Envoirment's Top 75 - Eva Cassidy

[Envoirment]

I'll be doing a countdown for my other favourite singer, Eva Cassidy. Vastly underrated and overlooked. Not only can she give great emotional performances, but she can SING too! Like seriously, she could hold her own in a belting competition with the likes of Mariah, Whitney, Celine ect. It's a shame she died just as she was becoming famous though. :(

It'll begin next week Wednesday. :)

[Deleted]

Awesome! I love her, and I expect to learn a lot.

[josh]

Idk her but I've seen you (maybe others too) bring her up. I think she even charted for you? I'll check this out then.

[Envoirment]

Jan 24, 2013 20:25:59 GMT -5 @jjj said:

Awesome! I love her, and I expect to learn a lot.

You'll definitely learn new material. I have pretty much every song she's recorded. She has a good chunk of great original material too, so it won't be a countdown full of covers. Not to mention some songs, she really lets go vocally. You'll see not only the soft, emotional side, but also a powerhouse of a vocalist with a lot of soul. :)

Jan 24, 2013 20:31:26 GMT -5 josh said:

Idk her but I've seen you (maybe others too) bring her up. I think she even charted for you? I'll check this out then.

Yes, some of her songs I got charted. Hopefully you'll like her voice. :)

[horchata]

Haha, isn't Eva Cassidy one of Leona Lewis' biggest musical influences? I admit I am not too overly versed with Eva's material as a whole, but will be following this list to change that a bit! Her version of "Songbird" makes my allergies act up sometimes, it's just too gorgeous.

[Envoirment]

Jan 25, 2013 20:02:31 GMT -5 horchata said:

Haha, isn't Eva Cassidy one of Leona Lewis' biggest musical influences? I admit I am not too overly versed with Eva's material as a whole, but will be following this list to change that a bit! Her version of "Songbird" makes my allergies act up sometimes, it's just too gorgeous.

Yes she is! Nice to see you pay (more) attention to my fav But my obssession with Eva isn't due to Leona though. :) Hopefully you'll be pleasantly surprised and enjoy some of her original material!

And, I'll be passing out tissues if needed too. :'(

[Sean]

Sure, I only know like one song....maybe two.....nonetheless I'm completely stoked for this!!!

[WotUNeed]

Jan 26, 2013 16:05:32 GMT -5 Sean said:

Sure, I only know like one song....maybe two.....

I'm in the same boat. I've only heard a couple tracks, but I like her voice, so I plan to try to use this as a platform for exploring.

[Envoirment]

#75. "Woodstock"

Album: Time After Time

Listen Here

A cover of the 1970 #1 hit (in the UK), Eva strips it back and keeps it simple. Her version is very subtle and focuses mainly on the emotion of the song, something that there will be lots of during this countdown.

[Envoirment]

#74. "Summertime"

Album: Somewhere

Listen Here

A cover of the famous "Summertime", Eva's version is rather different to those I've heard before. She plays around with the song very nicely and her tone is so divine and rich at times in the song it just makes me smile. I love the arrangement of the song too.

[Envoirment]

#73. "Early Morning Rain"

Album: Imagine

Listen Here

Another one of her many covers, I adore this song. Eva's guitar playing and her vocal delivery of the song is very pleasant, while also being very original.

One of the big reasons I love Eva is due to her musicality. She is able to take songs and completely change them to suit her. Not only production-wise, but also vocally. And you'll see more of this as we go deeper into the countdown! I would also like to add that any guitar playing you may hear in a song is most likely Eva. She played both the acoustic and electric guitar, and was very proficient with them.

[Envoirment]

#72. "The Letter"

Album: Time After Time

Listen Here

A cover of the song by The Box Tops, I really enjoy Eva's interpretation of the song. It's very different and I love the arrangement to it.

[Envoirment]

#71. "I Wandered By A Brookside"

Album: Time After Time

Listen Here

An original song, I adore the softness of it and Eva's voice. It's a great song to relax to and has recently been my go to song to help me sleep!

[Envoirment]

#70. "You Don't Know Me" (with Chuck Brown)

Album: The Other Side

Listen Here

One of a bunch of songs she did with Chuck Brown, I really enjoy Eva's voice on this song. It's very soulful and I really feel her. Chuck Brown certainly brought out the best in Eva and you will see this even more on their collabs further up the list!

[Envoirment]

#69. "Still Not Ready"

Album: Imagine

Listen Here

I really like the mellow mood of this song. It's probably one of the most subtle songs she has recorded, which is something I like. It focuses more so on her tone and emotion, rather than big vocals.

[Envoirment]

#68. "Tennessee Waltz"

Album: Imagine

Listen Here

A beautiful rendition of the country classic. Just beautiful!

[WotUNeed]

Her version of "Woodstock" is quite good. I like her treatment of the song.

"Summertime" is one of those songs where singers either nail it or fail; doesn't seem like there's any middle ground. She nails this.

I like Gordon Lightfoot's songwriting. Not gonna say I think rendition of "Early Mornin' Rain" is the best interpretation of his work, but it's pretty good. I get what you're saying about her ability to change the production around and I appreciate that, but I'm not sure she made the absolute best decisions here. Still, though, like I said, works well enough.

In contrast, I think this is a great arrangement of "The Letter" for her. Takes cues from Joe Cocker's rendition, but tweaks it so that she makes the song her own. Excellent.

"I Wandered by a Brookside" is lovely. Very soothing. Can definitely see why you'd enjoy falling asleep to this.

Wow. I had no idea Chuck Brown continued recording for decades... or that he died last year. Their voices go together nicely on this version of "You Don't Know Me".

