Judee Sill
Encyclopedia
Judee Sill was an American singer and songwriter
. The first artist signed to David Geffen
's Asylum label
, she released two albums, then worked briefly as a cartoonist before dying of drug abuse
in 1979.
Her eponymous debut album
was released in late 1971
and was followed around eighteen months later by Heart Food
. She also recorded demos for a third album in 1974
, which were released with other rarities on the 2005 two-disc collection Dreams Come True.
Sill was heavily influenced by Bach
's metric forms and suites, while lyrically her work drew substantially on Christian themes of rapture and redemption.
animator Kenneth Muse
in 1952.
Sill returned to the West Coast
where she encountered Graham Nash
and David Crosby
and toured with them for a time as their opening act. After some initial interest from Atlantic Records
David Geffen
offered her a contract with his new Asylum label. She sold her song "Lady-O" to The Turtles
. She was featured on the cover of Rolling Stone.
Graham Nash produced the first single for her first album, "Jesus was a Cross Maker", which was released to radio on October 1, 1971. The album Judee Sill
soon followed in October 1971. The album featured Sill's voice in multiple overdubs, often in a four-part chorale
or fugue
. She worked with engineer Henry Lewy.
Sill recorded her second and last album, Heart Food
. Sill took over orchestrating and arranging Heart Food which included "The Donor".
Following a series of car accidents and failed surgery to rectify a painful back injury, Sill struggled with drug addiction and dropped out of the music scene, finally dying of a drug overdose, or "acute cocaine and codeine intoxication," on November 23, 1979 at her apartment on Morrison Street in North Hollywood. Sill's ashes were scattered into the Pacific Ocean following a ceremony organised by a few close friends at the Self-Realization Fellowship
in Pacific Palisades.
mixed the posthumous collection of unreleased material, Dreams Come True. Her two original albums have been reissued as a double CD with a number of live recordings and demos as bonus tracks.
Seattle-based folk group Fleet Foxes
perform "Crayon Angels" at their concerts. American singer-songwriter Warren Zevon
recorded "Jesus was a Cross Maker" for his 1995 album, Mutineer
. "Jesus was a Cross Maker" was recorded in 1973 by Graham Nash's former band The Hollies
, although Nash had no part in their recording. The Hollies' version appears in the opening sequence of Cameron Crowe
's film Elizabethtown
. Another version covered by American singer-songwriter Rachael Yamagata
is featured in the film's soundtrack. Gospel rocker Larry Norman
covered the song but retitled it as "Sweet Silver Angels". The song was released on the Essential 2: Agitator CD.
Scottish Celtic-Soul singer Jackie Leven
's 2006 album Oh What a Blow That Phantom Dealt Me! contains a song entitled "The Silver In Her Crucifix (Homage To Judee Sill)", which includes the lines: "and Judee Sill just stood there/with a gold key in her heart/and the silver in her crucifix/kept warring worlds apart/that's why I love Judee Sill.../and I know I always will."
In 1983, Chicago-based lesbian-feminist singer Ginni Clemmens released an album entitled Lopin' Along Thru the Cosmos (reissued in 1992 on the Flying Fish
label) which included cover versions of "Lady-O" and "Lopin' Along Thru the Cosmos."
In 1991, English singer-songwriter Judie Tzuke
released an album on Columbia called Left Hand Talking
, which included a cover version of "Jesus was a Cross Maker".
In 1994, singer-songwriter singer Shawn Colvin
recorded "There's a Rugged Road" on her Cover Girl album.
Linda Ronstadt
covered "Jesus was a Cross Maker" but re-titled it "Bandit & a Heartbreaker"; it was released on her Elektra box set in 1999.
A book called New Rock Record by Terry Hounsome, published in 1981, lists a third album Tulips From Amsterdam.
In 2009, the independent label American Dust
announced the release of Crayon Angel: A Tribute to the Music of Judee Sill
, featuring covers of Sill's songs done by Beth Orton
, Bill Callahan, Ron Sexsmith
, Daniel Rossen
, Final Fantasy, Marissa Nadler
and Meg Baird
, among others.
