Customer Reviews

Woman Blue

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I met Judy Roderick in 1965, and we married in a small church service in Fayetteville N.C, the next year. from then until around 1976, we discovered that we wrote good songs together, some of which have been recorded by Judy in 1971, on a little known rock album called 'Nevada Jukebox" with our band, 60,000,000 buffalo. Tim and Mollie O'Brien have also been gracious enough to record us too. There are various demo tapes of Judy singing some of these compositions, but here's the point. No white woman I know ever sang a whole album the way Judy sang "Woman Blue". Not Bonnie Raitt, not Ronstadt. Nobody. And I make no apologies for this assessment. It is a perfect album, made so by Artie Traum, Russ Savakus,Paul Griffin,Dick Weissman,the amazing acoustics of the "hotel" studio used by Vanguard, plus the songs, and her incredible, inflective voice, and if you hadn't noticed, extremely stylized guitar playing. The real secret though, is that Judy lived these songs in her own life. she wasn't pretending to be Memphis Minnie, she was reading you her diary. I know. Finally, it is sad that so few know this album and some of her later songs, but Judy did not want to be famous. period. I wish you could have heard her live at the Cafe Au Go Go. Rest in Peace. With the exclusion of the outtakes on the cd release, it would still be perfect.

I was in love with this album in the mid 60's, when I was Young & Impressionable. The LP disappeared during some move at some time in my life, and I was very excited to learn it had come out in CD recently. Judy Roderwick was a student at Colorado University when she recorded this album, along with a couple of brilliant side musicians. While, 30 years later, some of the songs seem politically incorrect -- she's a "white girl" singing "Black & Blue", for example, and those old blues tunes do tend to be somewhat misogynistic in nature -- the brilliance of the late Ms. Roderick's surprisingly mature voice, and the passion of her performance makes this more than simply a musical sample of 60's coffeehouse folk; it's a real treasure and she will never be duplicated. It's hard to believe that she was only 22 or so when it was recorded, it is so simply sophisticated and moving.

I saw her several times at the Second Fret in Philly and was awed by her. She leaves, I think, Raitt in the dust with her singing and the songs she recorded. She didn't, however, play slide guitar which is what made Raitt so big. And her recording legacy was, unfortunately, very brief. However, I did have her Columbia lp Nothing but the Blues which I lost and refound on eBay and recently had transferred to cd. It was produced and backed by Bobby Scott with backup by John Hammond and I love this recording also, although more jazzy with a big band feel. But her version of He Was a Friend of Mine is just beautiful. I was glad to hear Mollie O'Brien do one of her songs on the 40th anniversary of the Philly Folk Festival. Nice to know she's still remembered by the "younger" generation. All those who saw her live still remember her and the thrill she brought to us through her singing!

This is a perfect album, for anyone who loves women blues and wants to hear it from someone who was a contemporary. I've got a scratchy old LP and tape, and I've been looking for a release in any format for years. No one has the plaintive voice Judy Roderick had - and the selection is great, from Born in the Country and Someone to Talk My Troubles To, to lowdown funk like Louisville Lou and Walking Slow Behind You. Roderick was always my vote for most unknown talent who deserved widespread exposure and acclaim.

Woman Blue fulfiled all my expectations! A very good album, definitely five stars! Her soft-but-also-very-strong beautiful voice, so well combined with that amazing guitar and music arrangements, added to those perfectly selected themes, transported me to heaven! I fell deeply in love with Judy's music on the late sixties, listening to her record "Ain't Nothing But The Blues", and have been looking for her music ever since! Now, I believe Woman Blue is even better. All the songs are wonderful, but "You Were On My Mind" can be listened over and over for hours! Thanks for the release, a perfect Blues CD.

I have been a Judy Roderick fan since I heard her music back in the 70s. I loved her music and vocal style, and was extremely excited to find out that "Woman Blue" was released on CD. I only hope that they - Vanguard Records - releases more of her stuff, like "Blues on my ceiling" - that IS A SPECTACULAR blues tune.

I first heard this album in the mid 60's. Roderick's voice and her delivery are superb as well as the arrangements. This is not dance music although Roderick can swing. Rather, it is introspective and plaintive along with wry wit. While t'is unfortunate that she was not more widely recorded during her lifetime, we are genuinely lucky to have this great collection of her material.