Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email
Answers.com

Eva Cassidy

 
Gale Musician Profiles:

Eva Cassidy

Home > Library > Entertainment & Arts > Musicians

Singer, guitarist

Until the years following her death, Eva Cassidy, whose vocal ability is often likened to that of Aretha Franklin, remained relatively unknown outside of Washington, D.C. But thanks to supportive fans and members of the local music community, Cassidy’s voice has reached thousands of new listeners in the years since she succumbed to cancer in 1996, spawning what John Blake of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution called "one of the most improbable success stories in the history of popular music." Her album Songbird, released in 1998, earned platinum status in Great Britain and reached the top position on Billboards pop album chart, while National Public Radio, People magazine, and the television show Nightline ran feature stories on the singer. Furthermore, a diverse list of artists including Sting, Paul McCartney, Roberta Flack, and Shirley Horn have praised her talent. Musicians admire Cassidy’s perfect pitch, her ability to perform a variety of musical styles and genres, and her skillful phrasing. Fans and critics alike appreciate her natural, unadorned style, so different from the slick, consumer-targeted pop music dominating radio airwaves.

Born in 1963 in Oxon Hill, Maryland, Eva Cassidy, one of four children, was born into a creative family. Her father, Hugh Cassidy, taught special education at a public school in Upper Marlboro. He was also a sculptor, cellist, and bassist who played music professionally on the weekends. Her mother, Barbara, who met Cassidy’s father in 1960 in Germany, came from a talented family of artisans and decorators. At around age two, Cassidy started to show a talent for artistic expression through her drawing. When she was nine years old, the family moved to a secluded neighborhood in Bowie, Maryland, where Cassidy’s father taught his children to identify flowers and trees. Meanwhile, her mother took a job at a nursery in nearby Beltsville and continued to raise their children.

Around the same time, Cassidy, who by now could skillfully sketch faces, began to take music seriously as well, practicing guitar and singing for hours each day. Her father, providing Cassidy with a nylon-stringed Harmony guitar, had taught her basic guitar techniques and introduced her to folk music. The house was always full of song, as the family either listened to records by Bob Dylan, Buffy St. Marie, Josh White, and Pete Seeger or made their own music combining four-part vocal harmony with their father’s bass, Cassidy’s guitar, and her brother Dan’s violin. Eventually, Eva and Danny Cassidy, as part of a country band, played weddings at Wild World, an old amusement park near their home. Later becoming a successful musician in his own right, Dan Cassidy contributed to his sister’s recordings in the mid-1990s. He resides in Iceland and performs throughout Europe.

Despite what seems like a peaceful and happy early childhood, Cassidy faced feelings of alienation as an adolescent. Unlike many of her peers, who were interested in clothes, flirting, and playing sports, Cassidy

had no desire to try to "fit in." And the racial discrimination displayed by many white schoolmates after mandatory busing began in Prince George’s County, Maryland, further separated Cassidy—who disagreed with racist attitudes—from her peers. Her grades consequently suffered, and she faced bouts of anxiety and depression. She argued with her father about her reluctance to complete household chores or to pay more attention to her schoolwork. Rather than rebel against her father’s wishes, Cassidy ultimately adopted his high standards and made them her own.

During these difficult years, Cassidy found solace in art and music, often riding her bicycle on weekends from Old Town Alexandria to museums in Washington, D.C., to study the works of great painters such as Jan Vermeer and Vincent Van Gogh. After completing high school in 1981, she enrolled in art classes at Prince George’s Community College. She was accepted at the California Institute of Arts, but the tuition costs proved too high. She abandoned her studies at the community college in 1982 and took a job at the nursery where her mother worked. She continued to sing and play guitar occasionally with various local bands.

Friends and family describe Cassidy as a complex person. She was sensitive to criticism, yet she had a stubborn side, making her unyielding when it came to her values and principles. Cassidy took her art projects—painting, sculpting, drawing, designing jewelry, and decorating furniture—seriously, and she enjoyed nature, hiking, bicycling, and playing guitar and singing as hobbies. Painfully shy and self-conscious, she never considered earning a living as a professional artist or musician. Instead, she was content with a modest life: exploring the natural world, playing and singing music, and spending time with family and a few close friends. Cassidy, who at most only wanted to sing backup for other artists, often worried that financial success would taint her integrity as an artist. Friends and family describe her as a person who placed little value on material wealth; she did not even open her first checking account until she was in her late 20s. "She just wanted to make enough money to go into the woods and go hiking whenever she wanted," her father recalled to Blake.

Despite misgivings about the music business, Cassidy seemed destined to earn recognition. In 1986, she entered a Maryland recording studio operated by bassist Chris Biondo to record a demo with a high school friend’s alternative rock band. Biondo was immediately taken by Cassidy’s voice, so loud that it almost broke his sound equipment. "But the thing that blew me away wasn’t her lead vocals," Biondo told Jefferson Morley of the Washington Post. "It was her harmonies. She did these really weird, neat harmonies right on the spot, without practicing them or anything. It was amazing."