Singer songwriter Tanita Tikaram
says that "Jesus was a Cross-Maker" is a song with which she is obsessed.
In the 2010 film Greenberg, the lead female character Florence, played by Greta Gerwig, sings Sill's song "There's a Rugged Road." Gerwig sang this herself. The song did not appear on the "Greenberg" soundtrack CD.
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
. The first artist signed to David Geffen
David Geffen
David Geffen is an American record executive, film producer, theatrical producer and philanthropist. Geffen is noted for creating Asylum Records in 1970, Geffen Records in 1980, and DGC Records in 1990...
's Asylum label
Asylum Records
Asylum Records is an American record label founded in 1971 by David Geffen, and partner Elliot Roberts, who had previously worked as agents at the William Morris Agency. Founded specifically to provide a record contract for Jackson Browne, the label signed Tom Waits, Linda Ronstadt, Joni Mitchell...
, she released two albums, then worked briefly as a cartoonist before dying of drug abuse
Drug abuse
Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, refers to a maladaptive pattern of use of a substance that is not considered dependent. The term "drug abuse" does not exclude dependency, but is otherwise used in a similar manner in nonmedical contexts...
in 1979.
Her eponymous debut album
Judee Sill (album)
Judee Sill is the eponymous debut album by the American singer-songwriter and musician Judee Sill. Released on September 15, 1971, it was the first album on David Geffen's Asylum label. Backing musicians include John Beck and Jim Pons from The Leaves...
was released in late 1971
1971 in music
-Events:*February 1 – after months of feuding in the press, Ginger Baker and Elvin Jones hold a "drum battle" at The Lyceum.*February 8 – Bob Dylan's hour-long documentary film, Eat the Document, is premièred at New York's Academy of Music...
and was followed around eighteen months later by Heart Food
Heart Food
Heart Food is the second album released by American singer/songwriter and musician Judee Sill. It was released on David Geffen's Asylum label in March 1973 to acclaim but minimal sales. Sill wrote, arranged, and produced the album, with influences from Bach and Ray Charles...
. She also recorded demos for a third album in 1974
1974 in music
-January–April:*January 3 – Bob Dylan and The Band kick off their 40-date concert tour at Chicago Stadium. It's Dylan's first time on the road since 1966.*January 17...
, which were released with other rarities on the 2005 two-disc collection Dreams Come True.
Sill was heavily influenced by Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
's metric forms and suites, while lyrically her work drew substantially on Christian themes of rapture and redemption.
Biography
Sill's father, an importer of exotic animals for use in films, and older brother both died in separate incidents when she was young. Her mother subsequently married Tom and JerryTom and Jerry
Tom and Jerry are the cat and mouse cartoon characters that were evolved starting in 1939.Tom and Jerry also may refer to:Cartoon works featuring the cat and mouse so named:* The Tom and Jerry Show...
animator Kenneth Muse
Kenneth Muse
Kenneth Lee Muse was an American animator. He is best known for his work on the Tom and Jerry series at MGM.-Biography:...
in 1952.
Sill returned to the West Coast
West Coast of the United States
West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...
where she encountered Graham Nash
Graham Nash
Graham William Nash, OBE is an English singer-songwriter known for his light tenor vocals and for his songwriting contributions with the British pop group The Hollies, and with the folk-rock band Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Nash is a photography collector and a published photographer...
and David Crosby
David Crosby
David Van Cortlandt Crosby is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. In addition to his solo career, he was a founding member of three bands: The Byrds, Crosby, Stills & Nash , and CPR...
and toured with them for a time as their opening act. After some initial interest from Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
David Geffen
David Geffen
David Geffen is an American record executive, film producer, theatrical producer and philanthropist. Geffen is noted for creating Asylum Records in 1970, Geffen Records in 1980, and DGC Records in 1990...
offered her a contract with his new Asylum label. She sold her song "Lady-O" to The Turtles
The Turtles
The Turtles are an American rock group led by vocalists Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman. The band became notable for several Top 40 hits beginning with its cover version of Bob Dylan's "It Ain't Me Babe" in 1965...
