Eva Cassidy
Encyclopedia
Eva Marie Cassidy 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 Chart
s, 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. Her music has also charted top 10 positions in Australia, Germany, Sweden, Norway and Switzerland.
, 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
. 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.
At age 11, Cassidy began singing and playing guitar in a Washington area band called Easy Street. 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. During the summer of 1983, Cassidy sang and played guitar six days a week at the theme park Wild World
. Her younger brother Dan, a fiddle
r, was also a member of this working band. She enrolled in art classes at a community college but dropped out after finding them unhelpful.
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. Despite holding a belief in God, Cassidy was not part of any organized religion.
. 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
. 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.
In 1992, Biondo played a tape of Cassidy's voice for Chuck Brown
, the "Godfather of go-go". 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. Cassidy's unwillingness to narrow her stylistic focus to one genre hindered her chances of securing a deal. 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
.
In 1993, Cassidy was honored by the Washington Area Music Association with a Wammie award
for the Vocalist Jazz/Traditional category. 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". She took home two Wammies that night, again for Vocalist Jazz/Traditional and also for Roots Rock/Traditional R&B. 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.
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. 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, 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, would be included in the release, and that they start working on a follow-up studio album. Her apprehension appeared unfounded as local reviewers and the public responded positively. 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." 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."
s while perched atop a stepladder. The pain persisted and a few weeks later, X-ray
s 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 her final public performance in September 1996, at the Bayou
, she closed the set with "What a Wonderful World
" in front of an audience of friends, fans and family. She was subsequently admitted to Johns Hopkins Hospital
.
Cassidy died at her family home in Bowie
, November 2, 1996, at the age of 33. She was posthumously inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Washington Area Music Association. In accordance with her wishes, Cassidy’s body was cremated. Her ashes were scattered on the lake shores of St. Mary's River Watershed Park, a nature reserve near California, Maryland
.
introduced the Blues Alley recording to Bill Straw from her label, Blix Street Records. 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. 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."
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. Shot at Blues Alley by a friend with a camcorder the same night the album was recorded, the video became the most requested video ever shown on Top Of The Pops 2. "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
.
Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton and other pop stars 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." Songbird has since achieved significant chart success throughout Europe and six times platinum status in the UK. Although still relatively unknown in the United States at that time, the album would eventually be certified gold
in the U.S. as well.
In May 2001, ABC
's Nightline in the United States broadcast a well-received short documentary about Cassidy. Over the weekend, all five of Cassidy's albums occupied Amazon.com
's best sellers list top spots. The Nightline episode has since been rebroadcast three times due to popular demand. Producer Leroy Sievers
has said that it is "probably the most popular Nightline ever". In December, a nine-minute segment on NPR resulted in a similar sales surge, with five of the top seven spots going to Cassidy. A rebroadcast of the Tonight with Trevor McDonald feature on Cassidy in Britain also bumped up sales.
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. This point was further affirmed when in 2005, Amazon.com
released a list of its top 25 best-selling musicians, which placed Cassidy in 5th position, behind The Beatles
, U2
, Norah Jones
and Diana Krall
, and far ahead of Elvis Presley
and several other well-known stars.
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.
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 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". 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. 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.
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. 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.
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 and also a Broadway
piece for cancer benefit.
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. 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. Her debut album "Call off the Search
" contained the song "Faraway Voice", written in Cassidy's memory. Melua has also performed Cassidy's arrangement of "Anniversary Song" in concert. On Christmas Eve 2006, she performed alongside video footage of Cassidy singing Over The Rainbow on BBC One
's "Duet Impossible". 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. 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
.
), Irwin Shapiro and Rick Singer. In an interview a year earlier, Cassidy's parents suggested Kirsten Dunst
or Emily Watson
as possible actresses who could play their daughter.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
vocalist known for her interpretations of jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
, folk
Traditional music
Traditional music is the term increasingly used for folk music that is not contemporary folk music. More on this is at the terminology section of the World music article...
, gospel
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
, country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
and pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
classics. In 1992 she released her first album, The Other Side
The Other Side (Eva Cassidy album)
The Other Side is an album by D.C. go-go funk legend Chuck Brown and American singer Eva Cassidy. It was first released in 1992 by Brown's label Liaison records. The album comprises jazz, blues and soul standards and contains a mixture of solos and duets...
, a set of duets with go-go musician Chuck Brown
Chuck Brown
Chuck Brown is a guitarist and singer who is affectionately called "The Godfather of Go-go". Go-go is a subgenre of funk music developed in and around Washington, D.C. in the mid- and late 1970s...
