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Pamela Polland

An award-winning singer/songwriter, with three albums on Columbia and Epic as well as two more independently released albums to her credit, Pamela Polland’s ever increasing list of musical credentials reads like a veritable Who's Who of artists … from all points on the musical compass.

Over the course of her 50-years in the business, this seasoned professional has both performed and recorded with such luminaries as Bonnie Raitt, Kenny Loggins, Jackson Browne, Van Morrison, John Denver, Taj Mahal, Joe Cocker, Leon Russel, Tedeschi Trucks band, Manhattan Transfer and a host of others.

In 1970, Pamela joined the famed Mad Dogs & Englishmen Tour with Joe Cocker and Leon Russell, appearing on the resulting album as well as in the movie. Her songs have been recorded by the likes of Linda Ronstadt, Helen Reddy, The Byrds, Vicki Carr, Nancy Ames, Anita Carter and Bobby Bare.

Pamela has won numerous awards, including an ASCAP award and two coveted gold records. Her recent AWAL release, "Heart Of The World", features special guests Bonnie Raitt and Kenny Loggins and has received wide acclaim in both the USA and Asia.

After writing her first song at age nine, Pamela's musical career began to flower, as a teenager in the mid- 1960's, playing folk music, (and a variety of stringed instruments including guitar, banjo, & dulcimer).

In this context, she met the young, budding guitar instrumentalist, Ry Cooder. For the following two years, they worked as a duo; Ry accompanying Pamela’s performances of authentic blues material.

The only known recording made during this era is a live performance from the Ashgrove nightclub, which is featured on the "Early Release" section of .

Pamela formed The Gentle Soul with fellow singer/songwriter Rick Stanley in 1966. The band played Southern California venues and recorded on the Columbia and Epic labels for the next three years. All their recordings are also featured in the Early Release section of her website.

When The Gentle Soul disbanded in 1969, Pamela moved to Mill Valley, California where she continued to write and perform.

In 1970, she took a short "break" from her solo career to join Joe Cocker and Leon Russell for the famed Mad Dogs and Englishmen tour resulting in her participation in both the associated double album and film documentary. But in 1971, Pamela re-signed with Columbia Records and went on to tour and record as a solo singer/songwriter for the next few years. Clive Davis, then President of Columbia Records, included a chapter on Pamela in his renowned book Clive: Inside The Record Business. Both of Pamela's solo Columbia Records albums are featured in the Early Release section of her website

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Album Review

Pamela Polland: Pamela Polland / Have You Heard The One About The Gas Station Attendant?

Read "Pamela Polland / Have You Heard The One About The Gas Station Attendant?" reviewed by Jakob Baekgaard


The singer-songwriter movement of the seventies paved the way for several new voices in popular music, but not everyone got the success of Carole King, whose album Tapestry (Ode, 1971) marked a peak in the movement, commercially and artistically. Pamela Polland was one of the artists whom fame eluded. Polland was poised for a big breakthrough with a record contract for CBS and the staunch support of label president, Clive Davis. However, things didn't turn out as planned. ...

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"Pamela Polland is a biospheric torch singer, a ruby-throated chanteuse whose cabaret is the planetary heart." Tom Robbins ~ author Even Cowgirls Get The Blues, Jitterbug Perfume, and others.

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