In My Earbuds: Judee Sill
Judee Sill was one of those artists that most casual music fans have never heard of, and it's really, truly a shame. Sighting influences as diverse as "Bach, Pythagoras and Ray Charles," Sill was one of the earliest progenitors of what became known as the "Laurel Canyon" sound--West coast folk-leaning female singer/songwriter/performers emerging from the early-'70s, popularized by artists like Joni Mitchell and Carole King. Sill was first--she was the first artist signed to David Geffen's Asylum record label, and like Elliott Smith and Nick Drake, her tragic story and music are the stuff that legends are made of.
Sill was a troubled soul who battled heroin addiction, served time in jail, and professed to have dabbled in prostitution to keep up her drug habit before cleaning up and becoming one of the greatest unsung folk songwriters of her day. She's an artist still beloved by other musicians and songwriters who toured with Graham Nash, wrote songs for the Turtles, and has been covered by Warren Zevon and the Hollies, among others.
While she saw some initial success with her single, "Jesus Was A Cross Maker," her ego started to get in the way. She refused to be an opening act, and couldn't generate enough interest to justify a headlining tour, and after a spat with Geffen, was dropped from Asylum. Following a series of unfortunate car accidents, Sill was left with horrific back pain requiring surgery, and doctors refused to prescribe her morphine because of her past addictions. Judee returned to heroin in an effort to manage her pain and quickly disappeared off the map--so far and fast that some of her closest friends assumed she had died as early as 1975, however, it wasn't until 1979 that she passed away from an overdose.
Judee Sill's legacy is left in two gorgeous, lush, and honest studio albums, Judee Sill and Heart Food, along with a collection of songs called Dreams Come True, posthumously collected and mastered by legendary producer and former member of Sonic Youth, Jim O'Rourke. Of these, I think Heart Food is really her masterwork (though fans would surely disagree as both her studio albums are nearly perfect), especially due to songs like "The Kiss," who's mathematical and classical influences are as clear as her talent. After years of being nearly impossible to find, Sill's catalog was reissued by Rhino in 2005.
Here's a live performance of a humbled Judee Sill performing "The Kiss" on The Old Grey Whistle Test program, which used to air in the UK:
--Alan Wiley
Benjamin Lukoff on October 04, 2008 at 10:05 PM
I love Judee Sill, and this particular performance especially. You can't get much better than "The Kiss." Thanks to Lucinda Williams for "introducing" me to her when I interviewed her for an Amazon Music You Should Hear feature three years ago.
Andy Partridge is a huge fan, too, and counts her as a major influence, which I can totally hear. This is what he said when I interviewed him in 2006: "And both those albums are... well, it's been said many times before, but she is a female Brian Wilson or he is a male Judee Sill. They're just stunningly beautiful. It's J.S. Bach with a 12-string guitar and a ready tune on her lips. She's really stunning, really stunning. Leagues away from all the other kind of corny bootheels-in-the-dust, denim-flares-California-West-Coast thing of the early '70s. She just makes them eat cactus, as far as I'm concerned. She's phenomenally good."
"The Kiss" is the most beautiful song ever written, according to Partridge, and he wrote the liner notes for the "Heart Food" reissue. The whole interview is at http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000034151 if anyone is interested.