Jim Croce's PATTI DAHLSTROM

People in the music business still shake their heads about Patti Dahlstrom. She made four albums. She should've been more of a contender. Critics were enchanted by her looks, and less so by her rootsy Southern vocals which were true if not pretty. Perhaps at the time (early 70's) there was no such thing as "country crossover," so being pitched as a pop star was doing her a disservice.

Her friend Jim Croce had much better luck as her opposite; smooth voice, indifferent looks. (Patti didn't mention Croce much to the press, but I used his name to get your attention.) Dahlstrom was especially effective as a lyricist. Her new words for "Amoureuse," re-titled "Emotion," brought Veronique Sanson's music to America for the first time. The song was a hit in Helen Reddy's cosmetic version, rather than the no make-up style of Dahlstrom.

Patti had a co-write for a song in the 1985 film "Heated Vengeance" but settled in Houston where she became a teacher. And speaking of teaching, listen to "Slim and Olabelle," (on her first album), a country rocker about the lessons she learned from her grandparents:

"And they only taught me two things. The first was to answer to myself. To do it if I think in my head it's right, and it don't hurt nobody else. And the second is if you love someone, go on, honey, let him know it, because the easiest thing about loving someone is to show it."

On the album, and here, the song is followed by a nice ballad, "Rider," which rides off into the sunset.

SLIM AND OLABELLE / RIDER