, followed by a live solo album, Live at Blues Alley
Live at Blues Alley
Live at Blues Alley is an album by American singer Eva Cassidy, originally self released in May, 1996. This live album was recorded at the Blues Alley in January, 1996...
in 1996. Although she had been honored by the Washington Area Music Association
Washington Area Music Association
The Washington Area Music Association is a regional music industry not-for-profit organization based in Washington, D.C.. WAMA's activity centers around highlighting the area's cultural contribution by assisting regional musicians with becoming recognized on a national scale.The organization...
, she was virtually unknown outside her native Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, when she died of melanoma
Melanoma
Melanoma is a malignant tumor of melanocytes. Melanocytes are cells that produce the dark pigment, melanin, which is responsible for the color of skin. They predominantly occur in skin, but are also found in other parts of the body, including the bowel and the eye...
(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
Over the Rainbow
"Over the Rainbow" is a classic Academy Award-winning ballad song with music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by E.Y. Harburg. It was written for the movie The Wizard of Oz, and was sung by Judy Garland in the movie...
" was played by Terry Wogan
Terry Wogan
Sir Michael Terence Wogan, KBE, DL , or also known as Terry Wogan, is a veteran Irish radio and television broadcaster who holds dual Irish and British citizenship. Wogan has worked for the BBC in the United Kingdom for most of his career...
on BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
. Following the overwhelming response, a camcorder recording of "Over the Rainbow", taken at Blues Alley
Blues Alley
Blues Alley, founded in 1965, is a jazz dinner-and-nightclub in an alley off Wisconsin Avenue in Washington, D.C.'s Georgetown neighborhood.As of 2008, exclusively jazz musicians are booked into Blues Alley for approximately 360 nights out of the year....
in Washington, was shown on BBC Two
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
's Top of the Pops 2. Shortly afterwards, the compilation album Songbird climbed to the top of the UK Albums Chart
UK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
s, 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. Her music has also charted top 10 positions in Australia, Germany, Sweden, Norway and Switzerland.
Early life
Born on February 2, 1963, at the Washington Hospital CenterWashington Hospital Center
Washington Hospital Center is the largest private hospital in Washington, D.C.. It serves as a teaching hospital for Georgetown University School of Medicine....
, Cassidy grew up in Oxon Hill and later Bowie, Maryland
Bowie, Maryland
Bowie is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. The population was 54,727 at the 2010 census. Bowie has grown from a small railroad stop to the largest municipality in Prince George's County, and the fifth most populous city and third largest city by area in the state of...
, 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
Horticulture
Horticulture is the industry and science of plant cultivation including the process of preparing soil for the planting of seeds, tubers, or cuttings. Horticulturists work and conduct research in the disciplines of plant propagation and cultivation, crop production, plant breeding and genetic...
. 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.
At age 11, Cassidy began singing and playing guitar in a Washington area band called Easy Street. 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
Bowie High School (Maryland)
Bowie High School is a public high school in Bowie, Maryland. It is part of Prince George's County Public Schools.-Academics:Bowie High School has the second highest student SAT average in Prince George's County, and is rated second on The Washington Post's Advanced Placement Challenge Index....
, she sang with a local band called Stonehenge. During the summer of 1983, Cassidy sang and played guitar six days a week at the theme park Wild World
Six Flags America
Six Flags America is a family theme park and water park located in Mitchellville, Prince George's County, Maryland. It is situated east of Washington D.C. and southwest of Baltimore. The park covers , 131 of which is currently used for park operations...
. Her younger brother Dan, a fiddle
Fiddle
The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
r, was also a member of this working band. She enrolled in art classes at a community college but dropped out after finding them unhelpful.
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. Despite holding a belief in God, Cassidy was not part of any organized religion.
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 ActorMethod Actor
Method Actor is an eponymous album released in 1988 featuring American singer Eva Cassidy. It was re-released on CD in 2002, six years after her death.- Track listing :# "Getting Out" – 4:19# "Look in to My Eyes" – 4:16...
. 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
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
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
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
band Experience Unlimited
Experience Unlimited
Experience Unlimited is a Washington, D.C.-based go-go band that enjoyed its height of popularity in the 1980s and early 1990s. Fronted by lead singer/bassist Gregory "Sugarbear" Eliot, the group has had a fluctuating membership over the years, but they have maintained a fairly loyal following...
to rapper
Rapping
Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
E-40
E-40
Earl Stevens , better known by his stage name E-40, is an American rapper, entrepreneur, and investor from Vallejo, California. He is also part of the rap group The Click and the founder of Sick Wid It Records. His solo debut album, Federal, was released in November 1992, after The Click's debut...
. 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.
In 1992, Biondo played a tape of Cassidy's voice for Chuck Brown
Chuck Brown
Chuck Brown is a guitarist and singer who is affectionately called "The Godfather of Go-go". Go-go is a subgenre of funk music developed in and around Washington, D.C. in the mid- and late 1970s...