After a few sessions, Biondo talked Cassidy into making her own demo tape. The two dated from 1989 until 1991, and even after the relationship ended, the friendship continued. Biondo, along with local booking agent Al Dale, had encouraged her to form the Eva Cassidy Band in 1990. At first, Cassidy was a reluctant performer who avoided making eye contact with the audience, but she gradually opened up after realizing how much people admired her music. She appeared regularly at Washington-area clubs such as the Blues Alley, the Wharf, the Birchmere, 219, and Fleetwoods, building a strong local following.

Then, in the spring of 1991, Biondo began working with Chuck Brown and his group, the Soul Searchers, and introduced the underground R&B star to Cassidy’s soulful voice on tape. Upon seeing her in person, Brown was shocked to see that she was a petite, white female rather than a black woman. The ultimate result of the meeting was an album of duets and ballads entitled The Other Side, first released in November of 1992. "As she sang," commented Brown, as quoted in People magazine, "you could hear Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holliday, and even Janet Jackson."

Subsequently, Biondo and Dale began shopping Cassidy’s music to various record labels, but her repertoire—an eclectic mix of jazz, blues, folk, standards, gospel, and pop—scared off executives, who feared it would be difficult to market her. Cassidy and her supporters decided to self-produce an independent album, Live at Blues Alley, recorded live in January of 1996 and released that July. The album received rave reviews by local critics and went on to become one of the best-selling records in the Washington area that year.

Around the time the album was released, Cassidy developed a pain in her hip that became so severe that she sought help at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. Just three years prior, in 1993, physicians removed a dark, cancerous mole from Cassidy’s back and assured her that they had caught the disease in its early stages. Unfortunately, the cancer had returned. She died just four months later, on November 2, 1996, of melanoma. Two months preceding her death, in September of 1996, fans organized a tribute concert at a club called the Bayou, where Cassidy—physically drained from a recent transfusion and wearing a scarf to conceal baldness brought on by chemotherapy—performed a rendition of "What a Wonderful World" that brought the audience to tears.

Because of the efforts of Washington-area folk singer Grace Griffith, who sent a letter and tape to Bill Straw, founder of the Los Angeles-based independent label Blix Street, Cassidy was able before her death to sign a contract allowing the release of Songbird, a compilation of local releases featuring covers of songs both standard ("Autumn Leaves" and "Over the Rainbow") and contemporary (Sting’s "Fields of Gold"). Radio play in Great Britain, followed by critical praise in the United States, led to thousands of new Eva Cassidy fans. After her death, Cassidy’s parents signed a contract for the release of three more albums: Eva by Heart, released in 1998, Time After Time, released in 2000, and No Boundaries, a collection of the work she did as a session vocalist, also released in 2000.

Selected discography
(With Chuck Brown) The Other Side, self-released, 1992; reissued, Liaison, 1995.
Live at Blues Alley, self-released, 1996; reissued, Blix Street, 1997.
Songbird, Blix Street, 1998.
Eva by Heart, Blix Street, 1998.
Time After Time, Blix Street, 2000.
No Boundaries, Renata, 2000.

Sources
Periodicals
Atlanta Journal-Constitution, July 16, 2001.
Billboard, June 27, 1998; May 13, 2000; January 20, 2001; March 10, 2001; June 16, 2001; June 30, 2001.
Boston Globe, October 22, 1998; January 31, 1999.
Europe, April 2001.
Los Angeles Times, June 19, 1998; March 26, 2001; April 28, 2001.
People, July 20, 1998; April 16, 2001.
Rolling Stone, August 30, 2001.
Village Voice, February 24, 1998.
Washington Post, April 7, 1995; November 17, 1996; September 17, 1997; October 5, 1997; March 8, 1998; October 1, 2000; March 23, 2001; June 17, 2001.

Online
"Eva Cassidy Biography," Crosstown Arts, http://www.crosstownarts.com/CrosstownArts/client_music/eva/evabio.html (September 16, 2001).
Search unanswered questions...

Enter a question here...
Search: All sources Community Q&A Reference topics

AMG AllMusic Guide: Pop Artists:

Eva Cassidy

Top
Home > Library > Entertainment & Arts > Pop Artists
  • Genres: Rock

Biography

The heart-tugging story of Eva Cassidy reads almost like the plot of a "Movie of the Week" tearjerker. A native of the Washington, D.C., area, the painfully shy Cassidy earned a local reputation as a masterful interpreter of standards from virtually any genre, blessed with technical agility and a searching passion that cut straight to the emotional core of her material. Despite the evocative instrument that was Cassidy's voice, record companies shied away from her, unsure of how to market her eclectic repertoire; for her part, Cassidy adamantly refused to allow herself to be pigeonholed, prizing the music above any potential fame. In 1996, just when she had begun to record more frequently on a small, local basis, Cassidy was diagnosed with cancer, which had already spread throughout her body and rapidly claimed her life. But her story didn't end there; her music was posthumously championed by a BBC disc jockey, and amazingly, the anthology Songbird became a number one million-selling smash in England.

