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This page contains a Biography that we have compiled from a number of sources... ...the main ones being:
Nicolette Larson spent her childhood on the move, her father's U.S. Treasury job taking them all across the country: kindergarten in St. Louis; first and second grade outside of Boston; half of third grade in Alexandria, Virginia; the rest of third and fourth in Birmingham, Alabama; fifth grade in Portland, Oregon; and then the Larsons - of Norwegian, Irish and Welsh descent - finally settled in Kansas City, Missouri. A girl who would sing at the dinner table, Nicolette grew up listening to the radio of the mid- and late-'60s: the Beatles, the Rolling Stones. Her only formal training was in chorus class at Bishop Hogan, a Co-ed Catholic High School. Her days there were relatively quiet and non-participatory - no cheerleader tryouts, no campaign for student president. "I didn't care," she recalls. "I wasn't that groovy in high school, I wasn't that popular. I mean, I wasn't the dog, I wasn't the one in class that nobody would sit next to, but I wasn't comfortable in High School either." After a summer visit to San Francisco in 1973, staying with a friend who worked the lights at a Berkeley music club, Nicolette decided to move to the Bay Area. In 1974, after a few singing stints in local Kansas City bands, a number of secretarial and waitressing jobs and a year at the University of Missouri, Nicolette bought her ticket West. Her father, Bob Larson, recalls his displeasure over his daughter's decision: " I thought the odds were astronomical against her breaking into that business and I discouraged her at every opportunity." In San Francisco, Nicolette worked in a record store and auditioned at clubs and coffee houses. Another job, as production secretary for the Golden State Country Bluegrass Festival, brought her into direct contact with local artists, and she joined David Nichtern & the Nocturnes. In early 1975, Nicolette moved south to Los Angeles. A short-lived marriage to Hank DeVito, the pedal steel guitarist in Emmylou Harris' band, introduced her to Emmy and Her husband/producer, Brian Ahern. This association in turn drew her into the L.A. brood, the ruling elite of rock 'n roll. Studio chores and mutual acquaintances brought her together with Linda Ronstadt, who remained a steadfast friend. Neil Young had strolled down from his own beachside home one evening to Linda's Malibu colony house to play her some songs for his new album. Recommendations from Emmylou and Brian earlier in the day had already brought Nicolette to his attention, and, as Linda and Nicolette sat before the fire improvising harmonies, the duo seemed a natural. Thus were forged the Bullets - Linda and Nicolette - Young's backup team extraordinaire on American stars 'n Bars. Almost a year later, a phone call came from Young asking Nicolette to come to Nashville and add harmonies to his new record, Comes a Time. As well as Neil Young, Nicolette has sung on records for Hoyt Axton, Commander Cody, Gary Stewart, Jesse Colin Young, Emmylou Harris, Linda Ronstadt, The Doobie Brothers, Jesse Winchester, and many others. Nicolette did a tour with Axton, after which she joined Commander Cody's first post-Lost Planet Airmen unit. Her roadwork with the New Commander Cody Band, which featured Larson solos on four or five songs per set, brought her to the attention of Arista Records' President Clive Davis. Davis began making overtures, other companies put in their bids, and then Warner Bros. made it's serious offer. Thus was born Nicolette's first solo album, Nicolette, which included the smash hit Lotta Love, penned by Neil Young. Nicolette went on to produce 4 more critically acclaimed albums under the Warner label, Bring Back the Stroll (A live recording of a concert at the Roxy), In the Nick of Time, Radioland, and All Dressed Up and No Place To Go. "I practically grew up with the people at Warners," Nicolette said of that association. "But, the thing that most people don't realize is that I was originally signed to them as a country artist and that it was only after 'Lotta Love' took off the way that it did that they decided to take me in the direction they did." By the time her contract was up with Warner, Nicolette wanted the opportunity to refigure her musical stance. A part in the travelling company of Pump Boys and Dinettes gave her a chance to further develop her vocal abilities - it also offered a much needed break from the Los Angeles music industry. After the show closed in Nashville, Nicolette took the chance to see how business was done in Music City. The opportunity to get together with MCA came up and Nicolette knew it was the right move. She said upon the release of her first album with MCA, Say When, "I think what I'm doing now is what I do best." Say When was an electric country offering which was very similar in style to Nicolette's first self-titled album with Warner. Say When earned her an Academy of Country Music "Best New Female Vocalist" Award. Nicolette's second album with MCA, Rose of My Heart, was even more country in style. The album featured tracks penned by Nicolette, "When you get a little lonely" co-written with Wendy Waldman and Josh Leo, and "Captured by Love" which she wrote on her own. The album produced a Top 10 Country Hit, a duet with Steve Warner called "That's How You Know When Love's Right". Like Linda Ronstadt, Nicolette was not known for writing her own material, as a result she was very aware of the need to validate her art in a world where many artists did write their own material. She once said, "I try to translate whatever I'm feeling into the song - that's the wonder of singing for me. If I'm depressed or sad or happy, I can put that into the song, so it's like a catharsis for me because it translates... As a singer, especially because I'm not really a songwriter, I have to make those words mine and make the listener feel as if I wrote them". In 1988, and after Nicolette's contract with MCA ended, she went on to record for CGD, an Italian based music company. The result was Shadows of Love, which found Nicolette returning, in part, to the pop/rock style. The album included tracks co-written by Nicolette, "Love's Light" and "Let Me Be The One". What is unusual about the album is that though the music was recorded in Italy, Nicolette's voice recordings were done at the Steama Studios in California L.A. 1988 also saw Nicolette appear in the movie Twins as a cabaret singer performing the song "I'd Die for this Dance". In 1990 Nicolette married renowned drummer Russell Kunkel and gave birth later that year to their daughter, Elsie May. This event inspired the recording of the children's lullaby album, "Sleep Baby, Sleep", for Sony, released in 1994. Nicolette said that she realized the need for that type of music when she couldn't find any that was quiet and peaceful enough, "At first, I was only thinking of newborns - so fragile and restless in their new world. But, when Elsie May needed some medical assistance for the first couple of weeks of her life, I sat down and began to write something myself". Nicolette continued to tour and record in the 1990's, and during this time she also made her acting debut on television in the sitcom, Throb. Sadly, Nicolette passed away in December of 1997 due to complications from a cerebral edema. The following extract is taken and adapted from an article in BAM magazine - Issue November 1978 "...One senses that she'll cling dearly to the freedom to skate through the crowds in Venice and roll through the streets of L.A., singing perfect harmony at the top of her lungs... And you know that as she skates down the Boardwalk, her python-braids flying in the wind behind her, she's singing, louder than the traffic to her left, louder than the ocean to her right, and even if you think it's only in your head, you know that it's really Nicolette Larson, singing in Heaven again..."
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