Five On Friday ~ Eva Cassidy

I can never get enough of this voice.
She left us too young, too soon, and never received the recognition she so richly deserved. I think my favorite performance is this acoustic live version of her signature arrangement of Somewhere Over The Rainbow. It was filmed at Blues Alley with a camcorder as were most of the following.

Birth name Eva Marie Cassidy
Born February 2, 1963 Washington, DC
Died November 2, 1996 (aged 33) Bowie, Maryland

Wiki credit: 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. In one of the first published news articles on Eva Cassidy, 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."

2. Autumn Leaves Sultry. Pure. Innocent vocals. There's a difference when a singer can pull off all three in the same song and they are intertwined perfectly.

3. Fields of Gold. Chills. Every.Time. I featured it in this post "Serenading the Moon and Clouds" after my Baby Boy lost someone very important in his life.

"In his arms she fell as her hair came down".....pure magic.

4. Songbird ~ "For you, they'll be no crying. For you, the sun will be shining. For I feel that when I'm with you, it's alright. I know it's right. And the songbirds get singing...and I love you I love you I love you like never before."

Wiki credit: After Cassidy's death, local folk singer Grace Griffith 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."

 
 Got 5 tunes you'd like to share? Play along! Thanks Travis for a great Friday meme. 1. Grab the banner, make your post title Five on Friday, and be sure to link back here. 2. Go to Playlist.com to make your play list of five songs. You may choose a particular theme to share with us, or post random tunes if that's your vibe for the day. You can simply post the play list, or you can add a little summary about what you are sharing. 2a. Don't feel restricted by the tracks listed on Playlist.com. And don't be discouraged if the Embed code won't work. You're welcome to use any type of media to share your Sets. 3. Be sure to sign Mr Linky so everyone can visit your Set. 4. No tags, but feel free to invite your friends to play along if they need a post topic on a Friday.