Kris Kristofferson is represented at the tail end of the album with the title track. She may not have had the most distinctive of voices, but Coolidge definitely captured the sort of laid-back energy and approach associated with early-'70s country-rock. If Rita Coolidge's voice and stellar class of backing musicians aren't enough to sway you, consider the cover that shows her bedecked in what looks to be several pounds of turquoise, or the gatefold in which she appears pensive, with Stonehenge not too far in the background.