, the "Godfather of go-go". It resulted in the duet album The Other Side
The Other Side (Eva Cassidy album)
The Other Side is an album by D.C. go-go funk legend Chuck Brown and American singer Eva Cassidy. It was first released in 1992 by Brown's label Liaison records. The album comprises jazz, blues and soul standards and contains a mixture of solos and duets...
featuring performances of classic songs such as "Fever
Fever (1956 song)
"Fever" is a song written by Eddie Cooley and Otis Blackwell, who used the pseudonym John Davenport. It was originally recorded by Little Willie John in 1956. It has been covered by numerous artists from various musical genres, notably Peggy Lee in 1958....
", "God Bless the Child
God Bless the Child (Billie Holiday song)
"God Bless the Child" is a song written by Billie Holiday and Arthur Herzog, Jr. in 1939, first recorded on May 9, 1941 under the Okeh label.Holiday's version of the song was honored with the Grammy Hall of Fame Award in...
," and what would later become Cassidy's signature song
Signature song
A signature song is the one song that a popular and well-established singer or band is most closely identified with or best known for, even if they have had success with a variety of songs...
, "Over the Rainbow
Over the Rainbow
"Over the Rainbow" is a classic Academy Award-winning ballad song with music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by E.Y. Harburg. It was written for the movie The Wizard of Oz, and was sung by Judy Garland in the movie...
". 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. Cassidy's unwillingness to narrow her stylistic focus to one genre hindered her chances of securing a deal. 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
Al Green
Albert Greene , better known as Al Green, is an American gospel and soul music singer. He reached the peak of his popularity in the 1970s, with hit singles such as "You Oughta Be With Me", "I'm Still In Love With You", "Love and Happiness", and "Let's Stay Together"...
and The Neville Brothers
The Neville Brothers
The Neville Brothers, an American R&B and soul group, was formed in 1977 in New Orleans, Louisiana.-History:The group notion started in 1976, when the four brothers of the Neville family, Art , Charles , Aaron , and Cyril The Neville Brothers, an American R&B and soul group, was formed in 1977 in...
.
In 1993, Cassidy was honored by the Washington Area Music Association with a Wammie award
Washington Area Music Awards
The Washington Area Music Awards are a music award for Washington, D.C. area performers, issued by the Washington Area Music Association . The awards are issued at an annual awards program....
for the Vocalist Jazz/Traditional category. 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". She took home two Wammies that night, again for Vocalist Jazz/Traditional and also for Roots Rock/Traditional R&B. For a brief period that year, Cassidy signed a deal with Blue Note Records
Blue Note Records
Blue Note Records is a jazz record label, established in 1939 by Alfred Lion and Max Margulis. Francis Wolff became involved shortly afterwards. It derives its name from the characteristic "blue notes" of jazz and the blues. At the end of the 1950s, and in the early 1960s, Blue Note headquarters...
to pair up with pop-jazz band Pieces of a Dream
Pieces of a Dream (band)
Pieces of a Dream is an American R&B/jazz group from Philadelphia. The group was formed in 1976 by bassist Cedric Napoleon, drummer Curtis Harmon, and keyboardist James Lloyd. At the time, the three were all teenagers...
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.
After having a potential contract with Apollo Records
Apollo Records
Apollo Records may refer to:* Apollo Records - US based company* Apollo Records - US based company* Apollo Records - US based company* Apollo Records - Belgian-based company* Apollo Records - US based company...
collapse when the label went bankrupt, Biondo and Dale decided that she should release her own live album. In January 1996, the material for Live at Blues Alley
Live at Blues Alley
Live at Blues Alley is an album by American singer Eva Cassidy, originally self released in May, 1996. This live album was recorded at the Blues Alley in January, 1996...
was recorded over a two-day period at Blues Alley
Blues Alley
Blues Alley, founded in 1965, is a jazz dinner-and-nightclub in an alley off Wisconsin Avenue in Washington, D.C.'s Georgetown neighborhood.As of 2008, exclusively jazz musicians are booked into Blues Alley for approximately 360 nights out of the year....
, Washington, D.C. Due to a technical glitch on the first night of recording, 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, would be included in the release, and that they start working on a follow-up studio album. Her apprehension appeared unfounded as local reviewers and the public responded positively. The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
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." The subsequent studio album she worked on was released as Eva by Heart
Eva by Heart
Eva by Heart is the debut album by American singer Eva Cassidy, released in 1997 . It is the first studio album released after Cassidy's death in 1996.-Track listing:...
posthumously in 1997. In the liner notes of Eva by Heart, critic Joel E. Siegel
Joel E. Siegel
Joel E. Siegel was a professor of English and film studies at Georgetown University, a film and music critic, a music producer, and a lyricist...
described Cassidy as "one of the greatest voices of her generation."
