Eva Cassidy: Songbird: Her Story by Those Who Knew Her (Paperback)

~ (Author), Jonathan Maitland (Author), Elana Rhodes Byrd (Author)
Key Phrases: hip surgery, Over the Rainbow, Eva Cassidy, Blues Alley (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

A voice so pure, so strong, so passionate... should have found a home just about anywhere. -- Richard Harrington, The Washington Post

I believe she will go on to become one of the all-time greats. -- Mick Fleetwood of Fleetwood Mac

There is something about her voice-a quality that you can't really put into words. It's a magical quality. -- Sting

Review

There is something about her voice-a quality that you can't really put into words. It's a magical quality. (Sting) I believe she will go on to become one of the all-time greats. (Mick Fleetwood of Fleetwood Mac) A voice so pure, so strong, so passionate... should have found a home just about anywhere. (Richard Harrington, The Washington Post) She possessed a silken soprano voice with a wide and seemingly effortless range, unerring pitch and a gift for phrasing that at times was heart-stoppingly eloquent. (Alex Ward, The New York Times)

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Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Gotham (September 25, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592400353
• ISBN-13: 978-1592400355
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #102,241 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

54 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tragic story of an unbelievable talent, October 9, 2003

By	Julie Lovisa (Indiana USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If you haven't heard Eva Cassidy sing, then you need to go to your closest music store and pick up her CD, also titled Songbird for an introduction to one of the most underrated beautiful voices I've ever heard. After you hear this music, I guarantee you'll want to buy every one of her CDs that has been released.

There is a power and raw emotional edge to her voice that sends chills down my spine and almost makes me feel as though she is singing directly to me. The tragedy of Eva Cassidy's life is that she was struck down by invasive melanoma at the age of 33 and we are left to wonder what might have been.

Reading this book, which is loaded with family photographs, has helped to fill in the blanks of her life...I wasn't aware that she was also a talented artist. This is just a beautiful tribute to a pure-voiced singer whose life was cut too short.

41 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful book about a beautiful woman, July 27, 2004

By	L. Feld "lowkell" (Arlington, VA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If you love Eva Cassidy's singing and you want to understand her better as a human being, "Songbird" is definitely a great place to start. Tastefully done, filled with life, friends, laughter, and lots of love, this is a beautiful book about a truly beautiful, talented, strong but vulnerable young woman.

So who was Eva Cassidy? A woman with incredible talent, of course, and the ability to reach millions of people with that talent. But, as "Songbird" so richly details, Eva Cassidy was also a normal, complicated human being. A sensitive, shy person who loved art and nature. A perfectionist who could be extremely hard on herself and -- sometimes -- on others as well. A person who wanted badly to connect with others but found it difficult, even painful, to do so. A person "filled with emotions" but "closed, really closed," as her friend Anna Karen Kristinsdottir described her. A strong woman but also a "shy, afraid little girl that needed to be hugged." An intensely loyal friend. A person with a great future ahead of her cruelly cut down just as she was taking off into the stratosphere.

Although performing in public wasn't easy for Eva Cassidy, thankfully she was able to overcome and share her musical gift(s) with the world. Wow, could this woman sing! From jazz and blues to folk, from gospel to R&B and rock, Eva Cassidy could do it all -- with passion, with love for the music she sang, and with an incredible voice the likes of which don't come along very often.

Some adjectives to describe Eva Cassidy's voice? How about: haunting, gorgeous, inspirational, tear-jerking, powerful, tender, melodic, eclectic, amazing, astonishing, heartfelt, intelligent, poignant, original, awe-inspiring, brilliant. I guess that's enough for starters! And if you think I'm exaggerating, I strongly recommend that, as you read "Songbird," you pause now and again to listen to Eva's versions of "Fields of Gold," "How Can I Keep From Singing," "Over the Rainbow," "Autumn Leaves," "I Know You By Heart," and many others. If those songs -- and Eva Cassidy's life story -- don't send chills up your spine or touch you deeply, then I fear nothing ever will.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Eva Cassidy, October 12, 2005

By	C. Cook "R. Cook" (Arlington VA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Haunting and captivating. Her range and ability to bring life to different genres is truly amazing. This is my third in the collection and I continue to be impressed with each new record -- and that's not only because I lived in Bowie. She truly had talent.