The atmosphere on "Still Not Ready" is great. I think this is my favorite selection so far... I guess yours too since it's the highest one so far, haha. Do you know who wrote these lyrics? This is the kind of song that would be perfect in a club environment... the type of clubs where they have singers doing torch songs, I mean.

On first listen, there are moments where she seems to overpower the song during this reading of "Tennessee Waltz", but otherwise this is a perfectly good rendition. From what I'm reading, this was just a demo or home recording or something of that nature? Because that totally explains why she might not have taken the time to refine her vocal delivery on this or whatever.

So far, this is a fun way to learn her stuff. :)

[Envoirment]

Feb 2, 2013 20:34:11 GMT -5 WotUNeed said:

Her version of "Woodstock" is quite good. I like her treatment of the song.

"Summertime" is one of those songs where singers either nail it or fail; doesn't seem like there's any middle ground. She nails this.

I like Gordon Lightfoot's songwriting. Not gonna say I think rendition of "Early Mornin' Rain" is the best interpretation of his work, but it's pretty good. I get what you're saying about her ability to change the production around and I appreciate that, but I'm not sure she made the absolute best decisions here. Still, though, like I said, works well enough.

In contrast, I think this is a great arrangement of "The Letter" for her. Takes cues from Joe Cocker's rendition, but tweaks it so that she makes the song her own. Excellent.

"I Wandered by a Brookside" is lovely. Very soothing. Can definitely see why you'd enjoy falling asleep to this.

Wow. I had no idea Chuck Brown continued recording for decades... or that he died last year. Their voices go together nicely on this version of "You Don't Know Me".

The atmosphere on "Still Not Ready" is great. I think this is my favorite selection so far... I guess yours too since it's the highest one so far, haha. Do you know who wrote these lyrics? This is the kind of song that would be perfect in a club environment... the type of clubs where they have singers doing torch songs, I mean.

On first listen, there are moments where she seems to overpower the song during this reading of "Tennessee Waltz", but otherwise this is a perfectly good rendition. From what I'm reading, this was just a demo or home recording or something of that nature? Because that totally explains why she might not have taken the time to refine her vocal delivery on this or whatever.

So far, this is a fun way to learn her stuff. :)

Glad you're liking it so far! And yes, Chuck was still recording right up until his death last year. Him and Eva did an album way back in 1992, that was released in 1995 called The Other Side. A few more songs from it will be on this countdown. I think you will REALLY enjoy the album if you like Eva/Chuck. There's some really great vocals on it!

The writers of "Still Not Ready" are Chris Izzi & Leo LaSota.

Regarding "Tennessee Waltz", it most likely is a demo/unfinished. Eva recorded quite a lot of songs and covers, so had a bunch that were unfinished and still in demo form.

[josh]

She has a great voice and the music is all great, I'm just not really into the styles of music she does.

[Envoirment]

Feb 2, 2013 23:06:38 GMT -5 josh said:

She has a great voice and the music is all great, I'm just not really into the styles of music she does.

I didn't really think you would like her music because it was quite different, but thanks for commenting/taking the time to listen! :)

[Envoirment]

#67. "Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain"

Album: Somewhere

Listen Here

A cover of the Willie Nelson classic, I adore Eva's version. She sings it soft and subtle, while giving the right amount of power to the song when needed.

[Envoirment]

#66. "Early One Morning"

Album: Somewhere

Listen Here

A cover of the very famous folk song, it is very different. I enjoy it a lot, but those familar with the original or covers that followed may dislike Eva's version.

[Envoirment]

#65. "Who Knows Where The Time Goes?"

Album: Imagine/Simply Eva

Listen Here

A cover of the Sandy Denny (Another women with lots of talent who died too early) song, Eva's version isn't as good, but very close imo. The song itself is something that I'm constantly asking myself nowadays too. Time does seem to go by too fast for my liking!

[Envoirment]

#64. "Have A Little Faith"

Album: Made In Manhattan

Listen Here

Eva features lead vocals on this song, a part of a Pieces of a Dream album. She doesn't get credited on it though, which is disappointing because her vocal is really lovely. She also did another song on the album called "Goodbye Manhatten". Eva shows get control on "Have A Little Faith" and really lets go at some points on the song. It's a great contrast at times which makes my ears melt.

[Envoirment]

#63. "When it’s too late"

Album: No Boundaries

Listen Here

One of a bunch of songs to come from an unofficial album release (No Boundaries), this song is rather interesting. Eva's vocals are great and I really love the production!

[Deleted]

*loving* this so far. I'm trying to listen to each of them in the order you post. Thoughts when I catch up with you.

[Envoirment]

Feb 4, 2013 23:49:44 GMT -5 @jjj said:

*loving* this so far. I'm trying to listen to each of them in the order you post. Thoughts when I catch up with you.

Thanks Hope you enjoy them. :)

[Envoirment]

#62. "I've Got This Feeling"

Album: No Boundaries

Listen Here

I really love the production on this song, very 80s. Eva's vocals are great too and I really love the background vocals and harmonies she did in this song.

[Envoirment]

#61. "San Francisco Bay Blues"

Album: Simply Eva

Listen Here

Accompanied by rare footage of Eva singing this live, Eva really sings this song well. A cover of the classic american folk song, Eva gives this song a great amount of emotion and really good vocals too!

[Envoirment]

#60. "Look In To My Eyes"

Album: Method Actor

Listen Here

I love the harmonies Eva does in this song, her vocals are great and I love the rock influence in the song.