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 muralMural
A mural is any piece of artwork painted or applied directly on a wall, ceiling or other large permanent surface. A particularly distinguishing characteristic of mural painting is that the architectural elements of the given space are harmoniously incorporated into the picture.-History:Murals of...
s while perched atop a stepladder. The pain persisted and a few weeks later, X-ray
X-ray
X-radiation is a form of electromagnetic radiation. X-rays have a wavelength in the range of 0.01 to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 petahertz to 30 exahertz and energies in the range 120 eV to 120 keV. They are shorter in wavelength than UV rays and longer than gamma...
s revealed that the melanoma
Melanoma
Melanoma is a malignant tumor of melanocytes. Melanocytes are cells that produce the dark pigment, melanin, which is responsible for the color of skin. They predominantly occur in skin, but are also found in other parts of the body, including the bowel and the eye...
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 her final public performance in September 1996, at the Bayou
The Bayou
The Bayou nightclub of Georgetown, Washington, D.C., was a rock, blues, pop, and reggae club.In the late '90s, the Bayou was owned by Dave Williams , who was also responsible for putting on the concerts at DAR Constitution Hall and the Capital Centre...
, she closed the set with "What a Wonderful World
What a Wonderful World
"What a Wonderful World" is a song written by Bob Thiele and George David Weiss. It was first recorded by Louis Armstrong and released as a single in 1968. Thiele and Weiss were both prominent in the music world . Armstrong's recording was inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999...
" in front of an audience of friends, fans and family. She was subsequently admitted to Johns Hopkins Hospital
Johns Hopkins Hospital
The Johns Hopkins Hospital is the teaching hospital and biomedical research facility of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, located in Baltimore, Maryland . It was founded using money from a bequest by philanthropist Johns Hopkins...
.
Cassidy died at her family home in Bowie
Bowie, Maryland
Bowie is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. The population was 54,727 at the 2010 census. Bowie has grown from a small railroad stop to the largest municipality in Prince George's County, and the fifth most populous city and third largest city by area in the state of...
, November 2, 1996, at the age of 33. She was posthumously inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Washington Area Music Association. In accordance with her wishes, Cassidy’s body was cremated. Her ashes were scattered on the lake shores of St. Mary's River Watershed Park, a nature reserve near California, Maryland
California, Maryland
California is a census-designated place and community in St. Mary's County, Maryland, United States. The population was 9,307 at the 2000 census. California continues to grow with the spread of population out from the older adjacent community of Lexington Park and the growth in both...
.
Posthumous recognition
After Cassidy's death, local folk singer Grace GriffithGrace Griffith
Grace Griffith is a folk and celtic singer based in Washington, DC. She has been honored with multiple Wammie awards by the Washington Area Music Association. In 1998, she was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.-Biography:...
introduced the Blues Alley recording to Bill Straw from her label, Blix Street Records. 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
Terry Wogan
Sir Michael Terence Wogan, KBE, DL , or also known as Terry Wogan, is a veteran Irish radio and television broadcaster who holds dual Irish and British citizenship. Wogan has worked for the BBC in the United Kingdom for most of his career...
on his wide-reaching BBC Radio 2 show Wake Up to Wogan
Wake Up to Wogan
Wake Up to Wogan was the most listened to radio show in the United Kingdom and the flagship breakfast programme broadcast on BBC Radio 2. The show was presented by Sir Terry Wogan who fronted WUTW from 4 January 1993; he had previously presented the breakfast show between 1972 and 1984, but the...
, following recommendation by his producer Paul Walters
Paul Walters
Paul Walters was a BBC radio and TV producer, most noted for his work and appearances on Sir Terry Wogan's BBC Radio 2 breakfast show Wake Up to Wogan, where he was known to millions as "Dr Wally Poultry"...
. The album sold more than 100,000 copies in the following months. The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
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."
Before Christmas of 2000, Top Of The Pops 2
TOTP2
Top of the Pops 2 is a British television music show broadcast on BBC Two, showing archive footage from the long-running Top of the Pops show, some dating back to the 1960s when the programme first aired on British television....
aired a video of Cassidy performing "Over the Rainbow
Over the Rainbow
"Over the Rainbow" is a classic Academy Award-winning ballad song with music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by E.Y. Harburg. It was written for the movie The Wizard of Oz, and was sung by Judy Garland in the movie...
", which resulted in Songbird climbing steadily up the UK charts over the next few weeks. Just as ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
's Tonight with Trevor McDonald aired a feature on Cassidy, the album topped the chart. Shot at Blues Alley by a friend with a camcorder the same night the album was recorded, the video became the most requested video ever shown on Top Of The Pops 2. "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
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
.
