Donna Godchaux

Donna Godchaux (2009)

Donna Jean Godchaux (* 22. August 1945 in Muscle Shoals , Alabama as Donna Jean Thatcher ) is an American singer . She was the only female band member in the Grateful Dead , to which she and her husband Keith Godchaux belonged from 1972 to 1979.

biography

Godchaux began her musical career as a studio singer in the Muscle Shoals Studios, where she became a member of the Southern Comfort vocal troupe. Under the name Donna Thatcher, she contributed vocals to numerous recordings, including Elvis Presley's hits In The Ghetto and Suspicious Minds , When a Man Loves a Woman by Percy Sledge and Cher's album 3614 Jackson Highway .

In 1970 Donna Thatcher went to San Francisco , where she met her future husband, Keith Godchaux . The couple joined the Grateful Dead in 1971 (Keith from October 19, 1971, Donna from March 25, 1972). As a singer, Donna Godchaux left her mark on songs like Playin 'In The Band , Dancin' In The Streets and The Music Never Stopped and played a key role in shaping the band's sound in the 1970s. For the Grateful Dead she composed two songs ( Sunrise , From The Heart Of Me ) and brought the cover versions You Ain't Woman Enough ( Loretta Lynn ) and Tomorrow Is Forever ( Dolly Parton ) into the live repertoire.

In 1975 Godchaux and her husband released their own disappointing album Keith And Donna as Keith and Donna Band (which until today - as of 6/2006 - has not been released on CD). 1977/78 both Godchaux 'were members of the Jerry García Band , on whose album Cats Under The Stars they played a key role.

Due to increasing internal differences with the Grateful Dead, the Godchaux 'left the band in early 1979. In the same year they joined The Ghosts and played in local clubs. The Ghosts went through several personnel changes and became the Heart of Gold Band in mid-1980 (named after a line of text from the Grateful Dead song Scarlet Begonias ). After the accidental death of Keith Godchaux in July 1980, the band soon gave up. A compilation of live and studio recordings of varying quality was later released on record.

In the 1980s, Godchaux married her second husband David McKay, a bassist from the local music scene (since then she has been called Donna Jean Godchaux-McKay), and lived a secluded life from the music business. In 1994 she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Grateful Dead .

In 1996 Godchaux surprised with a comeback album with ten new original compositions recorded in the Muscle Shoals Studios. Then she founded the Donna Jean Band , in which her second husband and her son from her first marriage, Zion Rock Godchaux, played. On various occasions she also met her former colleagues from the Grateful Dead , for example when she appeared with Phil Lesh & Friends in 1999 . At the Grateful Dead Family reunion under the name The Dead, she was not there - Joan Osborne had taken on the female vocal part .

In 2004 Godchaux finally brought the Heart Of Gold Band back to life, which today mainly consists of family members: husband David McKay, Brian Godchaux (Keith's brother), the sons Zion Rock Godchaux and Kinsman McKay. Both sons also pursue their own music projects. Since 2006 Godchaux has been touring regularly with members of the band Zen Tricksters under the band name Donna Jean and The Tricksters . The collaboration resulted in a studio album in 2008.

Discography

Grateful Dead albums with Keith & Donna Godchaux:

• Europe '72 (1972)
• Wake of the Flood (1973)
• From the Mars Hotel (1974)
• Blues for Allah (1976)
• Steal Your Face (1976)
• Terrapin Station (1977)
• Shakedown Street (1978)

in addition several publications of live recordings

Side or follow-up projects:

• Keith & Donna (1975)
• Double Dose (Heart Of Gold Band, 1984/1989)
• Donna Jean (1996)
• At The Table (Heart Of Gold Band, 2004)
• Donna Jean and The Tricksters (Donna Jean and The Tricksters, 2008)