Eva Cassidy still speaks for herself

She can do this now, as she did when she was performing; through her music. As someone once said, the genius of Eva Cassidy is that what she did, she could do anywhere; in a studio, on stage, in your front room. It would all have that same perfect Eva Cassidy sound. Eva did not require a band to make an impact, she did not require sophisticated studio production, she just needed a microphone and an amp for her guitar. Although she did employ musicians for many of her appearances and recordings, some of the most impressive and brilliant pieces of music are those where it is just her and her guitar.

Had she lived, she would undoubtedly have become one of the truly great solo artists of this new century. It is said that Eva was her own worst critic. A perfectionist, and she would only wish to have the best material released. But she is no longer with us, so rightly those who now guard her legacy, people like the Cassidy family, make the judgments as I am sure, Eva would want them to do. After all, they knew her best, and could her legacy be in better hands ?

CD releases. It has been pointed out to us that there are more Eva Cassidy CDs on the market, then indicated below. This is true. However, the releases indicated below are the only ones, which have been released by Blix Street Records as licensed by Barbara and Hugh Cassidy. You could say that these represent the only Cassidy family 'authorised' releases. Often Eva was asked to record songs for various songwriters as 'demos' and no doubt there is quite a lot of this demonstration material around. For those people who may wish to be able to identify one from the other, we therefore limit this site to these what we call 'authorised' releases. In doing so,we pass no judgement on any other releases. We have merely decided to only feature the releases Barbara and Hugh Cassidy endorse. Each and everyone a gem. Each and everyone worth buying. Each and everyone worthy to be released in the Eva Cassidy name. Each and everyone a celebration of the talents of this remarkable woman. It is undoubtedly her resolve NOT to be labeled and categorised by the record companies that has created this varied collection of beautiful music, she has left us.

Much has been said about her collaboration with Chuck Brown. They produced a CD together called 'The Other Side'. A wonderful celebration of two talents.

This CD also includes that most wonderful recording of 'Over the Rainbow' and is a wonderful showcase for Eva's talent for harmony. Her perfect pitch is demonstrated so well when she hits the absolute right note when singing the phrase "you've changed" in the song of the same name.

So the following CDs are available:

Live at Blues Alley - Eva by Heart - Songbird - Time after Time - Imagine - American Tune

and with Chuck Brown ' The other Side'

Available in all good record stores and ofcourse on the Net via Amazon.com, Bol.com

One of the songs on the album Imagine is 'Danny boy'. Eva's interpretation of this song is very beautiful. Some Website visitors have emailed us saying that the label on the CD is wrong, that this song infact is called 'Londonderry Air'. But is this so ? Indeed this traditional song does have a facinating history. For those interested, here are some details :

To begin with, Danny Boy is one of over 100 songs composed to the same tune. The author was an English lawyer, Frederic Edward Weatherly (1848-1929), who was also a songwriter and radio entertainer. In 1910 he wrote the words and music for an unsuccessful song he called Danny Boy. In 1912 his sister-in-law in America sent him a tune called the Londonderry Air, which he had never heard before. He immediately noticed that the melody was a perfect fit to his Danny Boy lyrics, and published a revised version of the song in 1913.'

More information about this song can be found on this very interesting and informative Website, Standing Stones.

Many of you have contacted us asking where the lyrics to Eva's songs can be found.

Several songbooks have been released and details can be found on the Eva Cassidy site of Laura Bligh but you can also find some lyrics here at the very attractive site Cry Of A Songbird. We understand that more lyrics are being added all the time.