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Song Lyrics by Eva Cassidy
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Who is Eva Cassidy
"Stormy Monday" Cassidy's arrangement of T-Bone Walker's popular blues song. Problems playing this file? See media help. In 1992, Biondo played a tape of Cassidy's voice for Chuck Brown, the "Godfather of go-go".[11] It resulted in the duet album The Other Side featuring performances of classic songs such as "Fever", "God Bless the Child", and what would later become Cassidy's signature song, "Over the Rainbow". The album was released and distributed in 1992 by Liaison Records, the label that also released Brown's go-go albums. Brown originally intended to record an additional duet with Cassidy for his next solo album, but this was postponed due to ongoing negotiations between Dale and other labels for a solo deal.[10][12] Cassidy's unwillingness to narrow her stylistic focus to one genre hindered her chances of securing a deal.[13][14] After talks broke down, the two decided to record their own duet album. As a duo, they performed at the Columbia Arts Festival and opened for acts like Al Green and The Neville Brothers.[10] .mw-parser-output .quotebox{background-color:#F9F9F9;border:1px solid #aaa;box-sizing:border-box;padding:10px;font-size:88%;max-width:100%}.mw-parser-output .quotebox.floatleft{margin:.5em 1.4em .8em 0}.mw-parser-output .quotebox.floatright{margin:.5em 0 .8em 1.4em}.mw-parser-output .quotebox.centered{overflow:hidden;position:relative;margin:.5em auto .8em auto}.mw-parser-output .quotebox.floatleft span,.mw-parser-output .quotebox.floatright span{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .quotebox>blockquote{margin:0;padding:0;border-left:0;font-family:inherit;font-size:inherit}.mw-parser-output .quotebox-title{text-align:center;font-size:110%;font-weight:bold}.mw-parser-output .quotebox-quote>:first-child{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .quotebox-quote:last-child>:last-child{margin-bottom:0}.mw-parser-output .quotebox-quote.quoted:before{font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;font-weight:bold;font-size:large;color:gray;content:" “ ";vertical-align:-45%;line-height:0}.mw-parser-output .quotebox-quote.quoted:after{font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;font-weight:bold;font-size:large;color:gray;content:" ” ";line-height:0}.mw-parser-output .quotebox .left-aligned{text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .quotebox .right-aligned{text-align:right}.mw-parser-output .quotebox .center-aligned{text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .quotebox .quote-title,.mw-parser-output .quotebox .quotebox-quote{display:block}.mw-parser-output .quotebox cite{display:block;font-style:normal}@media screen and (max-width:640px){.mw-parser-output .quotebox{width:100%!important;margin:0 0 .8em!important;float:none!important}} "She was an angel, very humble and shy. She would listen more than talk ... I remember lots of times, we were playing and it was just empty and dead. She seemed to like those nights, because there wasn't as much pressure. In fact, she'd be more relieved when hardly anybody was out there." —Cassidy's bandmate Biondo on her anxiety in front of crowds.[15] In 1993, Cassidy was honored by the Washington Area Music Association with a Wammie award for the Vocalist Jazz/Traditional category.[16] The next year she was invited to perform at the event and chose to sing "Over the Rainbow". The Washington Times review of the event called her performance "a show-stopper".[17] She took home two Wammies that night, again for Vocalist Jazz/Traditional and also for Roots Rock/Traditional R&B.[16] For a brief period that year, Cassidy signed a deal with Blue Note Records to pair up with pop-jazz band Pieces of a Dream to release an album and tour the country. She sang two tracks on a mainly instrumental album. It was a musically unsatisfying experience for her.[10] After having a potential contract with Apollo Records collapse when the label went bankrupt, Biondo and Dale decided that she should release her own live album.[10] On January 2–3, 1996, the material for Live at Blues Alley was recorded at Blues Alley in Washington, D.C. Due to a technical glitch on the first night of recording,[18] only the second night's recording was usable, with 12 songs released on the resulting album. (The complete set of 31 songs recorded that night was eventually released 20 years later as Nightbird in 2015.) Unhappy with the way she sounded due to a cold, she was reluctant to release the album. She eventually relented, on the condition that the studio track "Oh, Had I a Golden Thread", Cassidy's favorite song,[19] would be included in the release, and that they start working on a follow-up studio album.