Crate diggers classics are born out of circumstances that mostly go unknown, though many have a common thread. To that end, I don’t think (at least as far as I know) that music history was terribly kind to the personal works of Googie (Carolyn Brooks) & Tom Coppola.

Starting out as jazz flutist Herbie Mann’s backing band, Googie & Tom’s first band together Air (not to be confused with the French duo of the same name) was an unrelentingly funky prog-jazz effort fueled by the sweet, soul-laden tones of Googie’s voice. Their first and only self-titled album was released on Mann’s Atlantic Records label imprint, Embryo, in 1970. I was told by my friend Daniel tonight (and I hope someone can verify) that the album was written entirely by Googie herself — although THAT REAL SCHITT has a story which tests Daniel’s somewhat, in which the story of how “Sister Bessie” came to exist and what it was written about —

Well, I finally found the deal, as explained by the song’s writer Moogy Klingman: “Someone told me a true story about a nun, who took LSD after falling in love with a hippie, and then made love to him, deciding she would leave the church and the convent. Apparently, the hippie had different ideas and left town quickly. This song is about what he might say to her about his hasty exit, if he said anything at all.” Okay… safe to say I wouldn’t have ever guessed that one. NEXT LEVEL.

Shortly after this album was released, Googie & Tom would leave Air to become born-again Christian.

In the years that followed, Googie would also end up provide backing vocals for acts that Tom was performing with, including Hermeto Pascoal, Flora Purim, Herbie Mann, David Matthews, John Blair, Bette Midler, Ray Barretto, Lenny White and Jeremy Steig to name but a few. In 1980, she & Tom made an album called Shine The Light of Love for Columbia Records, a Christian music album that was, in many ways, light years ahead of their contemporaries. However, mediocre production quality and lack of promotion from the label caused the record to disappear.

Eventually, Tom began studying jazz at UCLA and returned to Asheville, NC. Sadly, Googie Coppola passed away in 2008. Their daughter, who performs under the name EvaEva, lives in Brooklyn and is a singer, songwriter and perferomer in her own right.

I want to apologize if some of this info is slightly inaccurate — I really can’t find much information about them on the web, and what I could find was from other music blogs who have attempted (as I have) to cobble together the story of how this Air record never really came to find it’s place in music history as anything more than a criminally overlooked classic for crate diggers & collectors to drool over.

The music on the self-titled Air album is so immediate and so incredible, you’ll probably (if it’s your sort of thing) find it hard to imagine how it stays footnoted. If you don’t feel like looking around for a copy on vinyl, just go cop the CD from Dusty Groove or, maybe, just search around on the web for the album somewhere. Thank me later.

[LISTEN] Air – Man Is Free
Air – Man Is Free

[LISTEN] Air -Sister Bessie
Air -Sister Bessie