Eva Cassidy Songbird - A Posthumous Celebration Of A Wonderful Talent

I will never forget the moment that I first saw the video of Eva Cassidy playing Over The Rainbow on one of her few surviving live performances, Live From Blues Alley. As far as acoustic performances go, it really doesn't get much better than that. Her playing is spectacularly subtle, and her majestic, angelic vocal inch perfect. What is even more endearing is the genuine fear on her face, which fails to penetrate her unshakable professionalism. The world was robbed of a beautiful singer when Eva died of cancer aged just 33 in 1996 - nevertheless, like all great artists and performers, she left her mark on this planet with the beautiful songs collected on Songbird - the finest of her posthumous releases. Of course, as capitalist, big-wig record company execs will have, her name was catapulted skywards and many scratchy compilations have been released since to capitalise on her name. However, as The Guardian noted upon its release, Songbird is simply "indispensable."

The album opens with Eva's gorgeous rendition of Sting's Fields Of Gold; a heartfelt, sentimental interpretation which adds a feminine dimension to this beautiful song. She then slides effortlessly into the bluesy Wade In The Water - a song perfectly chosen and arranged to demonstrate the layers in Cassidy's impenetrable voice. Autumn Leaves is a wonderful, spacious acoustic ballad that can be best described as elegiac. Eva's performances on these delicate slow numbers are thoroughly unique. I don't think anybody I've ever heard sings them with the same feeling and conviction. Wayfaring Stranger is a moody blues, Time Is A Healer a lovely song of longing with killer harmonies in the chorus, I Know You By Heart an angelic ballad with captive violin playing from Dan Cassidy, and Oh, I Had A Golden Thread a jazzy, organ led foot tapper.

The title track, Songbird, is a brilliant cover of Christine McVie's Fleetwood Mac hit. As good a version as songwriter McVie performs, it is nothing to touch Eva's incredible interpretation. Interestingly enough, Mick Fleetwood, legendary drummer of Fleetwood Mac, loved Eva so much that he used to sit in on drums for her whenever she played his club in Virginia. People Get Ready has been covered by a multitude of great artists - most notably Rod Stewart and Aretha Franklin - though Cassidy's version on this record stands up to them all. Curtis Mayfield's timeless, semi-religious song cries out for a beautiful vocal, and Eva certainly provides it here. The album closes with the incredible aforementioned Over The Rainbow, though there really are no words to describe it. I would just urge you to sit back and listen. It speaks volumes for itself.

I mentioned in an earlier blog written on Johnny Lang that I don't usually warm to albums comprised of cover versions. Originality is the most appeasing thing to demonstrate as a musician. However, certain singers cannot be ignored. Eva was not a prolific songwriter, but her outstanding, timeless interpretations have breathed new life into some wonderful old songs. This really is an album that belongs in any collection; an album to laugh to and to cry to in equal measure. A record that stands as a beautiful epitaph to a beautiful singer.