- Release Info -------------------------------------------------------------- -
Artist: Eva Cassidy
Album: Somewhere
Label: Blix Street
Playtime: 42:59 min
Genre: Folk
URL:
Rip date: 2008-08-23
Street date: 2008-08-26
Size: 53.62 MB
Type: Normal
Quality: 164 kbps / 4410kHz / Joint Stereo
- Release Notes ------------------------------------------------------------- -
Somewhere marks the eight posthumous recording by Eva Cassidy -- none of her
offerings were issued during her lifetime -- and puts her in the company of
Tupac Shakur for a post-life discography. This is a true odds and sods
collection of material that includes two co-writes and the usual slew of
covers. The late Cassidy's covers run the gamut from Dolly Parton's "Coat of
Many Colors," and Don Covay's "Chain of Fools," to Don Hecht's "Walkin' After
Midnight," and Fred Rose's "Blue Eyes Cryin' in the Rain." Some of what's
here has been doctored significantly -- the aforementioned Covay tune has
horn and backing vocal charts added in 2006 and 2007, respectively, and
another horn chart on a cover of Don Robey's "Ain't Doin' Too Bad," in 2006.
The vocal tracks aren't much more than recorded demos, and the vocals, while
of decent quality, aren't spectacular; when the other tracks are added, it
feels like there is something very wrong at work here. Truth be told, it
feels like ambulance chasing. Other selections fare better, such as the live
version of J. Leslie McFarland's "It Won't Be Long," or the stripped down
voice and guitar "Walkin' After Midnight," which is likewise live and
wonderfully done. The same can be said of the live stripped to voice and
guitar numbers like the Rose tune, George Gershwin's standard "Summertime,"
and Cassidy's co-write (with Rob Gordon) of "Early One Morning," a
fingerpicked and slide guitar blues studio take recorded in 1987. There are
three arrangements of traditional tunes here as well including "A Bold Young
Farmer," the haunting tragic English ballad made all the more poignant since
it was recorded in the year of Cassidy's death. The set concludes with the
title cut, another original co-written by Cassidy and her producer and
collaborator Chris Biondo. This is a recording that was never completed
during her lifetime but finished in preparation for this release; this feels
like the most "finished" thing here. Biondo's original reluctance to complete
this track is understood due to its depth. Other former Cassidy bandmates
Lenny Williams and Raice McLeod made this possible and it is easily the best
thing here. Biondo's empathy for this track is particularly sensitive; if any
of Cassidy's own music could be considered cinematic and universal in its
appeal, it's this one. Employing her own backing vocals as a chorus make it
truly powerful. All in all, this is the spottiest entry in her catalog, but
there are some fine moments nonetheless.
- Track List ---------------------------------------------------------------- -
01. Coat of Many Colors ( 3:22)
02. My Love is Like a Red Red Rose ( 3:47)
03. Ain't Doin Too Bad ( 3:44)
04. Chain of Fools ( 4:14)
05. Won't Be Long ( 3:51)
06. Walkin' After Midnight ( 2:41)
07. Early One Morning ( 2:24)
08. A Bold Young Farmer ( 3:50)
09. If I Give My Heart ( 4:04)
10. Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain ( 2:58)
11. Summertime ( 3:07)
12. Somewhere ( 4:57)
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