Carla Olson to Release FOR PETE'S SAKE, Album With CREAM Lyricist Pete Brown

Carla Olson's new album, For Pete's Sake, grew out of her songwriting collaboration with legendary British poet and lyricist Pete Brown, best known for writing the words to some of Cream's most enduring songs, including 'Sunshine Of Your Love,' 'White Room,' 'Politician' and 'I Feel Free.'

Olson was introduced to Brown by original Manfred Mann lead singer Paul Jones. That introduction sparked a transatlantic songwriting partnership between two artists from different musical worlds, united by a shared love of blues, rock & roll, poetry and the craft of songwriting. Brown, who died in 2023, was already a published poet and a leading figure in Britain's Beat poetry movement before his words became part of rock history. In 1965, he appeared alongside Allen Ginsberg and Lawrence Ferlinghetti at London's Royal Albert Hall. Soon afterward, Brown formed an extraordinary creative partnership with Jack Bruce, a collaboration that would continue for nearly five decades.

Brown's words helped give Cream's music its distinctive literary identity. Brown's lyrics combined Beat poetry, surrealism, humor and blues imagery in a way virtually unprecedented in British rock. Beyond Cream and Jack Bruce, his writing and collaborations extended to artists including Procol Harum and The Hollies.

That same lyrical imagination lies at the heart of For Pete's Sake. The album brings Brown's words into Carla Olson's musical world, creating songs that connect the British rock tradition Brown helped define with Olson's own roots in American rock, folk, blues and roots music. Brown himself publicly praised Olson as 'a very, very good American musician' while discussing their songwriting collaboration and recorded one of their compositions, 'With My Black Cat By My Side,' for his final album, The Shadow Club.

With the exception of one song written by Olson with longtime Textones bassist Joe Read, the material on For Pete's Sake was written by Olson and Brown. The album also reconnects Olson with members of the Textones, including Read, George Callins, Rick Hemmert and Tom Jr. Morgan.

Olson's own recording career began after she moved from Austin, Texas, to Los Angeles in the late 1970s and formed the Textones. Following an early UK EP and American single, the group released its acclaimed A&M Records debut, Midnight Mission. Don Henley sang on the title track, while Ry Cooder played slide guitar on two songs, including Bob Dylan's then-unreleased 'Clean Cut Kid.' Dylan had given Olson the song after she played guitar in his groundbreaking video for 'Sweetheart Like You.'

The Textones toured the United States and Europe, appeared on MTV and in feature films, and were followed by a second album, Cedar Creek, in 1987. That same year Olson released So Rebellious A Lover, her celebrated duet album with Gene Clark of the Byrds. She subsequently began a long musical association with former Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor, resulting in the live album Too Hot For Snakes.

Olson has continued recording throughout her career, including the Textones' Old Stone Gang, her duet album with Stephen McCarthy of the Long Ryders and three volumes of the Have Harmony, Will Travel series. Those recordings have brought her together with artists including Peter Case, Richie Furay, John York, Timothy B. Schmit, Peter Noone, Terry Reid, Eric Johnson and James Intveld.

She has also developed an extensive career as a record producer. Olson has produced albums by artists including Paul Jones, Barry Goldberg, Joe Louis Walker, Jake Andrews, Robert Rex Waller Jr., Mare Winningham and Chubby Tavares, along with individual recordings by B.J. Thomas, Dave Alvin, Billy Joe Royal, Peter Noone, Rocky Burnette, Brenton Wood and others. Her work as a producer was profiled in an entire chapter of Howard Massey's Behind The Glass.

As a songwriter, Olson's compositions have been recorded by Percy Sledge, Eric Johnson, Mikael Rickfors and others. She was given permission by the estate of Brian Jones to compose music for one of his poems, resulting in 'Thank You (For Being There),' and later received permission to set Jim Morrison's poem 'Ode To L.A. While Thinking Of Brian Jones, Deceased' to music. Her collaborations have also appeared on recordings by former Hollies singer Allan Clarke and Pete Brown himself.

After a career that has connected Olson with figures ranging from Bob Dylan, Gene Clark and Mick Taylor to Ry Cooder, Don Henley and Eric Johnson, For Pete's Sake represents something different: a record built around one remarkable songwriting relationship.

For Pete Brown, words were never decoration added to music. They were part of the music. For Pete's Sake carries that philosophy forward, bringing the final chapters of an extraordinary British lyricist's writing life together with Carla Olson's distinctly American musical voice.