Eva Cassidy: Simply Eva

Ten years after she first topped the British charts you may think you’ve heard all there is to hear from Eva Cassidy. Think again. You may have heard most of these classic Eva songs before but, as sure as less is more, you have not experienced anything like this collection of previously unreleased guitar/vocal performances. It’s like hearing Eva Cassidy for the first time, again.

In addition to including Eva’s previously unreleased, redefining version of “San Francisco Bay Blues,” Simply Eva is the first album to include the Blues Alley guitar/vocal performance of “Over the Rainbow,” the video of which triggered Eva Cassidy’s rise to the top of the British pop charts in March 2001. Recorded five years after the 1991 version heard on Songbird, Eva’s fully evolved “Rainbow” literally redefined this all-time number one popular song. (The story of Eva and her recording of “Over the Rainbow” as told by her family and bandmates.)

The differences in the performances of the other songs range from folk versions of “Wayfaring Stranger” and “Wade in the Water,” to three extra verses in the included version of Paul Simon’s “Kathy’s Song,” to the more subtle nuances that grace every individual performance.

On a higher level, the overall experience of the first top to bottom Eva-only album transcends specific differences. My personal opinion that less is more in this instance is not meant as criticism of the supporting musical performances contained on previously released Eva Cassidy recordings. It was simply time to focus on the core of Eva Cassidy recordings, namely, the voice of “one of the greatest interpreters of popular song of the last 30 years” (Mojo magazine) and Eva’s superb guitar work which had been a bit lost in the shuffle of other instruments. In doing so, I literally heard Eva for the first time, again. That I was hearing mostly the same songs in a different way actually added to my sense of rediscovery.

The extent to which less is more is obviously an “ear of the beholder” question with answers as varied as listeners and listening circumstances. All musical background components, including Eva’s own sparkling background vocals, serve to draw in listeners while to some degree splitting listener attention.

Presenting music is similar to the framing of paintings, or the setting of precious stones. The goal is to strike the proper balance. Eva Cassidy’s music attained broad international acceptance at the dawn of an age of unprecedented competition for the attention of a growing interactive audience. While the goal posts of perception are moving in time, the goal of finding the proper balance remains the same.

Eva Cassidy’s small, but magically productive body of work now serves as a beacon to a new generation of singers exploring the musical giants who have gone before, starting in many instances with Eva herself. For those who would study the music of Eva Cassidy, less is definitely more. For everyone else, whether less is more or not, Simply Eva provides an opportunity to experience the unadorned music of Eva Cassidy and decide for yourself.

— by Bill Straw, Blix Street Records

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Simply Eva Tracks
11 of the Simply Eva tracks are songs you might have heard Eva perform before. These newly released acoustic versions differ in the following ways:

“Songbird” – This solo, acoustic guitar/vocal performance was recorded “live” in the studio, as opposed to the ‘produced’ studio ‘band’ version that appears on the Songbird album.

“Wayfaring Stranger,” “People Get Ready” and “Wade in the Water” feature acoustic guitar/vocal folk arrangements, as opposed to the band arrangements included on the Songbird album. “Stranger” and “People” are live studio cuts and “Wade” was recorded live at Pearl’s, a now defunct club in Annapolis, Maryland.

“True Colors” – This solo, acoustic guitar/vocal performance was recorded live in the studio, as opposed to the produced studio band version that appears on the American Tune album.

“Who Knows Where the Time Goes” – This solo, acoustic guitar/vocal performance was recorded live at Pearl’s, as opposed to the band version (recorded live at the Maryland Inn) included on the Imagine album.

“Over the Rainbow” – Simply Eva is the first album to include the Live at Blues Alley acoustic guitar/vocal performance, the video of which triggered Eva’s rise to the top of the British charts in March 2001. This mature version was recorded five years after the produced studio version that appears on the Songbird album.

“Kathy’s Song,” also recorded live at Pearl’s, is an acoustic guitar/vocal performance which contains three verses that were not included in the studio version which appears on the Time After Time album.

“San Francisco Bay Blues,” the only new song on Simply Eva, is an acoustic guitar/vocal performance that was recorded live at Pearl’s.

“Time After Time” – This solo, acoustic guitar/vocal performance was recorded live in the studio, as opposed to the live at the Maryland Inn version (which also features Chris Biondo on bass) included on the Time After Time album.

“Autumn Leaves” – This solo, acoustic guitar/vocal performance was recorded live in the studio, as opposed to the Live at Blues Alley version (which also featured Lenny Williams on piano) that appears on the Songbird album.

“I Know You by Heart” – the only a capella Eva Cassidy vocal released to date.

Category: Be Heard Jukebox Archive