I'm Not Lisa

1975

Jessi Colter

The very first thing we Seventies Kids remember when Jessi Colter's one and only big Pop hit...and 1975's second Top 10 Country-Pop crossover One Hit Wonder...springs to mind is that beautifully haunting piano intro. It's unique, unmistakable, and leads into the song's equally haunting melody and lyrics seamlessly. 'I'm Not Lisa' sailed up to #4 on the Billboard Hot 100, and it wasn't even a Pop song. Really, listen to it, both the music and the lyrics. It's a song about a young lady brooding over the fact that her man can't get over his former girlfriend. That, my friends is about as country as you can get without mentioning beer and pick-up trucks.

Jessi was married to a gent of some Country Music notoriety by the name of Waylon Jennings who, along with Ken Mansfield, produced 'I'm Not Lisa'. The song's signature piano intro was played by Jessi herself, BTW, as she accompanied herself while recording the track. This was her very first single after switching over from RCA to Capitol Records, and she did 'em proud. I'm Not Lisa shot up the Country charts to #1 before crossing over and debuting on the Billboard Hot 100 on April 5^th, 1975 at #88. It took the song about two months to break into the Top 10 at #8, on June 7^th, then it peaked at #4 on the 21^st. It'd hang on to that spot for two weeks before heading back down and dropping off the chart a month or so later.

'I'm Not Lisa' was included on her premiere Capitol Records album, I'm Jessi Colter, which scored the top spot on the Country Album charts and, on the strength of I'm Not Lisa, made it to #50 on the Billboard Hot 200 album chart. This little tune gained Jessi Colter a slew of fans on both sides of of the Country/Pop fence, and rightfully so. She had (And still has) a beautiful, soulful voice and singing style that just digs into your soul. I had a friend of mine (Who is now and always has been a huge country music fan) tell me that she was one of those ladies who was just born with a country music voice. I have to agree with him on that, and I, as well as the rest of us Seventies kids, are ever grateful that she lent it to the Pop side of the fence for that one, stirring, soulful single. It was really one of a kind.

It was all over the radio during the Summer of '75, on both WLEE, Richmond's AM Top 40 powerhouse as well as WRVQ, Richmond's upstart FM Top 40 station, which hadn't quite stolen

WLEE's thunder..yet. A quick little personal story here...when 'I'm Not Lisa' came out I was active (Make that extremely active) in the fire department, which meant lot's of Oh Dark Hundred runs. As the department's photographer, I drove my own ride to the calls, which meant driving back to the station, then home afterward along the then all but deserted after midnight roads of Chesterfield County, VA. Nothing much more haunting than listening to this lovely lady start that piano, then croon 'I'm Not Liiiissaaaa' as my headlights cut a swath through the sometimes foggy darkness that was 2AM in 1975.

This lovely and soulful tune still pops up on both classic Oldies and Classic Country stations now and again...and it always seems that Oldies 107.3, in Richmond plays it at Oh Dark Hundred, dredging up memories of rolling back up Rt 10 as the wind rushed through the open windows and a haunting, lovely song played on the radio.

So Enjoy...I'm Not Lisa, by Jessi Colter.

And as a bonus, same arrangement, with lyrics. 


And as a second bonus...Lisa Colter making a guest appearance at the Waylon and the Waymore Bros Finale Concert, performing I'm Not Lisa. A very lovely lady she was indeed, and she and Waylon Jennings had a very special love.