|
|
Music Review: Eva Cassidy: "Songbird"
By now the story of Eva Cassidy is widely well known. Cassidy died young, completely unknown, and then after her
death, her recordings have achieved huge record sales, critical raves, and have become beloved by fans all over
the world. The question is, are Cassidy's recordings really that good?
The answer is... yes, and then some. Cassidy was what she was and nothing more. Cassidy was a vocalist and
an interpreter of songs. She will go down in history for her voice... not her writing... not her playing...
for her voice. When you hear her voice for the first time, you will understand why.
"Songbird", a collection of tracks from the studio and also from a live performance, is the best
disc to start your Eva Cassidy collection. Opening with a cover of Sting's "Fields of Gold", this song
shows off all of Cassidy's strengths right away. The song takes on new life and meaning as Cassidy turns
out a breathtakingly powerful vocal on what was a beautiful song to begin with.
Other standouts (and there are several) are "Autumn Leaves" in which Cassidy's soprano reinvents this
oft-covered standard, "Songbird", the Fleetwood Mac classic done here with just guitar and voice, and "People
Get Ready". On the latter, Cassidy's smoky vocals bring new vitality to a song that has been covered so often, it was
starting to lose its power. Like all great vocalists, Cassidy takes this song and reminds us how great it really is.
The real highlight of the album and also the song that started all the acclaim for Cassidy in the first place, is her
rendition of "Over the Rainbow", a song that was voted as the best song of the 20th century. Once you hear this,
you will understand what all the fuss is about and after you've listened to it again a couple of times, you will be ready
to go buy the rest of Cassidy's catalog. It really is that good.
I recommend you start your Eva Cassidy record collection with this disc, followed by "Time after Time", "Live at the
Blues Alley", and finally "Imagine". Next time it rains, listen to those four CDs in order and you just might
be ready to declare Eva Cassidy one of the greatest voices of her generation.
Review by Greg Adkins
|