5 Stars
Audio CD (paid link)
Obviously Mott the Dog does not know what angels sound like, but he would not be disappointed if angels sounded like Eva Cassidy. Without doubt, she was the female vocalist of her time.
It is one of the cruellest tragedies that Eva Cassidy never lived to enjoy her success. In fact, Cassidy’s natural shy personality (yet strong character) kept her from rocketing to superstardom in her short life, and she was never sure of her stage presence. She shunned the spotlight till it was nearly too late, or preferred to sing backup vocals or duets as she did on Chuck Brown’s wonderful album The Other Side, released in 1995. Although it is a Brown album, Eva Cassidy’s wonderful voice grabs your attention.
Eva Cassidy refused to limit herself to one style, taking on jazz, funk, blues, rock, pop, and folk, all with that ethereal voice, turning each song into something magical.
Eva Cassidy released only one solo album in her lifetime, the wonderful ‘Live at Blues Alley’ (1996). It was recorded in Washington’s most famous blues club, after which it was named, and then it only got a local release.
It was one of the cruellest blows that by the end of that year the dreaded cancer had whisked this beautiful girl with the heavenly voice away from us. Fortunately for those of us left here on our very mortal planet, Eva Cassidy left many recordings behind, which are now being released to great critical and commercial acclaim internationally. All of Eva Cassidy’s recordings are lovingly managed by the Eva Cassidy estate. So far, we had Eva By Heart (1998); Songbird (1998); Time After Time (2000); Imagine (2002); and American Tune (2003). These albums have sold over three million copies worldwide and still counting.
It has to be remembered that Eva Cassidy did not write songs herself but was able to take other people’s great skills and twist them into something even greater. At the moment (although I admit it does vary) ‘Imagine’ is my favourite Eva Cassidy collection.
The album opens with a solo version of ‘It Doesn’t Matter Anymore’ by Paul Anka (who also wrote ‘My Way,’ made famous by Frank Sinatra, Sid Vicious, and then Nigel of the Bastards). This is followed by a version of Little Willie John’s ‘Fever,’ not done as Peggy Lee did in 1958, but as it was originally intended to be when written in 1956, with Eva’s brother joining her, adding violin to Eva’s scratch vocal.
You also get a track that has been salvaged from the Blues Alley sessions, ‘You’ve Changed,’ and when you hear this, you realize how high the quality of music was on that particular album. Eva Cassidy’s voice sends shivers up and down your spine. She would surely get a nod of approval from the person who first recorded this song, the great Billie Holiday.
Sandy Denny’s ‘Who Knows Where The Time Goes’ gets redefined here, giving the song a whole new lease of life. Eva even gets a little bit country with her true-to-the-roots version of Patti Page’s hit ‘Tennessee Waltz,’ which in its days in the 1950’s was one of the first cross-over country/pop hits.
To finish the album is one of those “enough to make a grown man cry” moments, as Eva Cassidy breaks into an emotional solo version of ‘Danny Boy.’ Still, with all these moments of magic, I think the stand-out track is the title track, a tribute to John Lennon in a touching version of his masterpiece ‘Imagine.’ Play this song in any room and in seconds it will reduce people to silence as they listen to Eva Cassidy’s voice caress the air.
Tracks Listing:
Written by Mott the Dog
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