. She was featured on the cover of Rolling Stone.
Graham Nash produced the first single for her first album, "Jesus was a Cross Maker", which was released to radio on October 1, 1971. The album Judee Sill
Judee Sill (album)
Judee Sill is the eponymous debut album by the American singer-songwriter and musician Judee Sill. Released on September 15, 1971, it was the first album on David Geffen's Asylum label. Backing musicians include John Beck and Jim Pons from The Leaves...
soon followed in October 1971. The album featured Sill's voice in multiple overdubs, often in a four-part chorale
Chorale
A chorale was originally a hymn sung by a Christian congregation. In certain modern usage, this term may also include classical settings of such hymns and works of a similar character....
or fugue
Fugue
In music, a fugue is a compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject that is introduced at the beginning in imitation and recurs frequently in the course of the composition....
. She worked with engineer Henry Lewy.
Sill recorded her second and last album, Heart Food
Heart Food
Heart Food is the second album released by American singer/songwriter and musician Judee Sill. It was released on David Geffen's Asylum label in March 1973 to acclaim but minimal sales. Sill wrote, arranged, and produced the album, with influences from Bach and Ray Charles...
. Sill took over orchestrating and arranging Heart Food which included "The Donor".
Following a series of car accidents and failed surgery to rectify a painful back injury, Sill struggled with drug addiction and dropped out of the music scene, finally dying of a drug overdose, or "acute cocaine and codeine intoxication," on November 23, 1979 at her apartment on Morrison Street in North Hollywood. Sill's ashes were scattered into the Pacific Ocean following a ceremony organised by a few close friends at the Self-Realization Fellowship
Self-Realization Fellowship
Self-Realization Fellowship / Yogoda Satsanga Society of India is a worldwide spiritual organization founded by Paramahansa Yogananda in 1920 and based in Mount Washington in Los Angeles, California....
in Pacific Palisades.
Legacy
Jim O'RourkeJim O'Rourke (musician)
Jim O'Rourke is an Irish-American musician and record producer. He was long associated with the Chicago experimental and improv scene...
mixed the posthumous collection of unreleased material, Dreams Come True. Her two original albums have been reissued as a double CD with a number of live recordings and demos as bonus tracks.
Seattle-based folk group Fleet Foxes
Fleet Foxes
Fleet Foxes are a folk rock band which formed in Seattle, Washington. They are signed to the Sub Pop and Bella Union record labels. The band came to prominence in 2008 with the release of their second EP, Sun Giant, and their debut full length album Fleet Foxes...
perform "Crayon Angels" at their concerts. American singer-songwriter Warren Zevon
Warren Zevon
Warren William Zevon was an American rock singer-songwriter and musician noted for including his sometimes sardonic opinions of life in his musical lyrics, composing songs that were sometimes humorous and often had political or historical themes.Zevon's work has often been praised by well-known...
recorded "Jesus was a Cross Maker" for his 1995 album, Mutineer
Mutineer
Mutineer is an album by American singer/songwriter Warren Zevon, released in 1995. .-Track listing:All tracks composed by Warren Zevon, except where indicated.#"Seminole Bingo" – 3:10...
. "Jesus was a Cross Maker" was recorded in 1973 by Graham Nash's former band The Hollies
The Hollies
The Hollies are an English pop and rock group, formed in Manchester in the early 1960s, though most of the band members are from throughout East Lancashire. Known for their distinctive vocal harmony style, they became one of the leading British groups of the 1960s and 1970s...
, although Nash had no part in their recording. The Hollies' version appears in the opening sequence of Cameron Crowe
Cameron Crowe
Cameron Bruce Crowe is an American screenwriter and film director. Before moving into the film industry, Crowe was a contributing editor at Rolling Stone magazine, for which he still frequently writes....
