Customer Reviews

Songbird (W/4 Live Tracks)

5 star:		(464)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

As you read through these customer reviews, you're probably asking yourself how can so many customers feel so strongly about a female singer that few have ever heard? I know I was skeptical. I listened to the song samples on Amazon.com and was impressed enough to buy Songbird. From the first moment I listened to it, Eva brought tears to my eyes. This same reaction happens often now when I listen to her. Her voice is supremely beautiful and expressive and her ability to excel in all types of music is unequalled. For example, on "Time after Time", a later CD, she gives us in order: 1) a pop classic that surpasses the original, 2) a melodic country song with fiddle and approprate vocal twill, 3) a beautiful, finger-picking folk song, 4) a gutsy blues song, 5) a deeply soulful R&B song, and6) a traditional gospel song. ALL ARE ABSOLUTELY OUTSTANDING !!!

As a life-long music fan, I can't understand why "the industry" did not bring Eva Cassidy to the public long before her untimely death in 1996. What a shame that Eva never lived to experience the growing love and devotion felt by so many as they first experience her singing. Yes, it is true. We are truly moved by Eva Cassidy's songs and we want to share our feelings.

I love Eva's voice and the sincerity of emotion beneath the surface of its beauty. I believe she will always bring tears to my eyes.

I just happened to catch the Nightline story about Eva on July 4. The next day I read many of the reviews of her CDs here at Amazon (thank you all for taking the time to share your thoughts). I decided to start by buying this disc (a compilation from other discs). I wondered if the music would hold up to the acclaim. It does! Eva does not disappoint. Wow! Wow! Wow! I kept playing the disc over and over. I took it to work and played it there. I talked to colleagues about her. The music is not great because she has a fantastic voice, the music is spectacular because it's so pure, so free, so soul-full. I love this CD, especially the final track, Somewhere Over the Rainbow...I just don't think it can be better than this! I've ordered 2 more of her discs and can't wait till they arrive. Thank you, Amazon, for making her music available. Thanks to all who wrote their reviews of her albums. And thank you, Eva. God bless you. As long as her music is available, she lives.

Forget the calculated pop garbage of Mariah Carey. Forget the over-produced muck of Celine Dion. If you want to truly hear a beautiful voice that doesn't require over-the-top arrangements and lots of hair spray, you MUST hear Eva Cassidy.

If you first glance at the song list on the "Songbird" CD, some of the titles seem, to put it frankly, totally avoidable. "Over the Rainbow." "Wade in the Water." Songs that have been remade and remade until you may think nothing new could be added to them. Eva Cassidy was able to take these songs and turn them into something new and worthwhile. Her rendition of "Over the Rainbow" is absolutely breathtaking....moving, perfectly sung, emotional, understated. Her version of this tune perfectly captures what she was capable of...taking a song and totally making it her own.

The song choices range from traditional tunes like "Oh, I Had a Golden Thread" to contemporary numbers like Christine McVie's "Songbird." But Eva Cassidy was able to take this variety and work it to her advantage; despite the fact that "Songbird" is actually a collection of songs from three previously released albums, the performances are amazingly seamless and this makes the album as a whole a million times better than the overdone, poser pop that invades U.S. radio.

The most amazing performance here is her achingly beautiful version of Sting's "Fields of Gold." The song is made all the more poignant byt the fact that Eva Cassidy lost her battle with melanoma in 1996 at the age of 33....so when she sings "you'll remember me/when the west wind moves/among the fields of barley," it will easily bring a tear to the eye. Simply amazing.

I believe I'm writing this more for myself than for readers who can look at five hundred previous reviews. I was so moved by Eva Cassidy's songs that I want to share my thoughts with everyone. I recieved a copy of 'Songbird' from my sister in law. I rarely prefer a second version of a familiar song so I was hesitant to even listen to this CD which included some old favorites. Then I had to take a long drive and had nothing new to listen to, so I listened to Eva. I was stunned. The music really got to me and I had not seen her or heard Eva's tragic story. I've since purchased all Eva's CDs and enjoyed each as much as the first. It is difficult to describe the impact of listening to Eva Cassidy for the first time. I doubt anyone will ever forget the experience. She is amazing!

The beautiful, irreplaceable Eva Cassidy died at the young age of 33, leaving behind a treasury of beautiful and bluesy songs she reinvented with her beautiful voice, guided by an intuitive grace. SONGBIRD is like no album I have ever heard. It has a quiet strength, not unlike Eva herself, that sets it apart from all folk, jazz, blues and pop albums.