Jazz critic Ted Gioia
Ted Gioia
Ted Gioia is a noted jazz critic and music historian, best known for his books The History of Jazz and Delta Blues, both selected as notable books of the year by The New York Times. He is one of the editors in chief of the Encyclopedia of Jazz Musicians. He is also a jazz musician and one of the...
writes, "you might be tempted to write off the 'Cassidy sensation'
RIAA certification
In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...
in the U.S. as well.
In May 2001, ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's Nightline in the United States broadcast a well-received short documentary about Cassidy. Over the weekend, all five of Cassidy's albums occupied Amazon.com
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
's best sellers list top spots. The Nightline episode has since been rebroadcast three times due to popular demand. Producer Leroy Sievers
Leroy Sievers
Leroy Sievers was a journalist who won 12 national news Emmy Awards, two Peabody Awards, and two Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards...
has said that it is "probably the most popular Nightline ever". In December, a nine-minute segment on NPR resulted in a similar sales surge, with five of the top seven spots going to Cassidy. A rebroadcast of the Tonight with Trevor McDonald feature on Cassidy in Britain also bumped up sales.
Since Songbird, several other CDs with original material have been released: Time After Time (2000), Imagine
Imagine (Eva Cassidy album)
Imagine is the third album by American singer Eva Cassidy. Released in 2002, six years after her death, it was her second UK no. 1 album.-Track listing:-Personnel:-Production:-Charts:Album-References:...
(2002) and American Tune
American Tune (album)
American Tune is an album by American singer Eva Cassidy, released in 2003, seven years after her death in 1996. . It was her third posthumous UK number one album.- Track listing :...
(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
Simply Eva
Simply Eva is the eighth posthumous album by Eva Cassidy, released on 25 January 2011. It's a collection of 11 acoustic tracks with Cassidy herself on the guitar and an a capella version of "I Know You By Heart". The Blues Alley version of "Over the Rainbow", which was not included in the Live at...
was released in January 2011.
Together with word of mouth
Word of mouth
Word of mouth, or viva voce, is the passing of information from person to person by oral communication. Storytelling is the oldest form of word-of-mouth communication where one person tells others of something, whether a real event or something made up. Oral tradition is cultural material and...
and internet fansites, online commerce has played a big role in Cassidy's success. This point was further affirmed when in 2005, Amazon.com
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
released a list of its top 25 best-selling musicians, which placed Cassidy in 5th position, behind The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
, U2
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
, Norah Jones
Norah Jones
Norah Jones is an American singer-songwriter and occasional actress.In 2002, she launched her solo music career with the release of the commercially successful and critically acclaimed album Come Away With Me, which was certified a diamond album in 2002, selling over 20 million copies...
and Diana Krall
Diana Krall
Diana Jean Krall, OC, OBC is a Canadian jazz pianist and singer, known for her contralto vocals. She has sold more than 6 million albums in the US and over 15 million worldwide; altogether, she has sold more albums than any other female jazz artist during the 1990s and 2000s...
, and far ahead of Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
and several other well-known stars.
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
No Boundaries (Eva Cassidy album)
No Boundaries is an album featuring the late American singer Eva Cassidy. Released in 2000, it is collection of studio recordings from 1987 - 1991. The release was not endorsed by the Cassidy family, and was released under label different from that under which her other albums were released...
. This release was not endorsed by the Cassidy family 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". In 2002, the self titled 1988 album by the band Method Actor
Method Actor
Method Actor is an eponymous album released in 1988 featuring American singer Eva Cassidy. It was re-released on CD in 2002, six years after her death.- Track listing :# "Getting Out" – 4:19# "Look in to My Eyes" – 4:16...
, 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. Lourim had Cassidy's written permission to release the album and eventually the cover was changed to look like the original LP album
LP album
The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...
while already released copies were affixed with a sticker indicating that they are not solo Eva Cassidy albums.
A bootleg recording which has been in circulation is called Live at Pearl's. It was recorded at Pearl's Restaurant in Annapolis, Maryland
Annapolis, Maryland
Annapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland, as well as the county seat of Anne Arundel County. It had a population of 38,394 at the 2010 census and is situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east of Washington, D.C. Annapolis is...
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. Another recording, featuring Mick Fleetwood
Mick Fleetwood
Michael John Kells "Mick" Fleetwood is a British musician and actor best known for his role as the drummer and namesake of the blues/rock and roll band Fleetwood Mac. His surname, combined with that of John McVie, was the inspiration for the name of the originally Peter Green-led Fleetwood Mac...
on drums and recorded at his restaurant in Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2009, the city had a total population of 139,966. Located along the Western bank of the Potomac River, Alexandria is approximately six miles south of downtown Washington, D.C.Like the rest of northern Virginia, as well as...
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.
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 BooksPenguin Group
The Penguin Group is a trade book publisher, the largest in the world , having overtaken Random House in 2009. The Penguin Group is the name of the incorporated division of parent Pearson PLC that oversees these publishing operations...