Cassidy was born February 2, 1963, in Oxon Hill, MD, and grew up (from age nine on) in Bowie, MD. She loved music from an early age, particularly folk and jazz (as a girl, her favorite singer was Buffy Sainte-Marie), and learned guitar from her father Hugh. At one point, Hugh put together a family folk act featuring himself on bass, Eva on guitar and vocals, and her brother Danny on fiddle; Eva and Danny also played country music at a local amusement park, but Eva's sensitivity eventually made performances too difficult on her. Something of a loner during her teens, Cassidy sang with a pop/rock band called Stonehenge while in high school. After graduating, she studied art for a short time, but soon grew dissatisfied with what she was being taught, and dropped out to work at a plant nursery. She sang occasional backing vocals for friends' rock bands around Bowie and Annapolis, but was never comfortable trying to overpower the amplification. In 1986, longtime friend Dave Lourim persuaded Cassidy to lay down some vocals at a recording session for his soft pop/rock group Method Actor. (The results were eventually reissued in 2002.) At the studio, Cassidy met D.C.-area producer Chris Biondo, who was immediately struck by her voice and agreed to help her put together a demo tape she hoped would get her more backup-singing work.

Cassidy became a regular presence at Biondo's studio, where he recorded a wide variety of music; incongruously enough, Cassidy performed backing vocals on D.C. go-go funksters E.U.'s Livin' Large album (singing all of her own harmony parts to give the illusion of a choir) and, later, on gangsta rapper E-40's "I Wanna Thank You." At Biondo's urging, Cassidy formed a backing band to play local clubs, where her singing began to win a following in spite of her discomfort. In 1991, Biondo played Cassidy's demos for Chuck Brown, the originator of D.C.'s swinging go-go funk sound (which never really broke out to a national audience). Brown had been wanting to record an album of jazz and blues standards, and found his ideal duet partner in the sophisticated yet soulful Cassidy. Their collaborative album, The Other Side, was released in late 1992, and in 1993, the two began performing around the D.C. area together; helped by Brown's outgoing showmanship, Cassidy finally began to lose some of the insecurity and intense fear that usually kept her away from live performance. Several record labels showed interest in signing Cassidy, but her recorded submissions always covered too much ground -- folk, jazz, blues, gospel, R&B, pop/rock -- for the marketing departments' taste (or limited imaginations), and the labels always wound up passing.

In September 1993, Cassidy had a malignant mole removed from below her neck, and neglected her subsequent checkup appointments. Shortly thereafter, she broke up with Biondo, who'd been her boyfriend for several years; however, they did continue their professional relationship. In early 1994, the Blue Note label showed some interest in teaming Cassidy with a jazz-pop outfit from Philadelphia called Pieces of a Dream; they recorded the single "Goodbye Manhattan" together, and Cassidy toured with them that summer, but didn't really care for their style. She returned to D.C. and began playing more gigs on her own, though she still made the occasional appearance with Brown; at the end of the year, she won a local music award for traditional jazz vocals.

Cassidy remained unable to secure a record deal, and Biondo and her frustrated manager decided to put out an album themselves. In January 1996, Cassidy played two gigs at the D.C. club Blues Alley; despite her dissatisfaction with the quality of her performance, the album Live at Blues Alley was compiled from the recordings and released that year to much acclaim in the D.C. area. Sadly, it would be the only solo album to appear during Cassidy's lifetime. She moved to Annapolis and took a job painting murals at elementary schools; during the summer, she began experiencing problems with her hip, which she assumed was related to her frequent use of stepladders at work. However, X-rays revealed that her hip was broken, and further tests showed that the melanoma from several years before had spread to her lungs and bones. Cassidy started chemotherapy, but it was simply too late. A benefit show in her honor was staged in September, and Cassidy found the strength to give her last performance there, singing "What a Wonderful World." She died on November 2, 1996. Cassidy virtually swept that year's Washington Area Music Awards, and the album she'd been working on with Biondo prior to her death, Eva by Heart, was released by Liason in 1997.

D.C.-based Celtic folk singer Grace Griffith finally found some interest in releasing Cassidy's music at the label she recorded for, Blix Street. 1998's Songbird was a compilation culled from Cassidy's three previous releases, and when BBC Radio 2 disc jockey Terry Wogan started playing the version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," Songbird started to sell in the U.K. The British TV show Top of the Pops aired a home-video clip of Cassidy performing the song, quite intensely, at the Blues Alley, and were deluged with requests for further broadcasts. Thanks to all the exposure, Songbird steadily grew into a major hit, climbing all the way to the top of the British album charts and selling over a million copies. In 2000, Blix Street followed Songbird with Time After Time, a set of 12 previously unreleased tracks (eight studio, four live) that proved an important addition to Cassidy's slim recorded legacy. The same year saw the appearance of No Boundaries, an unrepresentative set of adult contemporary pop released by the Renata label over strenuous objections from Cassidy's family. Profiles of Cassidy began to appear in American media, including pieces on NPR's Morning Edition and ABC's Nightline. In the summer of 2002, Blix Street compiled Imagine, another set of live recordings and studio demos. ~ Steve Huey, Rovi
Wikipedia on Answers.com:

