(Editor’s note: On August 20, Sasquatch Books will release its newest music title The Sound of Seattle, written by Eva Walker, KEXP radio DJ and frontwoman for The Black Tones, and her husband Jake Uitti, a writer for American Songwriter. The following excerpt from the book features an interview with “Angel of the Morning” singer Merrilee Rush, in which she talks about her origins as an artist in Seattle, how a trip to Memphis, Tennessee, changed her life, her groundbreaking single, and much more.)
[RELATED: Behind the Song: Merrilee Rush on “Angel of the Morning” by Chip Taylor]
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Talking Fate with Merrilee Rush
Merrilee Rush wouldn’t have wanted to be in Seattle at any other time. The singer of the1968 hit “Angel of the Morning” says the ’60s, with acts like The Wailers, The Sonics, Tiny Tony, The Statics, The Playboys, The Dynamics, Nancy Claire, and Gail Harris, were glorious. Back then, the city was rich with what it still has now—bountiful radio stations, venues for everyone, and bands, bands, bands—but in the ’60s, everything was just unique and starting to crackle.
“I think because we were isolated,” says Rush, “we weren’t influenced by the next-door neighbor. Seattle has its own region, its own thing.”
Rush recalls venues like Parker’s Ballroom, which opened in 1930 on Aurora, where acts could perform to hundreds of people, fostering a community and an exciting culture. It was a home to jazz in the ’40s, rock in the ’50s, and the experimental music of the ’60s. And there were more, including teenage dance halls from Seattle to Tacoma, and bars, theaters, and restaurants. On the airwaves, KJR was influential to the region, bringing the personalities of the local DJs to the songs. As was KZAM, a station so popular people bought new FM tuners to listen.
“Because those jocks were personality jocks,” says Rush, “they gave our region our own personality. They were playing pop music, surfer music, but there was a character that came from those stations. They were cool, they were funny, they were hip.”
Rush, growing up post-WWII, loved the radio, particularly listening to R&B. She’d come home from school, sit down by the dial, and listen. She’d flip through the lyrics printed in her Hit Parader magazine and sing along. In the R&B days of the early ’60s, she’d buy records at the Little Record Mart on Madison Street. Later, Rush started her career in earnest when she joined her now-ex-husband’s band, The Aztecs. From there, Rush formed Merrilee and Her Men.
“I’m just so lucky to have been where I was,” she says, “because I was there when rock and roll happened in the mid-’50s. I was there with Elvis and Bill Haley and the Comets. They took swing into the rock era. It was just a wonderful time.”
Rush’s world changed when she got an opening slot on tour with Boise band Paul Revere & the Raiders. Hanging out in a Memphis studio at the end of the Raiders tour, Rush cut a demo. Her singing impressed the studio producer and a month later she was brought back to record more. During this time, she was shown the revolutionary “Angel of the Morning,” written by Chip Taylor, author of “Wild Thing.” And she dug in.
“As I’m reading the lyric,” Rush says, “I’m thinking, ‘Oh my god, people are going to want to hear this again and hear this lyric!’ It hadn’t been said that way before.”
The song of female empowerment became a worldwide hit for her. From the early jazz in the ’40s to the R&B beginnings of the ’60s, to the evolution of rock and pop music, Rush has seen so much happen in Seattle, and now she is part of its lore. And given Seattle’s long history of loving rock music, it’s no surprise Heart and later bands were able to thrive in the scene. “For it to evolve into grunge, I can totally understand,” Rush adds.
Perhaps more than any other local star, Rush has witnessed the city’s evolution, from teenage dance halls in the ‘60s—with audience members like the teenage Heart sisters—to the Showbox and Paramount venues today. But that hasn’t changed Rush’s love for the region. For some, familiarity breeds contempt. But for Rush, it fosters a love affair.
“We’re so lucky to live here,” Rush says. “I’ve lived here all my life, born and raised. I was meant to be here.”
Check out more from The Sound of Seattle, already a No. 1 New Release in Seattle Travel Books, at Amazon.
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Photo: Merrilee Rush via “Angel of the Morning” YouTube music video
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