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 and also a Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
piece for cancer benefit.
At the 2002 Winter Olympics
2002 Winter Olympics
The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event that was celebrated in February 2002 in and around Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. Approximately 2,400 athletes from 77 nations participated in 78 events in fifteen disciplines, held throughout...
gala, and later on tour, figure skater
Figure skating
Figure skating is an Olympic sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform spins, jumps, footwork and other intricate and challenging moves on ice skates. Figure skaters compete at various levels from beginner up to the Olympic level , and at local, national, and international competitions...
Michelle Kwan
Michelle Kwan
Michelle Wingshan Kwan is an American figure skater. She is a two-time Olympic medalist, a five-time World champion and a nine-time U.S...
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
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
of Songbird. Subsequently, other figure skaters such as Kristi Yamaguchi
Kristi Yamaguchi
Kristine Tsuya "Kristi" Yamaguchi-Hedican is an American figure skater. She is the 1992 Olympic Champion in ladies' singles. Yamaguchi also won two World Figure Skating Championships in 1991 and 1992 and a U.S. Figure Skating Championships in 1992. She won one junior world title in 1988 and two...
, Sarah Hughes
Sarah Hughes
Sarah Elizabeth Hughes is an American figure skater. She is the 2002 Olympic gold medalist and 2001 World bronze medalist in ladies singles.-Personal life:...
and Kimmie Meissner
Kimmie Meissner
Kimberly Claire "Kimmie" Meissner is an American figure skater. She is the 2006 World Champion, the 2007 U.S. National Champion, and the 2007 Four Continents Champion...
have used Cassidy's music in their routines.
Anglo
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
-Georgian
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
singer Katie Melua
Katie Melua
Ketevan "Katie" Melua is a British-Georgian singer, songwriter and musician. She moved to Northern Ireland at the age of eight and then to England at fourteen. Melua is signed to the small Dramatico record label, under the management of composer Mike Batt, and made her musical debut in 2003...
is a keen fan of Cassidy. Her debut album "Call off the Search
Call off the Search
The Japanese release has the extra track "Deep Purple".-Personnel:*Katie Melua - guitar, vocals*Mike Batt - organ, piano, conductor*Jim Cregan - guitar*Tim Harries - bass*The Irish Film Orchestra - orchestra*Michael Kruk - drums*Alan Smale - leader...
" contained the song "Faraway Voice", written in Cassidy's memory. Melua has also performed Cassidy's arrangement of "Anniversary Song" in concert. On Christmas Eve 2006, she performed alongside video footage of Cassidy singing Over The Rainbow on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
's "Duet Impossible". One year later, Cassidy's "What A Wonderful World
What a Wonderful World
"What a Wonderful World" is a song written by Bob Thiele and George David Weiss. It was first recorded by Louis Armstrong and released as a single in 1968. Thiele and Weiss were both prominent in the music world . Armstrong's recording was inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999...
" was spliced together with new vocals by Melua and released as a single exclusively at the British retail chain Tesco
Tesco
Tesco plc is a global grocery and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Cheshunt, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues and the second-largest measured by profits...
. It debuted at #1 on the UK Singles chart on December 16. All profits from the single went to the British Red Cross. Irish singer Chris de Burgh
Chris de Burgh
Chris de Burgh is a British/Irish singer-songwriter. He is most famous for his 1986 love song "The Lady in Red".-Early life:...
has stated that his song "Songbird" from his album The Road to Freedom was written in honour of Cassidy. Singer Mary Chapin Carpenter
Mary Chapin Carpenter
Mary Chapin Carpenter is an American folk and country music artist. Carpenter spent several years singing in Washington, D.C. clubs before signing in the late 1980s with Columbia Records, who marketed her as a country singer...
made reference to Cassidy in the song "My Heaven" on the album Between Here and Gone
Between Here and Gone
Between Here and Gone is the ninth studio album by Mary Chapin Carpenter. It was released April 27, 2004. The album reached number five on Billboard's Top Country Albums chart, although the album itself produced no chart singles...
: "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
Dean Cain
Dean Cain is an American actor. He is most widely known for his role as Clark Kent/Superman in the popular American television series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.-Early life:...
. 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
Judging Amy
Judging Amy is an American television drama that was telecast from September 19, 1999, through May 3, 2005, on CBS-TV. This TV series starred Amy Brenneman and Tyne Daly...
, Joe Somebody
Joe Somebody
Joe Somebody is a 2001 American comedy-drama film written by John Scott Shepherd and directed by John Pasquin. The film stars Tim Allen as a man stirred into action by a workplace bully...
