Stormy Monday: Eva Cassidy called it alright!

I remember being sent this song by a friend of hers – it was long before the success – and she explained how her friend had died and how she would have loved me to hear the song. I was almost in tears because it’s such a beautiful version. It then became this huge hit, but I was saddened that she didn’t live to see her success. I was proud to be the writer of the song. It’s a song about continuity and having romantic love turn into something more romantic and more mellow.

–Sting on Eva Cassidy’s rendition of Fields of Gold, being interviewed by David Jenson, Capital Gold, radio DJ

After months of receiving false listening data from Tidal, my music app, I think they have finally resolved their issues. The July review of my listening habits now appears to be right. Thanks, Tidal!

As you can see, Eva Cassidy featured prominently in my July streams. Eva had one of the most impressive voices I have ever heard, but her life story is quite tragic.

Eva was yet another gifted artist who had a relatively short musical career. She died tragically at the age of 33 from cancer. It’s also a great tragedy that she was largely unknown outside Washington, D.C. when she passed. Eva rose to prominence two years after her death when recordings of her cover versions of Sting’s Fields of Gold and Over the Rainbow from the Wizard of Oz were played on BBC Radio 2.

Only two albums were released while Eva was still alive. Nine other albums were released posthumously after her death. Interestingly, due to technical problems on the first night of live performances at the famous Blues Alley jazz nightclub in Washington, D.C, only 12 of the 31 songs were released on her second album, Live at Blues Alley. The complete set of 31 songs was released posthumously, 20 years later, in 2015 on the album Nighbird. This is the album I have been listening to on Tidal.

Fortunately, camcorder recordings of her performances at Blues Alley are available online on YouTube. Her powerful cover of the T-Bone Walker blues classic, Stormy Monday is featured on the Nightbird album. Originally known as Call It Stormy Monday, it has been covered by several other artists, including The Allman Brothers Band, whose 1971 live recording at Fillmore East is one of my favourites.

I also adore her renditions of Fields of Gold and People Get Ready. However, I strongly recommend listening to the entire Nightbird album on whichever platform is available. I am pretty sure that you will come away as awed, and, admittedly, as emotional as I was. Eva certainly deserves the recognition that she was denied in her lifetime.