In 1972, pretty much everybody was sure of one thing: Chi Coltrane was destined to become a big rock star. She was a songwriter with a powerhouse voice. She was easy on the eyes. And she had already been the leader of a couple of rock bands at a time when women in rock bands, let alone being the boss lady, were scarce.
Born in Racine, Wisconsin in 1948, Coltrane received classical training in piano and sang in her church choir as a lass. Then, she heard rock & roll and that was all she wrote. Realizing she was unlikely to be discovered singing in the bars of Wisconsin, she moved to L.A. and then to Chicago where she came to the attention of Columbia Records who promptly signed her to a contract and put a big promotional push behind her.
Her first single, “Thunder and Lightning” raced up the charts cracking the top 20. And then… nothing. Her follow-up records failed to chart. Like a few other American acts, she had developed a stronger fan following in Europe, so in 1977, that’s where she went.
Chi eventually returned to the states and has recorded off and on ever since, but thunder and lightning has not struck twice.