, Love Actually
Love Actually
Love Actually is a 2003 British romantic comedy film written and directed by Richard Curtis. The screenplay delves into different aspects of love as shown through ten separate stories involving a wide variety of individuals, many of whom are shown to be interlinked as their tales progress...
, Maid in Manhattan
Maid in Manhattan
Maid in Manhattan is a 2002 romantic comedy film directed by Wayne Wang about a hotel maid and a high profile politician who fall in love starring Jennifer Lopez, Ralph Fiennes, and Natasha Richardson. It is based on a story by John Hughes who is credited using a pseudonym. The original music score...
, The Man From Elysian Fields
The Man From Elysian Fields
The Man from Elysian Fields is a drama film directed by George Hickenlooper. It stars Andy Garcia, Mick Jagger, Olivia Williams, Julianna Margulies and James Coburn.-Plot:...
, Alpha Dog
Alpha Dog
Alpha Dog is a 2007 crime drama film written and directed by Nick Cassavetes, first screened at the Sundance Film Festival on January 27, 2006, with a wide release the following year on January 12, 2007. The film is based on the true story of the kidnapping and murder of 15-year-old Nicholas...
and Smallville
Smallville (TV series)
Smallville is an American television series developed by writers/producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar based on the DC Comics character Superman, originally created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The television series was initially broadcast by The WB Television Network , premiering on October...
. Cassidy's arrangement of "Over the Rainbow" is a popular cover
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
choice by singing competition contestants, with American Idol
American Idol
American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
season 5 runner-up Katharine McPhee
Katharine McPhee
Katharine Hope McPhee is an American pop singer, songwriter, actress, model, and television personality. She gained fame as a contestant on the fifth season of the Fox reality show American Idol in 2006, eventually finishing as the runner-up.Her self-titled debut album was released on RCA Records...
and The X Factor
The X Factor (UK)
The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. Created by Simon Cowell, it began in September 2004 and is contested by aspiring singers drawn from public auditions. It is the originator of the international X Factor franchise. The seven series of the show to date...
season 3 winner Leona Lewis
Leona Lewis
Leona Louise Lewis is a British singer and songwriter. Lewis first came to prominence in 2006 when she won the third series of the British television series The X Factor....
among the singers. Her interpretation of "Imagine
Imagine (Eva Cassidy album)
Imagine is the third album by American singer Eva Cassidy. Released in 2002, six years after her death, it was her second UK no. 1 album.-Track listing:-Personnel:-Production:-Charts:Album-References:...
" has been performed by American Idol season 7 runner-up David Archuleta
David Archuleta
David Archuleta, is a former United States Air Force Airman of Okinawan stationary troops and is currently an American male kickboxer.-Biography:...
.
Possibility of future film
In late 2007, AIR Productions acquired the rights to produce a film based on Cassidy's life. It is being produced by Amy Redford (daughter of Robert RedfordRobert Redford
Charles Robert Redford, Jr. , better known as Robert Redford, is an American actor, film director, producer, businessman, environmentalist, philanthropist, and founder of the Sundance Film Festival. He has received two Oscars: one in 1981 for directing Ordinary People, and one for Lifetime...
), Irwin Shapiro and Rick Singer. In an interview a year earlier, Cassidy's parents suggested Kirsten Dunst
Kirsten Dunst
Kirsten Caroline Dunst is an American actress, singer and model. She made her film debut in Oedipus Wrecks, a short film directed by Woody Allen for the anthology New York Stories...
or Emily Watson
Emily Watson
Emily Watson is an English actress. She gave an acclaimed debut film performance in Lars von Trier's Breaking the Waves.- Early life :...
as possible actresses who could play their daughter.
