Essra Mohawk

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Essra Mohawk
Birth nameSandra Elayne Hurvitz
Also known asSandy Hurvitz, Jamie Carter
Born(1948-04-23)April 23, 1948
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
DiedDecember 11, 2023(2023-12-11) (aged 75)
Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
Genres
Occupation(s)Singer, songwriter
Instrument(s)Vocals, piano, guitar, mandolin
Years active1964–2023
LabelsElektra
WebsiteOfficial site as of 2017, via Wayback Machine

Essra Mohawk (/ˈɛsrə/; born Sandra Elayne Hurvitz; April 23, 1948 – December 11, 2023) was an American singer-songwriter who recorded a dozen albums.

Her best-known songs include "Sufferin' Til Suffrage" and "Interjections!" (both from Schoolhouse Rock!), "Change of Heart", recorded by Cyndi Lauper and "Stronger Than the Wind", recorded by Tina Turner. Her second album Primordial Lovers was critically acclaimed.

Biography

Sandra Elayne Hurvitz was born in

Shangri-Las ("I'll Never Learn") and the Vanilla Fudge ("The Spell That Comes After"). While living in New York City in 1967 she met Frank Zappa, who persuaded her to perform for a short time with the Mothers of Invention and then signed her to his Bizarre Records production company. While he initially helped to produce her first album, he left the project and assigned it to woodwind player and keyboardist Ian Underwood. Hurvitz opened for Procol Harum when they performed at the Cafe Au Go Go in 1967, and Keith Reid wrote "Quite Rightly So", which appeared on their second album Shine On Brightly, for her.[3] Her first album Sandy's Album Is Here At Last was released on Bizarre/Verve
in December 1968.

In 1969 she was signed by

CSN&Y drummer Dallas Taylor and former Rhinoceros members Doug Hastings and Jerry Penrod. Essra nearly joined Rhinoceros in its original line-up. While recording the album, she married her producer Frazier Mohawk
(born Barry Friedman, 1941) and from then on was known as Essra Mohawk. "Essra" (S-ra) is an abbreviated form of "Sandra."

She was scheduled to perform at the original

Woodstock Festival
, but her driver took a wrong turn on the way. “We got there in time to see the last verse of the last song of the last act of the first night, and then the stage went dark before we got to it from the parking lot,” she recalled in a 2009 video interview.[4]

Members of Generation X may recognize her distinctive voice from the Saturday morning TV series Schoolhouse Rock!, as she lent her voice to "Interjections!", "Mother Necessity" and "Sufferin' Till Suffrage" in the mid-1970s. In addition, Mohawk sang the theme song to "Teeny Little Super Guy", a regular segment on Sesame Street during the 1980s.

Her third album, Essra Mohawk, came out on

McFadden and Whitehead in Philadelphia, penning "Not With Me" for their Capitol album, Movin' On. She released another solo album, E-Turn, before Cyndi Lauper had a hit with her song "Change of Heart
" in 1986.

In 2011 she provided the lead vocal for an animated short film produced by TDA Animation, about the struggle for gay rights, called "Sufferin' Till You're Straight". The spot featured former

Supremes Scherrie Payne and Susaye Greene
on background vocals.

Mohawk wrote songs for other artists including co-writing a song entitled "Infinite Eyes" with blues artist

Keb Mo as well as recording and performing in concert. She released six more albums after moving to Nashville in 1993. Essra's songs have been aired on the TV series Joan of Arcadia and the soap opera All My Children
. Rhino released a special limited edition of her second and third albums, Primordial Lovers MM, in 2000. Mohawk was a longtime advocate of peace and environmental protection. She was a member of the board of Musicians and Artists for Peace and was their Nashville coordinator.

She died of cancer at her home in Nashville. [6]

Discography

Albums

  • Sandy's Album Is Here At Last! – Bizarre – 1968 (as Sandy Hurvitz)
  • Primordial Lovers – Reprise – 1970
  • Essra Mohawk – Asylum – 1974
  • Essra – Private Stock – 1976
  • Burnin' Shinin' – San Francisco Sound – 1982
  • E-Turn – Eclipse – 1985
  • Raindance – Schoolkids – 1995
  • Essie Mae Hawk Meets the Killer Groove Band – Mummypump – 1999
  • Essra Live at Genghis Cohen – Mummypump – 2001
  • You're Not Alone – Evidence – 2003
  • Love Is Still the Answer – Mummypump – 2006
  • Revelations of the Secret Diva – Mummypump – 2007
  • 1979: The Supersound Sessions and More – Mummypump – 2017
  • The One and Only – Mummypump – 2019

Singles

  • "The Boy with the Way" / "The Memory of Your Voice" – Liberty – 1964 (as Jamie Carter)
  • "Spiral" / "Image of Yu" – Reprise – 1970
  • "Jabberwock Song" / "It's Up to Me" – Reprise – 1970
  • "Full Fledged Woman" / "Magic Pen" – Asylum – 1974
  • "Man of Mystery" / "Summertime" – Black Cat – 2009 (with
    Pacific Eardrum
    )

Compilations

References

  1. ^ "Rockasteria: Essra Mohawk - Primordial Lovers (1970 us, wondrous avant jazz painted with psych colors)". March 20, 2012.
  2. ^ "Essra Mohawk Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic.
  3. ^ "The Secret Diva".
  4. ^ Essra Mohawk Dies: Singer-Songwriter Who Performed With Frank Zappa, Jerry Garcia, But Missed Woodstock Was 75 Retrieved December 27, 2023
  5. ISBN 089919026X
    . Retrieved March 8, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
  6. ^ Essra Mohawk, eclectic singer and prolific songwriter, has died at 75. Retrieved December 27, 2023

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Essra_Mohawk&oldid=1219507641"