Eva Cassidy

Top
Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Wikipedia
Eva Marie Cassidy
Background information
Birth name Eva Marie Cassidy
Born February 2, 1963(1963-02-02)
Washington, D.C.
 United States
Origin Maryland, United States
Died November 2, 1996(1996-11-02) (aged 33)
Bowie, Maryland
 United States
Genres Soul , Jazz, Blues, Folk, Gospel and Pop
Occupations Landscaper, Painter, Singer, Guitarist
Instruments Vocals, Guitar, Electric Guitar, Piano
Years active 1981–1996
Labels Liaison (U.S.)
Blix Street (U.S.)
Hot (Europe)
Associated acts Chuck Brown, Katie Melua
Website www.evacassidy.org

Eva Marie Cassidy (February 2, 1963 – November 2, 1996) was an American vocalist known for her interpretations of jazz, blues, folk, gospel, country and pop classics. In 1992 she released her first album, The Other Side, a set of duets with go-go musician Chuck Brown, followed by a live solo album, Live at Blues Alley in 1996. Although she had been honored by the Washington Area Music Association, she was virtually unknown outside her native Washington, D.C., when she died of melanoma (skin cancer) in 1996.

Four years later, Cassidy's music was brought to the attention of British audiences when her version of "Over the Rainbow" was played by Terry Wogan on BBC Radio 2. Following the overwhelming response, a camcorder recording of "Over the Rainbow", taken at Blues Alley in Washington, was shown on BBC Two's Top of the Pops 2. Shortly afterwards, the compilation album Songbird climbed to the top of the UK Albums Charts, almost three years after its initial release. The chart success in the United Kingdom and Ireland led to increased recognition worldwide; her posthumously released recordings, including three UK number 1s, have sold more than ten million copies.[1] Her music has also charted top 10 positions in Australia, Germany, Sweden, Norway and Switzerland.[2]

Contents

Biography

Early life

Born on February 2, 1963, at the Washington Hospital Center,[3] Cassidy grew up in Oxon Hill and later Bowie, Maryland, suburbs of Washington, D.C.. She was the third of four children born to Hugh and Barbara Cassidy. Her father, a retired teacher, sculptor, musician, and former army medic, is of Scottish and Irish descent, while her German-born mother was a horticulturist.[2][4][5] From an early age, Cassidy displayed interest in art and music. When she was nine, her father taught her to play the guitar and she began to play and sing at family gatherings.[4]

At age 11, Cassidy began singing and playing guitar in a Washington area band called Easy Street.[6] This band performed in a variety of styles at weddings, corporate parties and pubs. Due to her shyness, she struggled with performing in front of strangers. While a student at Bowie High School, she sang with a local band called Stonehenge.[4] During the summer of 1983, Cassidy sang and played guitar six days a week at the theme park Wild World.[4] Her younger brother Dan, a fiddler, was also a member of this working band. She enrolled in art classes at a community college but dropped out after finding them unhelpful.[7]

Throughout the 1980s, Cassidy worked with several other bands, including the techno-pop band Characters Without Names. During this period, Cassidy also worked as a propagator at a plant nursery and as a furniture painter. In her free time, she explored other artistic expressions including painting, sculpting and jewelry design.[7] Despite holding a belief in God, Cassidy was not part of any organized religion.[8]

Music career

In 1986, Cassidy was asked by Stonehenge guitarist and high school friend, David Lourim, to lend her voice to his music project, Method Actor.[9] This brought her to Black Pond Studios, where she met bassist and recording engineer Chris Biondo. Biondo helped her find work as a session singer and later introduced her to Al Dale, who would become her manager. She sang back-ups for various acts, from go-go rhythm and blues band Experience Unlimited to rapper E-40.[10] Biondo and Cassidy, who were in a romantic relationship for a time, formed the five-piece "Eva Cassidy Band" with Lenny Williams, Keith Grimes and Raice McLeod in 1990. They began to perform frequently in the Washington area.[4]
"Over the Rainbow"
One of the changes Cassidy made to "Over the Rainbow" includes singing the opening word "somewhere" on the same high A flat, rather than with an octave jump of the Judy Garland version.
Problems listening to this file? See media help.
"Stormy Monday"
Cassidy's arrangement of T-Bone Walker's popular blues song.
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

In 1992, Biondo played a tape of Cassidy's voice for Chuck Brown, the "Godfather of go-go".[11] It resulted in the duet album The Other Side featuring performances of classic songs such as "Fever", "God Bless the Child," and what would later become Cassidy's signature song, "Over the Rainbow". The album was released and distributed in 1992 by Liaison Records, the label that also released Brown's Go-go albums. Brown originally intended to record a single duet with Cassidy for his next solo album, but this was postponed due to ongoing negotiations between Dale and other labels for a solo deal.[10][12] Cassidy's unwillingness to narrow her stylistic focus to one genre hindered her chances of securing a deal.[13][14] After talks broke down, the two decided to record their own duet album. As a duo, they performed at the Columbia Arts Festival and opened for acts like Al Green and The Neville Brothers.[10]

