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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Songbird cherry-picks tracks from the three locally released albums of Eva Cassidy, whose hauntingly beautiful vocals went virtually unheard outside her native Washington, D.C., during her short 33 years with us. Lost to melanoma in 1996, Cassidy sang with an unaffected purity and an astonishing ability to make both classic and contemporary songs sound like they were written just for her. Sting's "Fields of Gold" finally lives up to its title through the alchemy of Cassidy's transcendent rendition, while other tracks on this anthology showcase her ease in the realms of pop (Christine McVie's "Songbird"), soul ("People Get Ready"), gospel ("Wade on the Water"), and traditional standards ("Autumn Leaves" and "Over the Rainbow"). Framed by understated jazz and pop arrangements, Cassidy's clear, soulful voice and exquisite phrasing make her that rarest of vocalists whose interpretations are a complement to any song. A fine introduction to a true talent. --Billy Grenier
Product Description
Songbird is a posthumous anthology culled from the album Live At Blues Alley and her other solo release, Eva By Heart, along with one track from her 1992 duet album with Chuck Brown titled The Other Side. Blix label.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
389 of 393 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Simply put, this CD has changed my life. "Over the Rainbow" stopped me in my tracks the first time I heard it, bringing tears to my eyes. I've listened to it at least 50 times in the last few days, and it still moves me like no other piece of music ever has. "Autumn Leaves" and "Fields of Gold" are equally brilliant and have also set new standards for their interpretations. Then in the blink of an eye, Eva turns into a soulful,sultry, bluesy wailer on "Wade in the Water", "Wayfaring Stranger", and "People Get Ready". The range of expression and depth of phrasing in her songs are second to none.
The most amazing thing about her singing, however is that no matter what type of music she sang, whether pop, soul, R&B, folk, jazz, or standards, she outsings the best of the masters in each area and does it effortlessly, simply and with no pretense. Are you listening out there, all of you graduates of the "Sam Harris(of Star Search infamy)/Mariah Carey School of Pyrotechnical Caterwauling"? Just sing from the heart, like Eva did!
Eva Cassidy has raised the bar by which vocal performance will be measured from now on. And she did it on her own terms, singing what she wanted to sing, the way she wanted to sing it. After trying to work out a deal with record execs and refusing to be pigeonholed into a certain style of music, she said "I just wanna sing. I like to do a little of everything". Eva, I just wanna listen!
202 of 205 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Like the briefest, brightest shooting star, Eva Cassidy was here, then she wasn't. Perhaps God wanted his angel back.
During a lifetime of playing and listening to all styles of music, I have heard most of the great popular and operatic singers whose work survives in recordings: Caruso, Armstrong, Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Van Morrison, just to name a few. But I was not prepared when a friend gave me this precious album last November.
From the first bars of the first song, "Fields of Gold," you are struck by the pure natural beauty of Eva's voice, the perfect pitch, intonation, vibrato, inflection. It seems to be exactly what a woman should sound like when she sings. Your sense of awe will only build as she sings over appropriately spare arrangements (including her understated but perfect guitar and keyboard work) of pop, soul, gospel, folk, and blues standards. Impossibly, each one of her performances (some of which were live) becomes definitive.
Just for good measure, she even takes on the song of the century, "Over the Rainbow," and eclipses Judy Garland's version--doesn't just eclipse it--blows it completely away in an anthemic performance which is, believe it or not, understated. I have never heard anything like it. Listening to it never fails to bring tears. Even trying to describe it to friends who haven't heard it brings tears.
Happiest when she was on her bicycle, Eva was a shy little waif-like blonde who never thought too highly of her awesome vocal instrument. But she possessed buckets and buckets of soul without overdoing it, without oversinging (as Barbra Streisand, Celine Dion, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, and others are known to do). I concur in all the rapturous reviews above and below. It's impossible not to love this music, just as it is impossible not to feel a strong sense of loss knowing that she's no longer with us. I defy anyone to listen to these ten songs and not be pleasantly devastated. This album will haunt you. It will hit you in your most vulnerable spot. It will become an indispensable part of your life.
