Lisa Hartt is a Canadian singer and

Juno Award The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...

nominee. She was the lead singer of

The Lisa Hartt Band Lisa Hartt is a Canadian singer and Juno Award nominee. She was the lead singer of The Lisa Hartt Band during the 1970s. They had a hit with "Old Time Movies". As a solo artist, she also had a radio hit with the single "Touch Me". Background Li ...

during the 1970s. They had a hit with "Old Time Movies". As a solo artist, she also had a radio hit with the single "Touch Me".

Background

Lisa Hartt was born in Montreal in 1946 and grew up in La Tuque and Dorval, Quebec. She ventured into music at the age of ten.Vancouver Pop Music Signature Sounds
#1121: OLD TIME MOVIE BY LISA HARTT BAND
/ref> She started her career in Montreal. At the age of 15 she was working as a backing singer for artists. Some years later, she was singing backup for

Gino Vanelli Gino Vanelli (26 March 1896, in Bergamo – 9 April 1969, in Monza) was an Italian operatic baritone who had an active international career from 1917 until his retirement in 1955. He made several recordings for HMV and Columbia Records, incl ...

. In addition to Vanelli, she has worked with

April Wine April Wine is a Canadian rock band formed in 1969 and based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Led by singer-guitarist-songwriter Myles Goodwin since its inception, April Wine's first success came with its second album, '' On Record'' (1972), which reac ...

, Rayburn Blake of the group

Mashmakhan Mashmakhan was a Canadian rock band formed in 1969 in L'Île-Perrot, Quebec. The band is best known for their 1970 hit single "As the Years Go By". The song reached No. 1 in Canada, and the Top 40 in the United States. The song was also a major ...

Natalie Cole Natalie Maria Cole (February 6, 1950 – December 31, 2015) was an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She was the daughter of American singer and jazz pianist Nat King Cole. She rose to success in the mid-1970s as an R&B singer with the h ...

, David Foster, Ralph Murphy,

Anne Murray Morna Anne Murray (born June 20, 1945) is a retired Canadian singer. Her albums, consisting primarily of pop, country, and adult contemporary music, have sold over 55 million copies worldwide during her over 40-year career. Murray was the fir ...

Phil Ramone Philip Ramone (né Rabinowitz, January 5, 1934March 30, 2013) was a South African-born American recording engineer, record producer, violinist and composer, who in 1958 co-founded A & R Recording, Inc., a recording studio with business par ...

Brenda Russell Brenda Russell (née Gordon; born April 8, 1949) is an American singer-songwriter, producer, and keyboardist. Russell has a diverse musical range which encompasses R&B, pop, soul, dance, and jazz. She has received five Grammy nominations. Li ...

, Ken Tobias, and

Maurice White Maurice White (December 19, 1941 – February 4, 2016) was an American singer, musician, songwriter, and record producer. He was best known as the founder, leader, main songwriter, and producer of the band Earth, Wind & Fire, and served as the ...

. Her international career has seen her performing in various parts of the world. She was nominated for a

for Breakthrough Artist of the Year in 1976.The JUNO Awards - Canada's Music Awards (Internet Archive)
Most Promising Female Vocalist of the Year , Lisa Hartt
/ref> Her first band included musicians, Wayne Pilon on bass and

Brian Wray Brian Wray was a veteran Canadian musician and musical arranger. He had been a member of three major Canadian bands, Natural Gas in the late 1960s, Motherlode and Truck in the early 1970s. He also worked with Lisa Hartt, Freedom North, Moe Kof ...

on Keyboards. Wray had been a member of 70s groups,

Natural Gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...

, Motherlode and

Truck A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construction ...

Career

;1960s to 1980s In 1973, she recorded the single, "Touch Me" bw "Aftermath" which was released on Polydor 2065 182. Written by her, it was just credited to her first name. On August 11, it had moved from #60 to #56 on the ''RPM Weekly'' Programmers Pop Music Playlist. 45Cat
Lisa (Canada) - Discography
/ref>''RPM Weekly'', Volume 19 No. 26 August 11, 1973
Page 28 The Programmers ''POP MUSIC PLAY LIST''
/ref> It managed to get to #41 on September 22. In 1976, she was an artist in the ''Rockabye Hamlet'' production. It also featured, Rory Dodd, Cal Dodd, Cliff Jones and

The Irish Rovers The Irish Rovers is a group of Irish musicians that originated in Toronto, Canada. Formed in 1963'Irish Rovers are Digging out those old Folk songs', By Ballymena Weekly Editor, Ballymena Weekly Telegraph, N. Ireland – 20 August 1964 and na ...

