Biography
Nancy Priddy achieved her greatest visibility through acting, yet she maintained an occasional presence in recording studios that produced a single full-length effort in 1968, the psychedelic-folk landmark You've Come This Way Before. Raised in South Bend, Indiana, she completed liberal-arts coursework at Oberlin College before receiving her diploma from the Northwestern School of Drama. Early theatrical work featured cabaret engagements; in 1964 she moved to Greenwich Village, entered the Bitter End Singers, and made her first appearance on disc with that year's Mercury album Discover the Bitter End Singers. She left the ensemble in 1965 to resume acting and returned to the Chicago region, where she began composing original material and cutting demo sessions that no longer exist. Back in New York City by 1967, she supplied backing vocals for the classic Songs of Leonard Cohen.
Priddy and aspiring producer Phil Ramone began tracking You've Come This Way Before late in 1967, shaping a dreamy, expansive acid-folk set that drew on jazz arranger Manny Albam and funk drummer Bernard "Pretty" Purdie. Dot Records issued the album with little notice in late 1968, after which it quickly vanished. During a later trip to the label's Los Angeles offices, Priddy met staff producer Bob Applegate, who became her husband. Their daughter, Christina Applegate, later shared the spotlight in the long-running sitcom Married...with Children before pursuing a feature-film career. While in Southern California, Priddy also recorded the 1969 single "Feelings" with producer Harry Nilsson. After adding vocals to Mort Garson's multi-volume Signs of the Zodiac, she stepped away from music to concentrate on acting, appearing in the films Short Walk to Daylight and The Aliens Are Coming as well as the television series Bewitched, The Waltons, and Barnaby Jones. Following an extended and ultimately successful fight against breast cancer, Priddy reentered music in the early '90s, independently releasing the albums Can We Talk About It? and Mama's Jam.
Priddy and aspiring producer Phil Ramone began tracking You've Come This Way Before late in 1967, shaping a dreamy, expansive acid-folk set that drew on jazz arranger Manny Albam and funk drummer Bernard "Pretty" Purdie. Dot Records issued the album with little notice in late 1968, after which it quickly vanished. During a later trip to the label's Los Angeles offices, Priddy met staff producer Bob Applegate, who became her husband. Their daughter, Christina Applegate, later shared the spotlight in the long-running sitcom Married...with Children before pursuing a feature-film career. While in Southern California, Priddy also recorded the 1969 single "Feelings" with producer Harry Nilsson. After adding vocals to Mort Garson's multi-volume Signs of the Zodiac, she stepped away from music to concentrate on acting, appearing in the films Short Walk to Daylight and The Aliens Are Coming as well as the television series Bewitched, The Waltons, and Barnaby Jones. Following an extended and ultimately successful fight against breast cancer, Priddy reentered music in the early '90s, independently releasing the albums Can We Talk About It? and Mama's Jam.
Albums
