Mirriam Johnson (born May 25, 1943), known professionally as Jessi Colter, is an American country singer who is best known for her collaborations with her second husband, country musician Waylon Jennings, and for her 1975 country hit "I'm Not Lisa".
Colter was one of the few female artists to emerge from the mid-1970s "outlaw country" movement.
After meeting Jennings, Colter pursued a career in country music, releasing her first studio LP in 1970, A Country Star Is Born. Five years later, Colter signed with Capitol Records and released "I'm Not Lisa", which topped the country charts and reached the top five on the pop charts. In 1976, she was featured on the collaboration LP Wanted: The Outlaws, which became an RIAA-certified platinum album.
Early life
Mirriam Johnson was born on May 25, 1943, in Phoenix, Arizona, and raised in a strict Pentecostal home.
After graduating from Mesa High School in 1961, she began singing in local clubs in Phoenix. After marrying guitarist Duane Eddy in 1961, and still using her real name of Mirriam Johnson, she released two singles that were issued on the Jamie label. The first, "Lonesome Road", received scattered airplay in several US markets, though not enough to make any national charts. After a second single failed to even get regional airplay, Johnson did not record again for nearly a decade. She continued to tour with Eddy until divorcing him in 1968. The following year, she met country artist Waylon Jennings, who helped her secure a recording contract with RCA Victor, and married him.
Career
Early career: 1970–1974
Johnson, now billing herself as "Jessi Colter", resumed her recording career in 1970. That year, Waylon Jennings and Colter sang duet on two top-40 country chart hits. On March 25, 1970, she played keyboard for her husband during his appearance on The Johnny Cash Show. She released her debut album, A Country Star Is Born, on RCA, with Jennings and Chet Atkins co-producing. The song was Colter's breakthrough single; it reached number one on the Billboard Country Chart, but only peaked at number four on the Billboard Pop Chart. Her second album, titled I'm Jessi Colter. was also released that year and reached number one on the Cashbox Top Country Albums chart, number fouron the Billboard Country Albums Chart, and number 50 on the Billboard 200 Top 100 Pop Albums chart. Stevie Nicks wrote the title track of the album, but after receiving word that Colter and Jennings might divorce, Nicks released her own version of the song as a duet with Don Henley. It peaked at number six on pop chart, also in 1981. Also in 1981, Colter released her final studio album on Capitol records, Ridin' Shotgun, which also spawned Colter's last charting single on the country charts, "Holdin' On".
As the decade progressed, Colter's success began to decline. She released an album in 1984 on the Triad label titled Rock and Roll Lullaby, produced by Chips Moman.
In the early 1990s, she focused her attention on performing and released an album of children's music titled Jessi Colter Sings Just for Kids: Songs from Around the World in early 1996. It featured a guest appearance by Jennings, who recited some of his poetry for the video. Out of the Ashes was her first album since 1981 to chart on the Top Country Albums chart, peaking at No. 61. In 2007 Colter recorded a duet version of her 1975 hit "I'm Not Lisa" with Deana Carter on her 2007 album, The Chain. In 2017, Colter and Jan Howard provided guest vocals to a track appearing on Written in Song, an album by Jeannie Seely. The song, called "We're Still Hangin' In There Ain't We Jessi", references how Seely and Colter are seemingly two of the only women in country music who managed to have a successful marriage.
Colter's first album in 11 years, The Psalms, was released on March 24, 2017, by Legacy Recordings. The album consisted of Colter's favorite Book of Psalms passages put to music; it was produced by Lenny Kaye, who recalled an evening when Colter, Jennings, Patti Smith, and he were having dinner together in 1995 when Colter began to sing passages of the Bible. Kaye stated that he was "transfixed" and kept the evening in his mind until he convinced Colter to record those renditions in 2007, with the album being recorded over the course of two sessions, along with a further two in 2008. Of the album, Kaye stated, "we tried to choose songs that weren't about warring peoples, but more about comfort and reconciliation". On April 11, 2017, Colter released a tell-all memoir titled An Outlaw and a Lady: A Memoir of Music, Life with Waylon, and the Faith That Brought Me Home.