The first cut, "Fields of Gold," was made completely unrecognizable from Sting's original. The words took on a different meaning for me, and Eva's melancholy voice made me think of those moments of solitude in the early morning before life begins to emerge, where you can truly be alone with your thoughts in introspection. Eva also has an amazing talent for pumping even more soul into the blues, R&B, gospel and jazz songs she interprets on the album. ("Wade in the Water," "Wayfaring Stranger," "People Get Ready,")
Of course, one of the most well known tracks off of this collection is her arrangement and interpretation of "Over the Rainbow." This truly brought tears to my eyes! When I finished listening to it, the yellow brick road and Dorothy were nowhere to be found.......all I could see was Eva, surrounded by her beautiful light and energy that permeates throughout this recording.

This album will change the way you think about music. Please listen to the samples and make your call. Believe me, this will become a frequently-played part of your CD collection.

I was looking forward to receiving this album more than anything I've ordered in quite some time. The reviews in here are glowing and remarkable, yet I was a little disappointed in the CD. Being I had never heard an Eva Cassidy album and bought it on the strength of Fields of Gold, which is on the Greatest Chillout Album in the World album, it is a so-so album. Fields of Gold, Songbird and Over the Rainbow are out of this world. If I could rate those songs only the album would be a 10. A few of the other songs irritated me, mainly Wade in the Water and Wayfaring Stranger. I am not a fan of women who sing high, namely Patti Labelle, Beyonce and Whitney Houston type soul. Half of this album steers toward that. I wanted the more pure and level delivery versus the screaming banshee wail delivery. I would recommend it for sure on the strenght of the 3 songs I mentioned. They will give you chills when you hear them.

Admittedly reluctant to buy this CD, and an artist that was completely unknown to me prior to this purchase, I found myself completely "blown away" by this artist's beautiful, crystal clear voice. Her versions of Fields of Gold, Autumn Leaves, Songbird, and Over the Rainbow are expecially beautiful and the harmonies exquisite. The other tracks appeal to the stirrings of the soul, as in the spirituals of the African American
South. Every song has a strong message and a sense of awe overcomes the listener as you marvel at this extemely talented and diverse songstress who unfortunatly was taken away from this world, much, much too soon.

Just listened to "Over the Rainbow" again. Wow. That's just about as well as a mortal can do it.

I didn't buy this, originally, because I thought it maudlin to reissue Eva's songs after her death...newly discovered material yes, but why songs she had already released? Boy, was I ever wrong!

After wearing out two discs of "Live at Blues Alley", I went back in time to purchase "The Other Side" -- a jazz/blues/funk collaboration between the incredible Eva Cassidy and the funky Chuck Brown. Most fans of Eva have gone back to Blues Alley, where she originated "Autumn Leaves" and "Fields of Gold" -- two of the best tracks on "Songbird"; on Songbird, the audience appreciation has been eliminated, giving a welcome second listen to two songs that Eva makes her own (sorry, Sting). "The Other Side" contains her original version of the classic, "Over the Rainbow". Has there ever been an interpretation of an old classic that has touched people in the way that Eva touches you with "Over the Rainbow"? I think not.
With Brown, Eva gets down and funky, and the true jazz leanings of her voice really stand out. Catch her rendition of "Fever", and you'll forget the original.

But, I digress, on to "Songbird". I resisted its pull because of the way it was put together, simply collecting many songs that Eva had released while she was alive. But I've changed my mind and now purchase this CD for anyone who will listen -- there is a quality and a magic to this collection that transcends definition. Forget the tragic circumstances of Eva's death, and just celebrate her life with "Songbird", where her voice and eclectic mix of songs and arrangements transcend the Norah Jones', the Diana Krall's, and yes, even the Emmylou Harris' of the world.

In addition to the incredible versions of the three standards mentioned above, Eva gives you 7 other songs, done exquisitely. From her gospel voice on "Wade on the Water", the old standards "Oh, I Had a Golden Thread" and "Wayfaring Stranger", done as only she could do them; from the title track of "Songbird", where she stretches over and beyond original artist Christine McVie; Eva takes you home on perhaps the CD's most enchanting piece, "I Know You By Heart". In this, which may have been a signature song, had she lived, Eva shows you all that an artist can add to a beautiful song -- with tone, timbre and feeling, she will make this song, and this CD come alive for you.

With 498 reviews prior to mine, a rating of 4 stars, and being in the top 100 on Amazon this many years after release, you can bet that "Songbird" is the kind of a classic that everyone should own. Enjoy it, over and over.

By chance I came across this CD and listened to a few tracks and decided to get it. It's a wonder how you can come across something so amazing, like finding a diamond in the rough. My favorite has to be "Somewhere over the Rainbow", followed closely by "Wade in the Water." Her voice makes you feel like a warm autumn day, like stepping into the wind and kissing the breeze. I hope I got it right.