Well, I am still alive and well, just not writing any ops. I do pop back now and again to check on ...
Well, I am still alive and well, just not writing any ops. I do pop back now and again to check on my favourite writers and sometimes have a reading frenzy of all the new ops! Keep well and happy............
Member since:15.07.2000
Reviews:35
Members who trust:74
I had already bought Eva’s CD ‘Songbird’ and written a review of it here on Ciao. I loved it so much that I decided I would try to get hold of everything that Eva Cassidy had recorded while she was alive. Most of you by now will know that Eva died in 1996 at the age of 33. And it is only now that she has received the kind of recognition that her talent deserves. Apparently she was very shy and not at all ambitious. She had been offered various recording contracts, but chose just to sing for pleasure rather than for monetary gain or fame.
I found it very hard to decide which CD to purchase next after ‘Songbird’. The ‘Songbird’ CD is made up of tracks from the other CD’s of Eva’s (but not from ‘Time After Time’) so I decided on this one, to hear as many different songs from Eva as possible. I hope that my ops will also help you decide in which order to buy the CD’s, as I am sure you will want to buy at least one, if only out of curiosity! I truly believe there is room in everyone’s CD collection for some of Eva’s music – if it not your sort of thing then maybe just as an easily listening CD for romantic evenings or dinner parties.
I personally appreciate this CD more than ‘Songbird’; it has more of a folk feel to it, with some blues sounds too. Somehow I feel that Eva’s voice comes through even better on these tracks. The soul that she brings to her singing is very rare and it can touch you very deeply. She also has great taste in music! She has chosen some great songs to give her own personal treatment.
**Track Listing**
1. Kathy’s Song 2. Ain’t No Sunshine 3. The Letter 4. At Last 5. Time After Time 6. Penny To My Name 7. I wandered By A Brookside 8. I Wish I Was A Single Girl Again 9. Easy Street Dream 10. Anniversary Song 11. Woodstock 12. Way Beyond The Blue
Five of the tracks are acoustic with only accompaniment by Eva on her guitar. You may think this would make the tracks sound rather empty, but it certainly does not. It is a beautiful sound.
I find it very hard to pick ‘stand-out’ tracks, as I really love everything that is on the CD. I guess if I were pushed to I would single out:
Ain’t No Sunshine – the great Bill Wither’s song, I love Eva’s treatment of this, so cool! Time After Time – a song familiar to most people, by Cyndi Lauper. This was always a beautiful song, but Eva sings it so simply it just has more power that way, somehow. Woodstock – I am fan of Joni Mitchell, but I prefer this version of Joni’s song.
The last track on the CD ‘Way Beyond The Blue’, is the one jarring note here. Good track, but it doesn’t gel with the rest of them. I personally would have left it at Woodstock, a very gentle way to end the album. But Way Beyond The Blue comes in and changes the mood totally. That was probably the intention, but I don’t think it works. If you can programme your d player to play tracks in another order, skip that one off the end and maybe place it between tracks 8 and 9.
I have Songbird and love her voice so I shall probably get this one,
offy 08.07.2001 22:50
My other half bought Songbird recently. I agree she has a suberb voice, but some of her adaptations are not totally to my taste. I might encourage him to get this one too (or get it for him) as one of my favourite records ever is Time After Time and I'd be interested to hear her version.
doctorwho 18.05.2001 00:44
What a lovely and well written op! My fiance is going on about Eva Cassidy at the moment as she heard "somewhere over the rainbow" and was hooked on her. Your op seems to confirm the general rumours. Looks like I'll be buying her this next week then!! Cheers, the Doctor.
Advantages: an angels voice, good gospel and jazzy thread to the songs, good feel, emotionful music Disadvantages: not enough songs would be my only complaint
judithritchie 01.04.2001 (01.04.2001)
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Review of Songbird - EvaCassidy
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