Born in Bronx, New York,[1] Friedman spent her formative years in the San Fernando Valley, north of Los Angeles after her family moved to Southern California when she was 10.

While at Ulysses S. Grant High School, she started playing "Hoot Nights" at The Troubadour in West Hollywood,[2][3] where she met the musicians Steve Mann and Hoyt Axton and became part of the growing musical scene of Los Angeles.

While staying in San Francisco, California, Friedman befriended the members of Jefferson Airplane, Country Joe and Janis Joplin.

Her friendship with Van Dyke Parks not only influenced her deep commitment to music but also introduced her to The Association, who recorded her song "Windy" in 1967.

Prior to the 2006 reissue, Friedman had been out of the music business for more than thirty years, spending the intervening time running her own stationery company, raising two daughters and earning a degree in English from UCLA.