Olivia on the Record a Radical Experiment in Women’S Music
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OLIVIA ON THE RECORD A Radical Experiment in Women’s Music Ginny Z Berson aunt lute books San Francisco Copyright © 2020 Ginny Z Berson “Freedom Time” used with permission of Linda Tillery; “Hello Hooray” based on the Rolf Kempf song “Hello, Hurray,” used with permission; “Leaping” used with permis- sion of Sue Fink; “Don’t Pray for Me” and “No Hidin’ Place” used with permission of Mary Watkins; “Kahlua Mama” used with permission of Virginia Rubino; “Song to My Mama,” “Ode to a Gym Teacher,” “Valentine Song,” “Rosalind” used with permis- sion of Meg Christian; “Joanna,” “If It Weren’t for the Music,” “Song of the Soul,” “Waterfall” used with permission of Cris Williamson; “Carol, in the park, chewing on straws,” “Anathema” used with permission of Judy Grahn; “[My Lover Is a Woman]” © Anastasia Dunham-Parker-Brady, 2020. Used with permission. Album covers for Lesbian Concentrate and The Ways a Woman Can Be; gift certificate for I Know You Know, excerpt from liner notes for Lesbian Concentrate, original Olivia Records logo, excerpt from liner notes for The Ways a Woman Can Be, excerpt from I Know You Know Songbook. All used with permission of Judy Dlugacz. Cover photo © 2020 JEB ( Joan E. Biren) All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by an information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher. Aunt Lute Books Print ISBN: 9781951874018 P.O. Box 410687 ebook ISBN: 9781939904379 San Francisco, CA 94141 www.auntlute.com Book design and typesetting: A.S. Ikeda Cover design: Poonam Whabi Senior Editor: Joan Pinkvoss Artistic Director: Shay Brawn Managing Editor: A.S. Ikeda Production: Maya Sisneros, María Mínguez Arias, Emma Rosenbaum, Calli Storrs Publication of this book was made possible, in part, by support from the Sara and Two C-Dogs Foundation. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Berson, Ginny, author. Title: Olivia on the record : a radical experiment in women’s music / Ginny Z Berson. Description: San Francisco : Aunt Lute Books, [2020] Identifiers: LCCN 2020024078 (print) | LCCN 2020024079 (ebook) | ISBN 9781951874018 (paperback) | ISBN 9781939904379 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Olivia Records, Inc. | Sound recording industry--United States-- History--20th century. | Women’s music--History and criticism. | Feminism and music--United States. Classification: LCC ML3792.O55 B47 2020 (print) | LCC ML3792.O55 (ebook) | DDC 781.64082/0973--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020024078 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020024079 Printed in the U.S.A. on acid-free paper 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 To all who yearn for justice and walk the path of love and compassion. Acknowledgments Olivia operated as a collective, and although this book was not written collectively, it would have been much thinner without our collective memories. Enormous gratitude to the women who answered my pleas for help whenever I called or emailed, always answering my “do you remember this and when was it and who else was there?” and who were so essential to the early days of Olivia—Shambhavi Meg Christian, Kate Winter, Jennifer Woodul, Liz Brown, Sandy Ramsey, Judy Dlugacz. Thanks to all the women who let me interview them to get their sides of things, their experiences, their memories: Linda Tillery, Mary Watkins, Teresa Trull, Robin Flower, Karlene Faith, Sandy Stone, Kim Johnson, Barbara Smith, Diane Sabin, Emily Culpepper, Helaine Harris, Amy Horowitz, and the late great Joan Lowe. And to Cris Williamson for saying the magic words. The analysis and any errors of fact are mine alone. Coletta Reid, Tasha Singer, Lee Schwing and Jennifer Woodul were helpful to me on The Furies chapter. For years, my friends Achy Obejas and Torie Osborn leaned on me to write this story and really planted the seed. But before I wrote this book, I didn’t know how to write a book. Luckily, Judy Grahn was about to start a memoir-writing class, and I signed up immediately. I thank Judy and the classmates who were so important to the initial drafts—especially Joellen Hiltbrand, and Dianne Jenett. To the women who read different drafts or chapters and gave me useful feedback, I give thanks: Jackie Dennis, Nancy Berson, Lydia Koza, Sandy Stone, and Shakti Butler. To JoAnn Ugolini and Don Cushman, for good listening on salon nights. Thanks to Penny Rosenwasser and Judy Werle for invaluable advice and encouragement. I heard a million stories about how awful publishing is now, how there are no good editors, etc. My experience working with Aunt Lute Books was completely the opposite. This press has been in existence since 1982—a feminist institution—and they have been absolutely wonderful to work with. Joan Pinkvoss should get an award for being such an excellent editor. The book is better because of her editing skills, our shared history, and her willingness always to consider everything. Gratitude to all the Aunt Luters who had anything to do with this—especially Shay Brawn, A.S. Ikeda, and Emma Rosenbaum. I hope everyone who reads this will buy ten books from Aunt Lute. Let’s keep them alive and healthy. Finally, for her endless support, ideas, shoulder rubs, sugges- tions, encouragement when I was sure the book would never happen, and love, I thank my beloved partner, Jackie Dennis. Contents Prologue 13 1 The Road I Took 17 2 Woman-Loving Women 37 3 Freest Fancy 53 4 Hello Hooray 63 5 Strange Paradise 73 6 Where Do We Go From Here? 89 7 Live Dream 99 8 A Chording to the People 113 9 If It Weren’t for the Music 123 10 Brand New Thing 131 11 Shooting Star 139 12 Gimme Just a Little Bit More 145 13 Hurts Like the Devil 155 14 Hoodoo’d 163 15 Don’t Say Sister (Until You Mean It) 173 16 When Anger Takes the Wheel 181 17 Womanly Way 189 18 Don’t Pray for Me 197 19 Wild Things 209 20 Scars 219 21 Face the Music 241 Epilogue 251 Timeline 257.