[8][10] Her apprehension appeared unfounded as local reviewers and the public responded positively.[8] The Washington Post commented that "she could sing anything — folk, blues, pop, jazz, R&B, gospel — and make it sound like it was the only music that mattered."[11] The subsequent studio album she worked on was released posthumously as Eva by Heart in 1997. In the liner notes of Eva by Heart, music critic Joel E. Siegel described Cassidy as "one of the greatest voices of her generation."[8] Personal life[edit] Cassidy had a relationship with Chris Biondo, but this had ended before her cancer diagnosis.[citation needed] Illness and death[edit] In 1993, Cassidy had a malignant mole removed from her back. Three years later, during a promotional event for the Live at Blues Alley album in July 1996, Cassidy noticed an ache in her hips, which she attributed to stiffness from painting murals while perched atop a stepladder.[11] The pain persisted and X-rays revealed a fracture. Further tests found that the cancer had spread (metastasized) to her bones, causing the fracture, as well as issues inside her lungs.[20] Her doctors estimated she had three to five months to live. Cassidy opted for aggressive treatment, but her health deteriorated rapidly.[20] On September 17, 1996,[20] at a benefit concert for her at The Bayou, she made her final public appearance, closing the set with "What a Wonderful World" in front of an audience of family, friends, and fans. Additional chemotherapy was ineffective, and Cassidy died of melanoma on November 2, 1996, at her family's home in Bowie, Maryland.[2][11][21] In accordance with her wishes, her body was cremated and the ashes were scattered on the lake shores of St. Mary's River Watershed Park, a nature reserve near Callaway, Maryland.[2] Posthumous recognition[edit] The camcorder recording of "Over the Rainbow" as shown on Top of the Pops 2 After Cassidy's death, local folk singer Grace Griffith introduced the Blues Alley recording to Bill Straw from her label, Blix Street Records.[21] Straw approached the Cassidy family to put together a new album. In 1998, a compilation of tracks from Cassidy's three released recordings was assembled into the CD Songbird. This CD lingered in relative obscurity for two years until being given airplay by BBC Radio 2, firstly by Paul Jones then by Mike Harding but most famously by Terry Wogan on his wide-reaching show Wake Up to Wogan, following recommendation by his producer Paul Walters. The album sold more than 100,000 copies in the following months.[2] The New York Times spoke of her "silken soprano voice with a wide and seemingly effortless range, unerring pitch and a gift for phrasing that at times was heart-stoppingly eloquent."[21] Before Christmas of 2000, BBC's Top of the Pops 2 aired a video of Cassidy performing "Over the Rainbow", which resulted in Songbird climbing steadily up the UK charts over the next few weeks. Just as ITV's Tonight with Trevor McDonald aired a feature on Cassidy, the album topped the chart.[22] Shot at Blues Alley by a friend with a camcorder the same night the album was recorded,[2] the video became the most requested video ever shown on Top Of The Pops 2.[23] Alexis Petridis in The Guardian wrote, "There's an undeniable emotional appeal in hearing an artist who you know died in obscurity singing a song about hope and a mystical world beyond everyday life".[24] Paul McCartney and Eric Clapton were among her new-found fans. Jazz critic Ted Gioia writes, "you might be tempted to write off the 'Cassidy sensation' ... as a response to the sad story of the singer's abbreviated life rather than as a measure of her artistry. But don't be mistaken, Cassidy was a huge talent, whose obscurity during her lifetime was almost as much a tragedy as her early death."[25] Songbird has since achieved significant chart success in Europe. It is certified six times platinum in the UK with 1,840,000 copies sold.[2][26] Although still relatively unknown in the US at that time, the album would eventually be certified gold there as well.[27] "There is something about her voice – a quality – that you really can't put into words. It's a magical quality." —Sting on Cassidy (who had recorded a version of his song "Fields of Gold" in 1996, the year she died).