.''Movie-TV Soundtracks and Original Cast Recordings Price and Reference Guide'', By Jerry Osborne, 2010 -
Page 492 ROCKABYE HAMLET
/ref> She performed the songs, "If My Morning Begins", "The Last Blues I'll Ever Sing", and "Denmark Is Still".Cast Albums
Rockabye Hamlet > Studio Cast
/ref>

Lisa Hartt Band period

In 1975, the Lisa Hartt Band released the single, "The Last Blues I’ll Ever Sing" bw "Let’s Live Together" on Rising RI-001X.The Canadian Pop Music Encyclopedia
HARTT BAND, Lisa
/ref> ;Album In 1976, the band released the album ''Starwatcher'' on Rising RRLP 104. The first single from the LP was "All Over the World" which was produced by Phil Ramone The band's album created enough noise to get her a Juno Award nomination in 1976. In 1977, it was an ''RPM Weekly'' "Feature Album" for March 12, a "Cancon LP" pick by the ''Steede Report'' on February 19, and a ''Record Week'' album pick for February 28. Additionally, the single "All Over the World" was a ''Steed Report'' "Top Pick" for March 5, and a ''Record Week'' "Single Pick" for February 28. ;Further activities Music magazine, ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of the three main music industry trade magazines in the United States, along with '' Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 under the name ''Music Vendor'', but in 1964 it was changed to ''Record Wo ...

'' reported in its April 2 issue that "All Over the World" was getting heavy airplay. They followed up that year with "Old Time Movie" bw "Starwatcher" on Rising RR-003. In late May, ''RPM Weekly'' reported that Rising Records were promoting three singles, "Everyone's Gone to the Movies" by Rockgarden, "Old Time Movie" by The Lisa Hartt Band, and "Let The Games Begin" by Kidstuff. In June, the single peaked at #12 on Vancouver’s CKLG chart and spent a total of eight weeks in the chart. The band released "Dream Me Away" bw "Sweet Serenade" on Rising RR-010 in 1977. In mid-July 1977, ''RPM Weekly'' wrote that it was confirmed the band would tour with Aquarius Records recording act,

and open for them. At that time the band consisted of Hartt on guitar and vocals, Rayburn Blake on guitar, Richard Yuen on keyboards, Marty Cordrey on drums, and their newest member Ray Hands on bass who had replaced Denny Gerrard. In the February 18, 1978, issue of ''Billboard'', there was a report of a suggestion by an earlier article that the group had left the Rising Records label and were in negotiations with other companies. Robert Hahn of Champlain Productions was not impressed and claimed that the band had a "subsisting agreement" with the label.

Post Lisa Hartt Band

;1990s to 2000s On November 22, 2018, she was at a Cashbox Canada Legacy award presentation for John Harris, a prominent figure in the Canadian music industry. He was also her manager at one stage. She performed her hit, "Old Time Movie" and "

Tower of Song ''Tower of Song: The Songs of Leonard Cohen'' is a tribute album to Leonard Cohen, released in 1995 on A&M Records. It takes its name from a song by Cohen which originally appeared on Cohen's album '' I'm Your Man.'' However the song "Tower of ...

" which was composed by

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...

. In 2022, she recorded a 4-track EP titled ''Arival'' which includes the song "Don’t Tell Me How I Feel" which is a tribute to her late brother, Christopher who died in 2015. Joan Prowse of Cinefocus created, produced and directed the video for the song. The single was released on November 11. The EP is due for release in January, 2023. It contains another song "Wasted" which is an account of her life on the road and the toll it took.''Front View Magazine'', 28 November 2022
Iconic Canadian Singer/Songwriter Lisa Hartt Releases Heartwrenching "Don't Tell Me How I Feel" Ahead Of 'Arrival' EP
/ref>

Discography Selective

Solo

Lisa Hartt Band

References

External links

Discogs: Lisa Hartt

Discogs: The Lisa Hartt Band

AllMusic: Lisa Hartt biography

IMDb: Lisa Hartt
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hartt, Lisa Living people 20th-century Canadian women singers 21st-century Canadian women singers Canadian women singer-songwriters Canadian singer-songwriters Canadian jazz singers Polydor Records artists Year of birth missing (living people)