In 1993, Cassidy was honored by the Washington Area Music Association with a Wammie award for the Vocalist Jazz/Traditional category.[15] The next year she was invited to perform at the event and chose to sing "Over the Rainbow". A Washington Times review of the event called her performance "a show-stopper".[16] She took home two Wammies that night, again for Vocalist Jazz/Traditional and also for Roots Rock/Traditional R&B.[15] For a brief period that year, Cassidy signed a deal with Blue Note Records to pair up with pop-jazz band Pieces of a Dream to release an album and tour the country. She sang two tracks in a mainly instrumental album. It was a musically unsatisfying experience for her.[10]

After having a potential contract with Apollo Records collapse when the label went bankrupt, Biondo and Dale decided that she should release her own live album.[10] In January 1996, the material for Live at Blues Alley was recorded over a two-day period at Blues Alley, Washington, D.C. Due to a technical glitch on the first night of recording,[17] only the second night's recording was usable. Unhappy with the way she sounded due to a cold, she was reluctant to release the album. She eventually relented, on the condition that the studio track "Oh, Had I a Golden Thread", Cassidy's favorite song,[18] would be included in the release, and that they start working on a follow-up studio album.[7][10] Her apprehension appeared unfounded as local reviewers and the public responded positively.[7] The Washington Post commented that "she could sing anything — folk, blues, pop, jazz, R&B, gospel — and make it sound like it was the only music that mattered."[11] The subsequent studio album she worked on was released as Eva by Heart posthumously in 1997. In the liner notes of Eva by Heart, critic Joel E. Siegel described Cassidy as "one of the greatest voices of her generation."[7]

Death

In 1993, Cassidy had a malignant mole removed from her back. Three years later, during a promotional event for the Live at Blues Alley album in July 1996, Cassidy noticed an ache in her hips, which she attributed to stiffness from painting murals while perched atop a stepladder.[11] The pain persisted and a few weeks later, X-rays revealed that the melanoma had spread to her lungs and bones. Her doctors estimated she had three to five months to live. Cassidy opted for aggressive treatment, but her health deteriorated rapidly. In the early fall, at a benefit concert for her at the Bayou, she made her final public appearance, closing the set with "What a Wonderful World" in front of an audience of friends, fans and family. Additional chemotherapy was unavailing, and in six weeks she had died.[2][19][11]

Cassidy died on November 2, 1996, at her family home in Bowie. She was 33. In accordance with her wishes, her body was cremated and the ashes were scattered on the lake shores of St. Mary's River Watershed Park, a nature reserve near California, Maryland.[2]

Posthumous recognition

After Cassidy's death, local folk singer Grace Griffith introduced the Blues Alley recording to Bill Straw from her label, Blix Street Records.[19] Straw approached the Cassidy family to put together a new album. In 1998, a compilation of tracks from Cassidy's three released recordings was assembled into the CD Songbird. This CD lingered in relative obscurity for two years until being given airplay by Terry Wogan on his wide-reaching BBC Radio 2 show Wake Up to Wogan, following recommendation by his producer Paul Walters. The album sold more than 100,000 copies in the following months.[2] The New York Times spoke of her "silken soprano voice with a wide and seemingly effortless range, unerring pitch and a gift for phrasing that at times was heart-stoppingly eloquent."[19]

Before Christmas of 2000, Top Of The Pops 2 aired a video of Cassidy performing "Over the Rainbow", which resulted in Songbird climbing steadily up the UK charts over the next few weeks. Just as ITV's Tonight with Trevor McDonald aired a feature on Cassidy, the album topped the chart.[20] Shot at Blues Alley by a friend with a camcorder the same night the album was recorded,[2] the video became the most requested video ever shown on Top Of The Pops 2.[21] "There's an undeniable emotional appeal in hearing an artist who you know died in obscurity singing a song about hope and a mystical world beyond everyday life", wrote The Guardian.[22]

The camcorder recording of "Over the Rainbow" as shown on Top of the Pops 2

Paul McCartney and Eric Clapton were among her new-found fans. Jazz critic Ted Gioia writes, "you might be tempted to write off the 'Cassidy sensation' [...] as a response to the sad story of the singer's abbreviated life rather than as a measure of her artistry. But don't be mistaken, Cassidy was a huge talent, whose obscurity during her lifetime was almost as much a tragedy as her early death."[23] Songbird has since achieved significant chart success throughout Europe and six times platinum status in the UK.[2][24] Although still relatively unknown in the United States at that time, the album would eventually be certified gold in the U.S. as well.[25]

In May 2001, ABC's Nightline in the United States broadcast a well-received short documentary about Cassidy.[26] Over the weekend, all five of Cassidy's albums occupied Amazon.com's best sellers list top spots.[27] The Nightline episode has since been rebroadcast three times due to popular demand.[28] Producer Leroy Sievers has said that it is "probably the most popular Nightline ever".[29] In December, a nine-minute segment on NPR resulted in a similar sales surge, with five of the top seven spots going to Cassidy.[4] A rebroadcast of the Tonight with Trevor McDonald feature on Cassidy in Britain also bumped up sales.[4][30]

Since Songbird, several other CDs with original material have been released: Time After Time (2000), Imagine (2002) and American Tune (2003). 2008 saw the release of another new album titled Somewhere. Unlike previous albums, which consisted solely of cover songs, this release contains two original songs co-written by Cassidy. An acoustic album titled Simply Eva was released in January 2011.

