Ruthann Friedman

Singer/songwriter Ruthann Friedman was born on July 6, 1944 in The Bronx, New York City. Growing up in the suburbs of Los Angeles, Ruthann first started playing guitar at age eight and began playing at Hoot nights at the club The Troubadour in West Hollywood at age sixteen. Friedman graduated from Ulysses S. Grant High School in Los Angeles in 1962 and did her first paid gig at the Green Spider Coffeehouse in Denver, Colorado. Ruthann went on to eke out a living performing up and down the California Coast. While residing in San Francisco Friedman befriended such notable 1960's musical luminaries as Jefferson Airplane, Country Joe and the Fish, and Janis Joplin. Her friendship with Van Dyke Parks not only consolidated her deep commitment to music, but also introduced her to the group The Association. The Association recorded Ruthann's song "Windy" in 1967; it peaked at #1 on the Top 40 radio charts in July of that same year. Friedman released the album "Constant Companion" three years later. The CD compilation "Hurried Life: Lost Recordings 1965-1971" was issued in 2006. A second compilation album called "Windy: A Ruthann Friedman Songbook" followed in 2013. Forty years after her first album, Ruthann released her second album "Chinatown" in October, 2013. The mother of two daughters, Friedman has been married to husband Jeffrey Carlisle since August 5, 1988.