's film Elizabethtown
Elizabethtown (film)
Elizabethtown is a 2005 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Cameron Crowe starring Orlando Bloom and Kirsten Dunst. Alec Baldwin has a small role as a CEO of an athletic shoe company and Susan Sarandon appears as a grieving widow...
. Another version covered by American singer-songwriter Rachael Yamagata
Rachael Yamagata
Rachael Yamagata is an American singer-songwriter and pianist from Arlington, Virginia. She began her musical career with the band Bumpus before becoming a solo artist and releasing four EP's and three studio albums...
is featured in the film's soundtrack. Gospel rocker Larry Norman
Larry Norman
Larry David Norman was an American Christian musician, singer, songwriter, record label owner, and record producer, who worked with Christian rock music...
covered the song but retitled it as "Sweet Silver Angels". The song was released on the Essential 2: Agitator CD.
Scottish Celtic-Soul singer Jackie Leven
Jackie Leven
Jackie Leven was a Scottish songwriter and folk musician. After starting his career as a folk musician in the late 1960s, he first found success with new wave band Doll by Doll...
's 2006 album Oh What a Blow That Phantom Dealt Me! contains a song entitled "The Silver In Her Crucifix (Homage To Judee Sill)", which includes the lines: "and Judee Sill just stood there/with a gold key in her heart/and the silver in her crucifix/kept warring worlds apart/that's why I love Judee Sill.../and I know I always will."
In 1983, Chicago-based lesbian-feminist singer Ginni Clemmens released an album entitled Lopin' Along Thru the Cosmos (reissued in 1992 on the Flying Fish
Flying Fish Records
Flying Fish Records was a Chicago-based eclectic blues and country record label. It was founded in 1974 by Bruce Kaplan, former president of the University of Chicago's Folklore Society....
label) which included cover versions of "Lady-O" and "Lopin' Along Thru the Cosmos."
In 1991, English singer-songwriter Judie Tzuke
Judie Tzuke
Judie Tzuke is an English singer/songwriter. She is most well known for her 1979 hit "Stay With Me Till Dawn", which reached no.16 on the UK Singles Chart.-Early life:...
released an album on Columbia called Left Hand Talking
Left Hand Talking
Left Hand Talking is the eighth studio album by the British singer-songwriter Judie Tzuke, released in 1991.Despite considerable promotion and featuring a re-recording of her best known song, "Stay With Me Till Dawn", the album failed to chart...
, which included a cover version of "Jesus was a Cross Maker".
In 1994, singer-songwriter singer Shawn Colvin
Shawn Colvin
Shawn Colvin is an American singer-songwriter and musician.-Childhood and early career:Colvin was born in Vermillion, South Dakota. Her formative years were spent in the town of Carbondale, Illinois, where she attended Southern Illinois University Carbondale. She learned to play guitar at the age...
recorded "There's a Rugged Road" on her Cover Girl album.
Linda Ronstadt
Linda Ronstadt
Linda Ronstadt is an American popular music recording artist. She has earned eleven Grammy Awards, two Academy of Country Music awards, an Emmy Award, an ALMA Award, numerous United States and internationally certified gold, platinum and multiplatinum albums, in addition to Tony Award and Golden...
covered "Jesus was a Cross Maker" but re-titled it "Bandit & a Heartbreaker"; it was released on her Elektra box set in 1999.
A book called New Rock Record by Terry Hounsome, published in 1981, lists a third album Tulips From Amsterdam.
In 2009, the independent label American Dust
American Dust
American Dust is an independent record label operated out of Oakland, California. Notable artists to have released records on American Dust include Department of Eagles, Port O'Brien and Awesome Color....
announced the release of Crayon Angel: A Tribute to the Music of Judee Sill
Crayon Angel: A Tribute to the Music of Judee Sill
Crayon Angel: A Tribute To The Music of Judee Sill is a tribute album to Judee Sill released in 2009.-Track listing:#Ron Sexsmith - "Crayon Angel"#Beth Orton - "Reach for the Sky"#Daniel Rossen - "Waterfall"#Frida Hyvönen - "Jesus Was a Cross Maker"...
