For me my
best loved music is often about the perfect song, perfectly sung. One of the
loveliest female voices is Eva Cassidy. She became known for her voice four years after her early death in 1996.
She had a
naturally unaffected voice and beautifully interpreted and expressed the song.
She never ‘over sang’ or over killed as some singers do and her voice is both soothing and heartbreaking. You can feel her
honesty of emotion and hunger for a better world. She has the most expressive and sad eyes.
She chose
top quality songs to sing. In those days not every singer also worked with
co-writers to do their own songs. Songs such as Over the Rainbow, Songbird,
Kathy’s Song, Danny Boy, What a Wonderful World, Imagine, Early Morning Rain, Ain't No Sunshine.
Eva Marie Cassidy (1963-1996) was an American vocalist and
guitarist known for her interpretations of jazz, blues, folk,
gospel,
country
and pop
classics. In 1992, she released her first album, The Other Side, a set of
duets with go-go
musician Chuck
Brown, followed by the 1996 live solo album entitled Live at Blues Alley. Although she had been
honored by the Washington Area Music Association,
she was virtually unknown outside her native Washington
DC, when she died of melanoma in 1996. Cassidy's music was
brought to the attention of British audiences when her version of "Over
the Rainbow" was played by Terry Wogan
on BBC
Radio 2. Following the overwhelming response, a camcorder recording of
"Over the Rainbow", taken at Blues Alley
in Washington,
was shown on BBC
Two's Top of the Pops 2. Shortly afterwards, the
compilation album Songbird climbed to the top of the
UK
Albums Charts, almost three years after its initial release. The chart
success in the United Kingdom
and Ireland led to increased
recognition worldwide; her posthumously released
recordings, including three UK
number 1s, have sold more than ten million copies. Her music has also charted
top 10 positions in Australia,
Germany, Sweden, Norway
and Switzerland.