[28] In May 2001, ABC's Nightline in the US broadcast a well-received short documentary about Cassidy, a labor of love from Nightline correspondent Dave Marash who was a fan of her music.[29] Over the weekend, all five of Cassidy's albums occupied Amazon.com's best sellers list top spots.[30] The Nightline episode has since been rebroadcast three times due to popular demand[31] and producer Leroy Sievers has said that it is "probably the most popular Nightline ever".[32] In December, a nine-minute segment on NPR resulted in a similar sales surge, with five of the top seven spots going to Cassidy.[4] In Britain a rebroadcast of Tonight with Trevor McDonald bumped up sales.[4][33] Since Songbird, several other CDs with original material have been released: Time After Time (2000), Imagine (2002) and American Tune (2003). Cassidy's cover of Time After Time was featured on the 2003 soundtrack CD of the popular superhero television series Smallville.[34] Together with word of mouth and internet fan sites, online commerce has played a large role in Cassidy's success.[35][36] This point was further affirmed when in 2005, Amazon.com released a list of its top 25 best-selling musicians, which placed Cassidy in fifth position, behind the Beatles, U2, Norah Jones and Diana Krall.[37] In 2008, another new album, Somewhere, was released. Unlike previous albums, which consisted solely of cover songs, this release contained two original songs co-written by Cassidy. An acoustic album, Simply Eva, was released in January 2011. In March 2023, the album I Can Only Be Me was released, which featured new orchestrations by the London Symphony Orchestra.[38] The album debuted at number 9 on the UK Official Albums Chart.[39][40] In an interview with The Independent, Cassidy's former bandmate and arranger Chris Biondo shared, "Eva had a fantasy of one day having a full orchestra back her up [...] to her, that was the greatest place you could be musically."[41] Audio restoration technology developed by filmmaker Peter Jackson was used to strip Cassidy's voice from her original recordings, with the orchestrations being produced in 2021.[42] Unofficial releases[edit] The re-released Method Actor album cover showing Cassidy's prominent name placement which resulted in a lawsuit. The original LP cover artwork was done by Cassidy herself. A collection of previously unreleased studio recordings from 1987 to 1991, was released in 2000 as No Boundaries. This release was not endorsed by the Cassidy family[2] and was released under a different label. An AllMusic review of the album stated that even "a gifted vocalist like Eva Cassidy can only do so much with bad material".[43] In 2002, the self-titled 1988 album by the band Method Actor, which featured Cassidy, was re-released by the band's guitarist and producer David Lourim with Cassidy's name displayed prominently on the cover. The Cassidy family and Blix Street Records filed a lawsuit against Lourim, claiming that Cassidy's name was used in a misleading fashion and that Blix Street has exclusive rights to her recordings.[44] Lourim had Cassidy's written permission to release the album, and eventually the cover was changed to look like the original LP album while already released copies were affixed with a sticker indicating that they are not solo Eva Cassidy albums.[45][46] A bootleg recording that has been in circulation is called Live at Pearl's. It was recorded at Pearl's Restaurant in Annapolis, Maryland, in 1994. Copies of the recording were circulated among friends and family after her death. Some of the songs on the recording are also on Imagine and American Tune.[47] Another recording from the early '90s, featuring Mick Fleetwood on drums and recorded at his restaurant (named Fleetwood's) in Alexandria, Virginia, was in the possession of writer/musician Niki Lee, the former wife of pianist Lenny Williams, 1988–1996. Lee discovered it in her garage and attempted to sell it on eBay in 2008 for 250,000 pounds (around US$491,249 at that time; ~$659,650 in 2022 terms). She asserts that she converted the dollars to pounds incorrectly and was lambasted by Cassidy fans for her mistake. Lee decided to sell the recording to a private buyer as the copyright holder, Blix Street Records, refused to release recordings owned by Cassidy's friends, which is still the case as of 2024. Blix Street threatens lawsuits to anyone who tries to release previously unreleased tracks.