Together with word of mouth and internet fansites, online commerce has played a big role in Cassidy's success.[31][32] This point was further affirmed when in 2005, Amazon.com released a list of its top 25 best-selling musicians, which placed Cassidy in fifth position, behind The Beatles, U2, Norah Jones and Diana Krall,[33] and far ahead of Elvis Presley and several other well-known stars.[34]

In 2004, during the gala opening of the Bowie Center for the Performing Arts, the Bowie Regional Arts Vision Association, Inc. (BRAVA) dedicated the Star's Dressing Room to Eva. Following a moving tribute to Eva, Chuck Brown took the stage and performed his duet "with" Eva as her photos and video appeared in the background.

Unofficial recordings

The re-released Method Actor album cover, showing Cassidy's prominent name placement, which resulted in the lawsuit. The original LP cover contained the same artwork, which was done by Cassidy

A collection of previously unreleased studio recordings from 1987 to 1991, was released in 2000 as No Boundaries. This release was not endorsed by the Cassidy family[2] and was released under a different label. An allmusic review of the album stated that even "a gifted vocalist like Eva Cassidy can only do so much with bad material".[35] In 2002, the self titled 1988 album by the band Method Actor, which featured Cassidy, was re-released by the band's guitarist and producer David Lourim with Cassidy's name displayed prominently on the cover. The Cassidy family and Blix Street Records filed a lawsuit against Lourim, claiming that Cassidy's name was used in a misleading fashion and that Blix Street has exclusive rights to her recordings.[36] Lourim had Cassidy's written permission to release the album and eventually the cover was changed to look like the original LP album while already released copies were affixed with a sticker indicating that they are not solo Eva Cassidy albums.[37][38]

A bootleg recording which has been in circulation is called Live at Pearl's. It was recorded at Pearl's Restaurant in Annapolis, Maryland in 1994. Copies of the recording were circulated among friends and families after her death. Some of the songs on the recording are also on Imagine and American Tune.[39] Another recording, featuring Mick Fleetwood on drums and recorded at his restaurant in Alexandria, Virginia called Fleetwood's in the early 1990s, was in the possession of Niki Lee - the former wife of pianist Lenny Williams - who discovered it in her garage and attempted to sell it on eBay in 2008.[40]

In popular media

In 2001, a book titled Songbird: Eva Cassidy: Her Story By Those Who Knew Her, on the life and work of Cassidy based on interviews with close family and associates was released in the UK. The hardcover edition has since sold in excess of 100,000 copies. A U.S. edition published by Gotham Books was released in late 2003 and includes two additional chapters on her influences and success in the US. Her life story has also been adapted into a musical[41] and also a Broadway piece for cancer benefit.[42]

At the 2002 Winter Olympics gala, and later on tour, figure skater Michelle Kwan brought Cassidy's music to a new audience when she skated to a recording of "Fields of Gold". Kwan's part in exposing the music of Cassidy to the international and American public led Cassidy's label to present her a gold record from the certification of Songbird.[43] Subsequently, other figure skaters such as Kristi Yamaguchi, Sarah Hughes and Kimmie Meissner have used Cassidy's music in their routines.

Anglo-Georgian singer Katie Melua is a keen fan of Cassidy.[44] Her debut album "Call off the Search" contained the song "Faraway Voice", written in Cassidy's memory.[44] Melua has also performed Cassidy's arrangement of "Anniversary Song" in concert.[44] On Christmas Eve 2006, she performed alongside video footage of Cassidy singing Over The Rainbow on BBC One's "Duet Impossible".[45] One year later, Cassidy's "What A Wonderful World" was spliced together with new vocals by Melua and released as a single exclusively at the British retail chain Tesco. It debuted at #1 on the UK Singles chart on December 16. All profits from the single went to the British Red Cross.[46] Irish singer Chris de Burgh has stated that his song "Songbird" from his album The Road to Freedom was written in honour of Cassidy. Singer Mary Chapin Carpenter made reference to Cassidy in the song "My Heaven" on the album Between Here and Gone: "More memories than my heart can hold, when Eva's singing 'Fields of Gold'."

In 2008, Cassidy's recording of "Autumn Leaves" was used by the Canadian National Professional Latin Champions, Andre and Natalie Paramonov, when they competed in America's Ballroom Challenge as finalists in the International Latin Competition.