(Since November I have bought the rest of her available CDs and continue to marvel at her fabulous and definitive performances. You haven't heard anyone sing "Danny Boy" until you've heard Eva sing it.)
109 of 110 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Forget the calculated pop garbage of Mariah Carey. Forget the over-produced muck of Celine Dion. If you want to truly hear a beautiful voice that doesn't require over-the-top arrangements and lots of hair spray, you MUST hear Eva Cassidy.
If you first glance at the song list on the "Songbird" CD, some of the titles seem, to put it frankly, totally avoidable. "Over the Rainbow." "Wade in the Water." Songs that have been remade and remade until you may think nothing new could be added to them. Eva Cassidy was able to take these songs and turn them into something new and worthwhile. Her rendition of "Over the Rainbow" is absolutely breathtaking....moving, perfectly sung, emotional, understated. Her version of this tune perfectly captures what she was capable of...taking a song and totally making it her own.
The song choices range from traditional tunes like "Oh, I Had a Golden Thread" to contemporary numbers like Christine McVie's "Songbird." But Eva Cassidy was able to take this variety and work it to her advantage; despite the fact that "Songbird" is actually a collection of songs from three previously released albums, the performances are amazingly seamless and this makes the album as a whole a million times better than the overdone, poser pop that invades U.S. radio.
The most amazing performance here is her achingly beautiful version of Sting's "Fields of Gold." The song is made all the more poignant byt the fact that Eva Cassidy lost her battle with melanoma in 1996 at the age of 33....so when she sings "you'll remember me/when the west wind moves/among the fields of barley," it will easily bring a tear to the eye. Simply amazing.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
sublime
Eva Cassidy had the voice of an angel, and this is the best of her too few CDs. I have listened to her rendition of Over the Rainbow maybe a thousand times and am filled with awe... Read more
Published 1 month ago by siggiemom
Espectacular Eva Cassidy!!!!!
As the title says Songbird, is one of the most relaxing and cheerful..... makes you feel well. I listen while I am driving and no matter if it is the rush hour, this music is for... Read more
Published 1 month ago by L. Arrospide
I can't put into the words...
... how I feel about this album. Simply put, incredible! I've listened to this album so many times and feel like there are still a few thousand times worth of listening mileage... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Ralph Julius
"Love heals the wound it makes . . ." --
as Eva Cassidy sings in, "Time is a Healer".
Love heals the wound love makes -- a brilliant paradox. Read more
Love heals the wound love makes -- a brilliant paradox. Read more
Published 3 months ago by JNagarya
Brilliant Interpretation
I'll be honest. This was a purchase made on the strength of one track I heard -- Fields of Gold. That performance in my opinion gives her ownership of that song. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Alpha Pup
Eva Cassidy
Great album! What a voice! I chose this album because their were four or five songs that I like by any artist. When I previewed them by Eva I had to buy the CD.
Published 4 months ago by henry horwitz
Fields of Gold
Eva Cassidy's CD on Fields of Gold is excellent. She is marvellous in her voice quality and pitch. I enjoyed the CD very much.
Published 4 months ago by Modeling
Of the available formats, vinyl is the best
I do not need to say anything about the music and the singing, enough has been said already. But I have compared the three formats and, providing the analogue equipment is up to... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Diogenes
Beautiful,simply beautiful music
Eva Cassidy Songbird to me is her best! Her voice range is just wonderful and her music is very pleasant. I love listening to her as I travel and do my daily routine. Read more
Published 4 months ago by suz777
Such a tragic loss
What a beautiful voice cut short so quickly. Somewhere Over and Rainbow makes me cry when hear it. It is the most beautiful version of that song I have ever heard. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Rxsavings
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