McDONALD, KATHI

Bellingham Accents w/ Kathi McDonald, early-1960s.

Homebase: Bellingham, WA
Stats: 9/25/1948 - 10/3/2012
Misc Notes: In 1963 the Anacortes, Washington-born singer Kathryn Marie "Kathi" McDonald joined her first rock band, the Bellingham Accents. Later, in 1965, she moved on to the Unusuals, who cut the "Babe It's Me" / "I'm Walkin' Babe" single for Seattle's Panorama Records. In 1966 that band hooked up with a Chicago's Mainstream label for a followup: "Summer Is Over" / "I Could Go On." Interestingly, the band's label-mate at that time was San Francisco's Big Brother & the Holding Company. Times were changing, and in 1967 she joined the Western Washington College-based electric-folk-rock band, the Safety Patrol - whose debut gig was opening for the Jefferson Airplane on May 27th.

As McDonald's band-mate Bruce Kirkman would later explain: "Shortly after this we fired Kathi because she wouldn't rehearse!!! We were too dumb to realize that some people don't need to rehearse...they are born ready. It was the best thing we could have done for her, because she immediately went to San Francisco and got discovered by Ike Turner."

Indeed, it was while singing along and dancing wildly in front of the stage at an Ike & Tina Turner show that he spotted McDonald. Turner told her to come backstage at the break. Long story short, McDonald auditioned, and was hired as one of the group's backup singers, the Ikettes, touring and contributing backing vocals to their 1969 Come Together album. McDonald was soon recognized as a powerful, soulful performer and she became an in-demand singer. In 1970 she worked with Joe Cocker and sang on his classic Mad Dogs and Englishmen album. In 1971 McDonald was recruited by Big Brother to be their new singer, and she can be heard on that year's Be A Brother LP. The year of 1971 also saw her contributing to albums including: Freddy King's Getting Ready;  Leon Russell's Shelter People; Delaney & Bonnie's To Bonnie From Delaney; and Rita Coolidge's Rita Coolidge. In 1972 McDonald sang on" Big Brother's How Hard It Is; Nils Lofgren's All Out;  and Dave Mason's Headkeeper. That same year she was recruited by the Rolling Stones to tour with them as well as record (Exile On Main Street LP, including "Tumblin' Dice").  In 1974, McDonald cut her first solo LP, Insane Asylum, for Capitol Records which received modest airplay on FM radio. In 1976 McDonald partnered with the British bluesman, Long John Baldry, recording and gigging together on-and-off for two decades.In 1978 Quicksilver Messenger Service included her on Solid Silver.

All told, McDonald is said to have sung on 140-some albums - 80 of which were certified gold by the RIAA. In time, McDonald returned home to the Northwest and gigged for many years on the region's blues scene, performing with Kathi McDonald and Her Friends, Nick Vigarino, Mark Riley, Kate Hart, and the Seattle Women of R&B among other groups. In 1994 her Save Your Breath album was issued. In 1997 her and Nick Vigarino's The Ghost of Time album - which also featured luminaries including Brian Auger and Robben Ford - was released. That was followed by her Above & Beyond in 1999. After winning two Washington State Blues Society's Female Vocalist of the Year awards, McDonald was inducted into their Hall of Fame in 1999. In 2002 her and Bill Parker's Sex Not Guaranteed album was released, 2004 brought her eponymous Kathi McDonald album, and on February 21, 2012 her and Rich Kirch's Nothin' But Trouble album was released. Kathi McDonald passed away in Seattle on October 3, 2012. In 2016 a final album, Defused was released.

SEE ALSO:
1.) BELLINGHAM ACCENTS, The
2.) UNUSUALS, The
3.) SAFETY PATROL, The
4.) FAT JACK
5.) BALDRY & KATHI McDONALD, LONG JOHN
6.) VIGARINO & KATHI McDONALD, NICK
7.) SEATTLE WOMEN of R&B, The

May 25, 1974, Billboard Magazine

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