Her 12th solo album, Edge of Forever, was released on October 27, 2023. It was produced by Margo Price and mixed by Colter's son Shooter.
Personal life
thumb|Colter with her second husband, [[Waylon Jennings, 1980]]
Colter met guitarist Duane Eddy in Phoenix. He produced her first record, and she toured with him. They were married in 1961 in Las Vegas, settling in Los Angeles. She pursued a career as a songwriter under her married name, Mirriam Eddy. Her songs were recorded by Don Gibson, Nancy Sinatra, and Dottie West. At this time, Mirriam adopted her stage name, Jessi Colter. She chose the name based on a story her father once told her about an accomplice of Jesse James's, Jesse Colter. The couple then moved to Nashville, Tennessee, and had one son, Waylon Albright "Shooter" Jennings (b. 1979). Jennings and Colter were married until his death.
Colter announced on June 19, 2023, on her social media pages that she had married Arlin Brower in Rio Verde, Arizona, on February 14, 2023. Colter and Brower were married on a horse-therapy ranch. Arlin Brower is a former heavy equipment contractor and a horse breeder.
Discography
;Studio albums
- 1970: A Country Star is Born
- 1975: I'm Jessi Colter
- 1976: Jessi
- 1976: Diamond in the Rough
- 1977: Mirriam
- 1978: That's the Way a Cowboy Rocks and Rolls
- 1981: Ridin' Shotgun
- 1984: Rock and Roll Lullaby
- 1996: Jessi Colter Sings Just for Kids: Songs from Around the World
- 2006: Out of the Ashes
- 2017: The Psalms
- 2023: Edge of Forever
;Collaboration albums
- 1976: Wanted! The Outlaws <small>(with Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Tompall Glaser)</small>
- 1981: Leather and Lace <small>(with Waylon Jennings)</small>
- 1978: White Mansions <small>(with Waylon Jennings, John Dillon, Steve Cash and Eric Clapton)</small>
;Compilation albums
- 1995: The Jessi Colter Collection
- 2003: The Very Best of Jessi Colter: An Outlaw...a Lady
Awards and nominations
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Year
! style="width:250px;"|Association
! style="width:350px;"|Category
! style="width:350px;"|Nominated Work
!width="65"|Result
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 1970
| style="text-align:center;"|Grammy Awards
| style="text-align:center;"| Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal
| style="text-align:center;"| Suspicious Minds <small>(with Waylon Jennings)</small>
|
|-
| style="text-align:center;" rowspan="4"|1975
| style="text-align:center;"|Academy of Country Music Awards
| style="text-align:center;"| Song of the Year
| style="text-align:center;"| I'm Not Lisa
|
|-
| style="text-align:center;" rowspan="4"|Country Music Association Awards
| style="text-align:center;"| Female Vocalist of the Year
| style="text-align:center;"| Jessi Colter
|
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| Song of the Year
| style="text-align:center;" rowspan="2"| I'm Not Lisa
|
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| Single of the Year
|
|-
| style="text-align:center;" rowspan="4"|1976
| style="text-align:center;"| Album of the Year
| style="text-align:center;" rowspan="2"| Wanted! The Outlaws <small>(with Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Tompall Glaser)</small>
|
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|Academy of Country Music Awards
| style="text-align:center;"| Album of the Year
|
|-
| style="text-align:center;" rowspan="2"|Grammy Awards
| style="text-align:center;"| Best Female Country Vocal Performance
| style="text-align:center;" rowspan="2"|I'm Not Lisa
|
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| Best Country Song
|
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|1981
| style="text-align:center;"|Country Music Association Awards
| style="text-align:center;"| Vocal Duo of the Year
| style="text-align:center;"| Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter
|
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|2007
| style="text-align:center;"|Grammy Awards
| style="text-align:center;"| Grammy Hall of Fame Award
| style="text-align:center;"| Wanted! The Outlaws <small>(with Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Tompall Glaser)</small>
|
|}