The first film to feature an Eva Cassidy recording was Flight of Fancy starring Dean Cain. Since then her music has appeared in various film and TV series including the Dawson's Creek season four episode titled "The Graduate," Judging Amy, Joe Somebody, Love Actually, Maid in Manhattan, The Man From Elysian Fields, Alpha Dog and Smallville. Cassidy's arrangement of "Over the Rainbow" is a popular cover choice by singing competition contestants, with American Idol season 5 runner-up Katharine McPhee and The X Factor season 3 winner Leona Lewis among the singers. Her interpretation of "Imagine" has been performed by American Idol season 7 runner-up David Archuleta.

Possibility of future film

In late 2007, AIR Productions acquired the rights to produce a film based on Cassidy's life.[47] It is being produced by Amy Redford (daughter of Robert Redford), Irwin Shapiro and Rick Singer.[48] In an interview a year earlier, Cassidy's parents suggested Kirsten Dunst or Emily Watson as possible actresses who could play their daughter.[49]

Discography

Albums

Title Release date Label Notes
The Other Side 1992 Liaison Chuck Brown with Eva Cassidy.
Live at Blues Alley 1997 Blix Street Originally self-released under Eva Music in 1996.
Eva by Heart Blix Street/Hot Originally released under Liaison Records. Cassidy's only solo studio album.
Songbird 1998 Compilation. UK #1, US (Pop Catalog) #1
Time After Time 2000
No Boundaries Renata/Brunswick
Method Actor 2002 Blp Reissue of a 1988 LP.
Imagine Blix Street/Hot UK #1
American Tune 2003
Wonderful World 2004 Compilation.
Somewhere 2008 UK #4
Simply Eva 2011 Blix Street

Singles

Title Release date Label Notes
"Over the Rainbow" 2001 UK #42 - Appeared in the charts between April and August 2001
"Take My Breath Away" 2003 UK #54
"What a Wonderful World" 2007 Dramatico Posthumous duet with Katie Melua. UK #1
"Songbird" 2009 UK #56

Bootleg

Title Release date Label Notes
Live at Pearl's 1994 - bootleg recording taped at Pearl's Restaurant in Annapolis, Maryland.[39] Tracklist

Videography

Title Release date Format Notes
Eva Cassidy Sings 2004 PAL DVD (Region 2 and Region 4)

