Tweet
I know we have a number of talented musicians here.
Last weekend I spent 3 days working with CDMBill getting his car ready for DW 2012.
Bill is the only guy I know with an audiophile-grade stereo in his garage - I have good ears, and his setup is outstanding (made up mostly of older stereo stuff he's had for a while, I presume). Anyhow, we were listening to Pandora's "James Taylor" station, and a certain song came and went that got my attention... a female vocalist singing Sting's "Fields of Gold"
The recording was haunting. I mean, whoever this girl was, sang like nothing I had heard before. Mellow, laid back, crazy good pitch and tone.
So I searched Pandora up and down this week to find this recording and FINALLY found it.
Turns out the lady's name is Eva Cassidy. You can look her up on youtube and find a live recording of her in Washington DC's "Blues Alley" (very popular blues and R&B club with great in-house recording capabilities).
I have been listening to everything I can find that she's recorded since then. I found out that Eva Cassidy, while unknown in this country, in 2000 was "discovered" in the UK and topped their charts with her version of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow." Seems she is better at taking other peoples' songs and putting her own spin on them. Sting and Judy Garland's versions of their songs pale in comparison to the Eva Cassidy versions, as you will hear in a minute if you click on my link...
So, Eva became popular after years of obscurity, in England in about 2000. The only problem? She died of cancer in November 1996 at the age of 33, a complete unknown except in the community where she lived and occasionally performed live. She worked in a plant nursery doing landscape work, and occasionally performed live but due to extreme shyness, turned down recording contract offers left and right. Her life story was featured on ABC's Nightline show, it's on Youtube also.
Anyhow, if you like female vocalists with simple backing music, take a listen:
"Fields of Gold"
Live version of Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time"
Live version of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow"
This has been your Bangshift Musician's Minute.
:-)
Last weekend I spent 3 days working with CDMBill getting his car ready for DW 2012.
Bill is the only guy I know with an audiophile-grade stereo in his garage - I have good ears, and his setup is outstanding (made up mostly of older stereo stuff he's had for a while, I presume). Anyhow, we were listening to Pandora's "James Taylor" station, and a certain song came and went that got my attention... a female vocalist singing Sting's "Fields of Gold"
The recording was haunting. I mean, whoever this girl was, sang like nothing I had heard before. Mellow, laid back, crazy good pitch and tone.
So I searched Pandora up and down this week to find this recording and FINALLY found it.
Turns out the lady's name is Eva Cassidy. You can look her up on youtube and find a live recording of her in Washington DC's "Blues Alley" (very popular blues and R&B club with great in-house recording capabilities).
I have been listening to everything I can find that she's recorded since then. I found out that Eva Cassidy, while unknown in this country, in 2000 was "discovered" in the UK and topped their charts with her version of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow." Seems she is better at taking other peoples' songs and putting her own spin on them. Sting and Judy Garland's versions of their songs pale in comparison to the Eva Cassidy versions, as you will hear in a minute if you click on my link...
So, Eva became popular after years of obscurity, in England in about 2000. The only problem? She died of cancer in November 1996 at the age of 33, a complete unknown except in the community where she lived and occasionally performed live. She worked in a plant nursery doing landscape work, and occasionally performed live but due to extreme shyness, turned down recording contract offers left and right. Her life story was featured on ABC's Nightline show, it's on Youtube also.
Anyhow, if you like female vocalists with simple backing music, take a listen:
"Fields of Gold"
Live version of Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time"
Live version of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow"
This has been your Bangshift Musician's Minute.
:-)
Comment