Motor-Cycle (1969), Lotti Golden’s first album, made when she was still in her teens, doesn’t sound like anything else. But only the canniest people caught on to it at the time of its release. Despite a significant amount of pre-release publicity, it wasn’t successful. Most of us, me included, found it in dribs and drabs after the new millennium. And what an album it is: an experimental R&B song cycle (hence the hyphen styling of the word “motorcycle”) about the real-life characters Golden knew at the time, some of whom she encountered thanks to her drama studies at the Henry Street Settlement in New York. The album originally came out on Atlantic and was produced, with customary flair, by Bob Crewe. Its long and intense songs were all recorded live in two or three sessions, with astonishing vocal performances from Lotti. Motor-Cycle is finally back out, thanks to High Moon Records, whose Laurie Styvers CD anthology and its follow-up outtakes vinyl companion were my favourite favourite favourites of 2024. Now it looks like the same company has come up with my favourite favourite favourite of 2025.
I spoke to Lotti, who went on to a long and successful career in songwriting and production, for June 2025 Record Collector, out now… Here’s a two-page foretaste!
2 comments
Charles Donovan’s piece on Lotti Golden
is an enjoyable read. It’s a rare interview with Golden and the author takes full advantage of this access. Donovan does a deep dive into Golden’s formative years in order to discover what was unique to her background that would lead to her make such a groundbreaking record.
Thank you very much for the kind words, Jason.