References

Notes

  1. ^ "Blix Stree Records Celebrates 10th Anniversary of Eva Cassidy's 'Songbird' CD Reaching number 1 on U.K. Music Chart with Gold Certification of New 'Simply Eva' Acoustic CD". AltSounds. http://hangout.altsounds.com/news/127691-blix-street-records-celebrates-10th-anniversary-of-eva-cassidys-songbird.html. Retrieved 23 March 2011. 
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h The Afterlife of Eva Cassidy (PDF) Dorian Lynske, Word Magazine, 2003. Retrieved on March 6, 2008.
  3. ^ Burley et al. p.13.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Songbird Sherri Dalphonse, Washingtonian, May 1, 2001. Retrieved on March 6, 2008.
  5. ^ Burley et al. p.12.
  6. ^ Burley et al. p.54–56.
  7. ^ a b c d e Liner notes Joel E. Siegel, Eva by Heart. Retrieved on March 6, 2008.
  8. ^ Burley et al. p.165.
  9. ^ Burley et al. p.64.
  10. ^ a b c d e f When Chuck Met Eva Jefferson Morley, The Washington Post, March 8, 1998. Retrieved on March 6, 2008.
  11. ^ a b c d Echoes of a Voice Stilled Too Early Richard Harrington, The Washington Post, November 17, 1996. Retrieved on March 6, 2008.
  12. ^ Side by Side Alona Wartofsky, Washington City Paper, November 20, 1992. Retrieved on March 6, 2008.
  13. ^ Over the Rainbow Jeff Chu, Time, April 9, 2001. Retrieved on March 6, 2008.
  14. ^ Eva Cassidy's Gift Joan Anderman, Boston Globe, January 31, 1999. Retrieved on March 6, 2008.
  15. ^ a b Wammie Winners Washington Area Music Association. Retrieved on March 6, 2008.
  16. ^ Wammies honor area musicians. Washington Times. November 9, 1994.
  17. ^ Eva Cassidy: "Oh, Had I a Golden Thread" evacassidy.org. Retrieved on March 6, 2008.
  18. ^ According to the liner notes of the "Live at Blues Alley" CD:"* this wasn't in the live show but it is my favorite song..."
  19. ^ a b c Ward, Alex (August 12, 2002). "In Death, A Shy Singer Finally Grabs The Spotlight; CD's Carry Eva Cassidy's Voice a Wider Audience,". New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A05EEDC133AF931A2575BC0A9649C8B63. Retrieved 03-06-2008. 
  20. ^ Burley et al. p.155.
  21. ^ Eva Cassidy's producer Chris Biondo talks to Toby Foster BBC Radio, July 2002. Retrieved on March 6, 2008.
  22. ^ Albums from the crypt The Guardian, November 1, 2002. Retrieved on March 6, 2008.
  23. ^ Eva Cassidy: Autumn Leaves Ted Gioia, Jazz.com
  24. ^ "Cassidy album six-times platinum". The Press Association. Nov 2, 2009. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5il3LVBbCLE_tMQtpQ6zndog-qt-g. Retrieved 2009-11-10. 
  25. ^ RIAA Gives Thanks For Strong Gold and Platinum Numbers In November RIAA News Room. Retrieved on March 6, 2008.
  26. ^ Nightline Daily Email: 7/2 Leroy Sievers. Retrieved on March 6, 2008.
  27. ^ 'Nightline' Boosts Cassidy Bill Holland, Billboard Bulletin, May 30, 2001. Retrieved on March 6, 2008.
  28. ^ Rebroadcast on July 4, 2001 [1], August 15, 2002 [2] and January 1, 2004 [3]
  29. ^ Nightline Daily E-Mail: January 2, 2004, Leroy Sievers and the Nightline Staff, January 2, 2004
  30. ^ The Official UK Albums Chart Top 75 Music Week, August 25, 2001. Retrieved on March 6, 2008.
  31. ^ Internet fuels singer's posthumous success. The Deseret News, March 11, 2001.
  32. ^ Keeping the flame Mike Anderiesz, The Guardian, April 4, 2002. Retrieved on March 14, 2008.
  33. ^ Amazon.com Inducts 25 Musicians into Hall of Fame Business Wire, July 11, 2005. Retrieved on March 6, 2008.
  34. ^ Online, Eva Cassidy Trumps Elvis Joel Topcik, New York Times, July 24, 2004. Retrieved on March 14, 2008.
  35. ^ Review of No Boundaries William Cooper, allmusic. Retrieved on March 6, 2008.
  36. ^ Hugh Cassidy, et al. v. David Lourim, et al. (PDF) United States district court for the district of Maryland. Retrieved on March 6, 2008. Archived February 27, 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  37. ^ Method Actor evacassidy.org. Retrieved on March 6, 2008.
  38. ^ "Lawyer disqualified from continuing to represent Blix Street Records in suit over right to distribute early Eva Cassidy album, over objections of Cassidy's parents who were lawyer's clients too when lawsuit was filed, but now want to settle case even though Blix Street does not". Entertainment Law Reporter. October 2004. 
  39. ^ a b Q and A Evacassidy.org.
  40. ^ Selling Eva Cassidy by the Pound Dave McKenna, Washingtoncitypaper.com. Jun. 4, 2008
  41. ^ Musical charts life of songstress Eva Cassidy Grantham Journal, March 13, 2008. Retrieved March 17, 2008
  42. ^ Eva Cassidy Remembered Broadwayworld.com, January 26, 2005. Retrieved March 17, 2008
  43. ^ Blix Street Records Presents Kwan with Gold Record for Cassidy's 'Songbird' Album Press release. Retrieved on March 6, 2008.
  44. ^ a b c Review: Katie Melua in concert Neil Smith, BBC News Online, March 17, 2004. Retrieved March 17, 2008.
  45. ^ BBC Duet Impossible steve-smith.tv. Retrieved on March 18, 2008[dead link]
  46. ^ Melua duet headed for number one BBC News, December 12, 2007. Retrieved on March 6, 2008.
  47. ^ Sheboygan native receives leadership award Warren Gerds, Green Bay Press-Gazette, November 25, 2007. Retrieved on March 6, 2008.[dead link]
  48. ^ Eva Cassidy biopic in the works., Michael Fleming, Variety, December 7, 2007. Retrieved on March 6, 2008.
  49. ^ Local Singer's Career Takes Off After Death, Eva Cassidy's Story To Be Told In Hollywood nbc4.com, November 2, 2006. Retrieved on March 6, 2008.

Book

  • Rob Burley; Jonathan Maitland, Elana Rhodes Byrd (2003). Eva Cassidy: Songbird: Her Story by Those Who Knew Her. Gotham Books. ISBN 978-1592400355. 

External links

Eva Cassidy
Accompaniment
  • Eva Cassidy (guitar)
  • Chris Biondo (bass)
  • Keith Grimes (guitar)
  • Raice McLeod (drums)
  • Lenny Williams (keyboard)
Albums
Compilations
Unofficial releases

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 
Related topics:
Time After Time (2000 Album by Eva Cassidy)
Live at Blues Alley (1997 Album by Eva Cassidy)
Goodbye Manhattan (1994 Album by Pieces of a Dream)

Related answers:
What is Eva Cassidy\'s birthday? Read answer...
How old is Eva Cassidy? Read answer...
What nationality was Eva cassidy? Read answer...

Help us answer these:
Did Eva Cassidy have a boyfriend?
Is Eva cassidy a jazz artist?
Was Eva Cassidy stage fright?

Post a question - any question - to the WikiAnswers community:

 

Copyrights:

Gale Musician Profiles. Contemporary Musicians © 1989-2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
AMG AllMusic Guide: Pop Artists. Copyright © 2012 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia on Answers.com. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Eva Cassidy.  Read more

Related answers
» More
Answer these
» More
Follow us
Facebook Twitter
YouTube

Mentioned in

» More» More