Artist: Lois Fletcher, Album: K-tel Canadian Mint 22 Original Artists, Song: I Am What I Am

"I am what I am, I'm just one of the people.  I'm happy to live till I die."  Lois Fletcher was a Canadian singer who got her big break following an appearance on Canadian television.  She began touring with a folk troupe during the early sixties and after a New York gig, landed a job with the band, The Back Porch Majority.  Folk groups were huge during the mid sixties and it wasn't uncommon for the bands to have 10 members.  The scene also spawned some performers who would go on to have greater success like Barry McGuire ("Eve Of Destruction') and Gene Clark of The Byrds ("So You Want To Be A Rock 'n' Roll Star", "Mr. Spaceman", "My Back Pages").  Lois would also release a number of singles as a solo artist during the sixties and seventies but none bigger than this tune, I Am What I Am, in 1974 with Playboy Records.  You can check out the tune at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGuMDDu-r2M.  The song was written and composed by Richard Kerr and Scott English who would go on to greater fame penning some major hits for Barry Manilow.  The song was also recorded by a reggae band from the U.K. called, Greyhound, in 1972.  You can hear their version at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyKvxlMp89E.  Unfortunately, there isn't much written about Lois Fletcher so a proper chronology of her career before and after this hit is hard to piece together.  The song is also very difficult to come by these days.  I found a copy on a worn out version of the K-tel compilation entitled, Canadian Mint.  At the time of this blog, there were vinyl copies of the 45 single trading on Ebay for $20.  Thanks for reading and enjoy!