[48] To mark the 20th anniversary of the Blues Alley concert, Blix Street Records released Nightbird, a 32-track double CD album, in November 2015. Nightbird comprises the complete Blues Alley concert recordings, including eight previously unreleased songs, from the night of January 3, 1996. The European version of the CD package also includes a DVD including 12 video performances from the Blues Alley concert. Nightbird was also released as a four-LP vinyl package worldwide.[citation needed] Legacy[edit] In 2001, Songbird: Eva Cassidy: Her Story By Those Who Knew Her, a book on the life and work of Cassidy based on interviews with close family and associates, was released in the UK. A US edition published by Gotham Books was released in late 2003 and includes two additional chapters on her influences and success in the US. Her life story has also been adapted into a musical[49] and also a Broadway piece for cancer benefit.[50] A number of filmmakers have proposed films based on Cassidy's life and have worked with her family to greater or lesser degrees, but to date none of these projects have progressed past the early development stages. In late 2007, AIR Productions acquired the rights to produce a film based on Cassidy's life,[51] being produced by Amy Redford (daughter of actor/director Robert Redford), Irwin Shapiro and Rick Singer.[51][52] In an interview a year earlier, Cassidy's parents suggested Kirsten Dunst and Emily Watson as possible actresses who could play their daughter.[53] Discography[edit] .mw-parser-output .hatnote{font-style:italic}.mw-parser-output div.hatnote{padding-left:1.6em;margin-bottom:0.5em}.mw-parser-output .hatnote i{font-style:normal}.mw-parser-output .hatnote+link+.hatnote{margin-top:-0.5em}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .hatnote{display:none!important}}Main article: Eva Cassidy discography Albums[edit] The Other Side (with Chuck Brown) (1992) Eva by Heart (1997) Songbird (1998) Time After Time (2000) Imagine (2002) American Tune (2003) Somewhere (2008) Simply Eva (2011) Acoustic (2017) I Can Only Be Me (with the London Symphony Orchestra) (2023) Walking After Midnight (2024) Live albums[edit] Live at Blues Alley (1996) Nightbird (2015) Compilation albums[edit] Wonderful World (2004) The Best of Eva Cassidy (2012) Reissues[edit] Songbird 20 (2018) References[edit] Notes[edit] .mw-parser-output .reflist{margin-bottom:0.5em;list-style-type:decimal}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .reflist{font-size:90%}}.mw-parser-output .reflist .references{font-size:100%;margin-bottom:0;list-style-type:inherit}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-2{column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-3{column-width:25em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns ol{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-alpha{list-style-type:upper-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-roman{list-style-type:upper-roman}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-alpha{list-style-type:lower-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-greek{list-style-type:lower-greek}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-roman{list-style-type:lower-roman} ^ .mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free.id-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited.id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration.id-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription.id-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background-size:contain;padding:0 1em 0 0}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#085;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}"Blix Stree Records Celebrates 10th Anniversary of Eva Cassidy's 'Songbird' CD Reaching number 1 on U.K. Music Chart with Gold Certification of New 'Simply Eva' Acoustic CD". AltSounds.com. Archived from the original on March 25, 2011. Retrieved March 23, 2011. ^ a b c d e f g h The Afterlife of Eva Cassidy Archived September 22, 2014, at the Wayback Machine (PDF) Dorian Lynske, Word Magazine, 2003. Retrieved on March 6, 2008. ^ Burley et al. p. 13. ^ a b c d e f g Dalphonse, Sherri (May 1, 2001). "Songbird". Washingtonian. Retrieved March 6, 2008. ^ Burley et al. p.12. ^ Burley et al. pp. 54–56. ^ "Eva Cassidy: Bitter-sweet songbird". BBC. Retrieved May 2, 2020. ^ a b c d e Siegel, Joel E. "Liner notes". Eva by Heart. republished online at crosstownarts.com. Archived from the original on May 14, 2008. Retrieved March 6, 2008. ^ Burley et al. p.64. ^ a b c d e f Morley, Jefferson (March 8, 1998). "When Chuck Met Eva". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 6, 2008. ^ a b
Data taken from WikiPedia.