Albums
| Title | Release date | Label | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Other Side | 1992 | Liaison | Chuck Brown Chuck Brown Chuck Brown is a guitarist and singer who is affectionately called "The Godfather of Go-go". Go-go is a subgenre of funk music developed in and around Washington, D.C. in the mid- and late 1970s... with Eva Cassidy. |
| Live at Blues Alley Live at Blues Alley Live at Blues Alley is an album by American singer Eva Cassidy, originally self released in May, 1996. This live album was recorded at the Blues Alley in January, 1996... |
1997 | Blix Street | Originally self-released under Eva Music in 1996. |
| Eva by Heart Eva by Heart Eva by Heart is the debut album by American singer Eva Cassidy, released in 1997 . It is the first studio album released after Cassidy's death in 1996.-Track listing:... |
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 No Boundaries (Eva Cassidy album) No Boundaries is an album featuring the late American singer Eva Cassidy. Released in 2000, it is collection of studio recordings from 1987 - 1991. The release was not endorsed by the Cassidy family, and was released under label different from that under which her other albums were released... |
Renata/Brunswick | ||
| Method Actor Method Actor Method Actor is an eponymous album released in 1988 featuring American singer Eva Cassidy. It was re-released on CD in 2002, six years after her death.- Track listing :# "Getting Out" – 4:19# "Look in to My Eyes" – 4:16... |
2002 | Blp | Reissue of a 1988 LP. |
| Imagine Imagine (Eva Cassidy album) Imagine is the third album by American singer Eva Cassidy. Released in 2002, six years after her death, it was her second UK no. 1 album.-Track listing:-Personnel:-Production:-Charts:Album-References:... |
Blix Street/Hot | UK #1 | |
| American Tune American Tune (album) American Tune is an album by American singer Eva Cassidy, released in 2003, seven years after her death in 1996. . It was her third posthumous UK number one album.- Track listing :... |
2003 | ||
| Wonderful World | 2004 | Compilation. | |
| Somewhere | 2008 | UK #4 | |
| Simply Eva Simply Eva Simply Eva is the eighth posthumous album by Eva Cassidy, released on 25 January 2011. It's a collection of 11 acoustic tracks with Cassidy herself on the guitar and an a capella version of "I Know You By Heart". The Blues Alley version of "Over the Rainbow", which was not included in the Live at... |
2011 | Blix Street |
Singles
| Title | Release date | Label | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Over the Rainbow Over the Rainbow "Over the Rainbow" is a classic Academy Award-winning ballad song with music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by E.Y. Harburg. It was written for the movie The Wizard of Oz, and was sung by Judy Garland in the movie... " |
2001 | UK #42 - Appeared in the charts between April and August 2001 | |
| "Take My Breath Away" | 2003 | UK #54 | |
| "What a Wonderful World What a Wonderful World "What a Wonderful World" is a song written by Bob Thiele and George David Weiss. It was first recorded by Louis Armstrong and released as a single in 1968. Thiele and Weiss were both prominent in the music world . Armstrong's recording was inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999... " |
2007 | Dramatico | Posthumous duet with Katie Melua Katie Melua Ketevan "Katie" Melua is a British-Georgian singer, songwriter and musician. She moved to Northern Ireland at the age of eight and then to England at fourteen. Melua is signed to the small Dramatico record label, under the management of composer Mike Batt, and made her musical debut in 2003... . UK #1 |
| "Songbird" | 2009 | UK #56 | |
Bootleg
| Title | Release date | Label | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Live at Pearl's | 1994 | - | bootleg recording Bootleg recording A bootleg recording is an audio or video recording of a performance that was not officially released by the artist or under other legal authority. The process of making and distributing such recordings is known as bootlegging... taped at Pearl's Restaurant in Annapolis, Maryland Annapolis, Maryland Annapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland, as well as the county seat of Anne Arundel County. It had a population of 38,394 at the 2010 census and is situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east of Washington, D.C. Annapolis is... . Tracklist |
Videography
| Title | Release date | Format | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eva Cassidy Sings | 2004 | PAL PAL PAL, short for Phase Alternating Line, is an analogue television colour encoding system used in broadcast television systems in many countries. Other common analogue television systems are NTSC and SECAM. This page primarily discusses the PAL colour encoding system... DVD (Region 2 and Region 4) |
|
Book
External links
- Eva Cassidy website maintained by her cousin, Laura Claire Bligh
- Eva Cassidy Artwork website
- Evasongs recordings information
- [ Eva Cassidy] at the All Music GuideAll Music GuideAllmusic is a service of music guide, owned by All Media Guide. Allmusic was founded in 1991 by popular-culture archivist Michael Erlewine as a guide for consumers. Its first reference book was published the following year...
- Eva Cassidy on ABC Nightline
- Eva Cassidy Feature on ABC Nightline
- Eva Cassidy: Songbird: Her Story by Those Who Knew Her at Google Book SearchGoogle Book SearchGoogle Books is a service from Google that searches the full text of books that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical character recognition, and stored in its digital database. The service was formerly known as Google Print when it was introduced at the Frankfurt Book Fair in October...
– Eva plays live, recorded on a friend's video camera — became the most requested video ever shown on Top Of The Pops 2. - Mary Ann RedmondMary Ann RedmondMary Ann Redmond is an American singer known for her soulful and wide-ranging vocal style in popular and jazz music. She is based in the greater metropolitan Washington, D.C. area, but has performed in several locations in the United States and in other countries...
& Eva Cassidy singing Eric ClaptonEric ClaptonEric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
's "Tears in HeavenTears in Heaven"Tears in Heaven" is a ballad written by Eric Clapton and Will Jennings about the pain and loss Clapton felt following the death of his four-year-old son, Conor. Conor fell from a window of the 53rd-floor New York apartment of his mother's friend on March 20, 1991. Clapton, who arrived at the...
" – From a 1995 performance at Fleetwood's in Alexandria, VA. - Eva Cassidy at Find-A-Grave