, featuring covers of Sill's songs done by Beth Orton
Beth Orton
Beth Orton is a BRIT Award–winning English singer-songwriter, known for her 'folktronica' sound, which mixes elements of folk and electronica. She was initially recognised for her collaborations with William Orbit and the Chemical Brothers in the mid 1990s. However, these were not Orton's first...
, Bill Callahan, Ron Sexsmith
Ron Sexsmith
Ronald Eldon "Ron" Sexsmith is a Canadian singer-songwriter from St. Catharines, Ontario, currently based in Toronto. He started his own band when he was fourteen years old, and released the first recordings of his own material seven years later, in 1985...
, Daniel Rossen
Daniel Rossen
Daniel Rossen is a singer/songwriter/guitarist for the Brooklyn-based indie-rock group, Grizzly Bear. He is also a member of the duo Department of Eagles.-Biography:...
, Final Fantasy, Marissa Nadler
Marissa Nadler
Marissa Nadler is an American dream-folk singer-songwriter and fine artist based in Boston.-Early life:Marissa Nadler was exposed to art at a young age through her mother Pamela, an abstract painter, and her older brother Stuart, a guitarist and writer...
and Meg Baird
Meg Baird
Meg Baird is an American musician originally from New Jersey and currently based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is best known as a founding member and lead female vocalist for the Philadelphia folk rock band Espers. In 2007, Baird released her first solo LP Dear Companion on Drag City...
, among others.
Singer songwriter Tanita Tikaram
Tanita Tikaram
Tanita Tikaram is a British pop/folk singer-songwriter, best known for the hits "Twist in My Sobriety" and "Good Tradition" from her 1988 debut album, Ancient Heart...
says that "Jesus was a Cross-Maker" is a song with which she is obsessed.
In the 2010 film Greenberg, the lead female character Florence, played by Greta Gerwig, sings Sill's song "There's a Rugged Road." Gerwig sang this herself. The song did not appear on the "Greenberg" soundtrack CD.
Discography
- Judee SillJudee Sill (album)Judee Sill is the eponymous debut album by the American singer-songwriter and musician Judee Sill. Released on September 15, 1971, it was the first album on David Geffen's Asylum label. Backing musicians include John Beck and Jim Pons from The Leaves...
(LP, Asylum, 1971) - Heart FoodHeart FoodHeart Food is the second album released by American singer/songwriter and musician Judee Sill. It was released on David Geffen's Asylum label in March 1973 to acclaim but minimal sales. Sill wrote, arranged, and produced the album, with influences from Bach and Ray Charles...
(LP, Asylum, 1973) - Dreams Come True (2CD, Water, 2005). Includes eight studio demos for a prospective third album, various home demos and a video clip of five songs live at USC in 1973.
- Judee SillJudee Sill (album)Judee Sill is the eponymous debut album by the American singer-songwriter and musician Judee Sill. Released on September 15, 1971, it was the first album on David Geffen's Asylum label. Backing musicians include John Beck and Jim Pons from The Leaves...
(CD, Rhino Handmade, 2005). Contains the original album plus original versions of two songs, seven live versions and a home demo. Edition of 5000 copies. - Heart FoodHeart FoodHeart Food is the second album released by American singer/songwriter and musician Judee Sill. It was released on David Geffen's Asylum label in March 1973 to acclaim but minimal sales. Sill wrote, arranged, and produced the album, with influences from Bach and Ray Charles...
(CD, Rhino Handmade, 2005). Contains the original album plus an outtake and eight demo versions. Edition of 5000 copies. - Abracadabra: The Asylum Years (2CD, Rhino, 2006). Combines Judee Sill and Heart Food with bonus tracks.
- Live in London: The BBC Recordings 1972-1973 (CD, Troubadour, 2007). Contains solo live songs performed for the BBC, and an interview with Bob HarrisBob Harris (radio)Robert Brinley Joseph "Bob" Harris, OBE , known as "Whispering" Bob Harris, is British radio host who currently works for BBC Radio 2, presenting music two nights a week...
.