A greatly underrated singer-songwriter who wrote great songs and died far too young.
Judee Sill - Judee Sill
01 - Crayon Angels
02 - The Phantom Cowboy
03 - The Archetypal Man
04 - The Lamb Ran Away With the Crown
05 - Lady-O
06 - Jesus Was A Cross Maker
07 - Ridge Rider
08 - My Man On Love
09 - Lopin' Along Thrue The Cosmos
10 - Enchanted Sky Machines
11 - Abracadabra
Bonus Tracks
12 - The Pearl (original version)
13 - The Phoenix (original version)
14 - Intro/The Vigilante (live)
15 - Lady-O (live)
16 - Enchanted Sky Machines (live)
17 - The Archetypal Man (live)
18 - Crayon Angels (live)
19 - The Lamb Ran Away With the Crown (live)
20 - Jesus Was A Cross Maker (live)
21 - Jesus Was A Cross Maker (home demo)
Tracks 1-11: from the album 'Judee Sill' released on Asylum in 1971
Tracks 12 & 13: finished outtakes from 'Judee Sill'
Tracks 14-20: recorded 'live' at 'Boston Music Hall', October 3, 1971
Track 21: previously unissued
Taken from the CD on Rhino Handmade
AMG Biography by Alex Stimmel
A singer/songwriter with deeply religious overtones and a penchant for the occult, Judee Sill is one of rock's more interesting and lesser-known stories. The daughter of old Hollywood money, Sill's father died when she was just a child, and her brother died in a car crash soon after, leading to a bleak outlook on life that she expressed in an arty, disaffected attitude. She disliked her stepfather and condemned her mother for remarrying; as a quiet form of vengeance, Sill set out to travel America and live a rambling lifestyle. She had been interested in playing music although was seemingly not serious about it until she began her travels, playing small coffee houses and dives for fun. She and her friends had always been into drugs for recreational and exploratory use, but as Sill stayed out on the road she began using heroin regularly, eventually developing a hundred-fifty-dollar-a-day habit. It was rumored (partly by Sill herself, although never confirmed) that she at one time had to prostitute herself in order to support her addiction.
In the late '60s Sill was busted for heroin possession and served three months in prison, during which time she was able to kick her habit; when she returned to the world at large, she focused solely on making music. She returned to Los Angeles where, through her Hollywood connections, she was introduced to David Geffen. Geffen was in the process of creating Asylum Records, which was to focus exclusively on non-rock material. Taken by Sill's abilities as a writer and performer, Geffen immediately signed her to Asylum; her self-titled debut was also the first official release for the new label.
It was through Geffen that she met Graham Nash, who quickly became a fan, and produced the first single for her album, "Jesus Was a Cross Maker." The rest of Judee Sill was orchestrated and produced by Bob Harris, Sill's ex-husband. Judee Sill was released in 1971 to immediate acclaim. Lushly orchestrated, the album featured Sill's voice in multiple overdubs, often in a four-part chorale or fugue. The album fit in well with the light rock/folk-rock underpinnings of what came to be known as the "Laurel Canyon sound" associated with other female singer/songwriters such as Carole King and Joni Mitchell (Mitchell, also signed to Asylum, was at work on Ladies of the Canyon at the time, which was also produced by Bob Harris). A tour as the opening act for Nash and David Crosby exposed her intimate songwriting and skillful guitar playing to a larger audience, but her record failed to make much of an impact, despite the somewhat heavy airplay of "Jesus Was a Cross Maker." A self-professed perfectionist, one song could often take her a year to write, and it wasn't until late 1972 that Sill returned to record and release her second and last album, Heart Food. It too received enthusiastic reviews but did poorly commercially. Sill took over the chores of both orchestrating and arranging Heart Food, with the production relying more heavily on multilayered strings and lush expanse. Unable to draw a sizable crowd yet unwilling to play as a support act, Sill's name and moderate fame both receded, and she disappeared from view entirely. Rumors abound as to what happened next, although it is definitely known that she returned to her heroin addiction as well as becoming heavily involved with cocaine. Graham Nash has said that he learned as early as 1974 that Sill had died of an overdose, a claim that would later prove to be incorrect, but considering how closely the two had worked only a few years earlier it does illustrate just how completely Sill had dropped out by this time. She never managed a second return from the abyss and Judee Sill, age 35, died of a drug overdose in November of 1979.
AMG Review by Alex Stimmel
Judee Sill's debut album (as well as the debut of the Asylum label) heralded a major new talent in the airy, contemporary folk world of the early '70s. The album employed the production skills of Sill's ex-husband Bob Harris, as well as ex-Turtle, ex-Leaves Jim Pons, and Graham Nash (on the album's sole single, "Jesus Was s Crossmaker"). Judee Sill featured all original compositions, many of which relied on Sill's own brand of cosmological Christian imagery to make their point. By turns spare and lavishly orchestrated, there is still a cohesive feel to all of the album; her lyrics are exceptionally poetic (to the point of being almost flowery) and her voice is smooth enough to bear heavy overdubbing with itself, giving every song a shimmery feel. The essence of the music is folk, the execution pop: the songs feel like a comfort blanket, a statement of hope from a troubled soul.
Review from Rhino Website
Judee Sill was a true original. A singer-songwriter with a wealth of influences and a fascination with religion, she referred to her work as "country-cult-baroque." She was the first artist signed to David Geffen's Asylum label, and, along with Joni Mitchell and Carole King, exemplified the breezy "Laurel Canyon Sound" of the early '70s. Sill scored moderate hits with "Lady-O" (originally written for The Turtles) and "Jesus Was A Cross Maker" and released two albums -- 1971's Judee Sill and 1973's Heart Food -- before suffering chronic pain and eventually dying of a drug overdose at age 35.
Sill grew up in Oakland, California, and began playing piano at age three. A troubled family life and brushes with the law landed her in reform school, where, as church organist, she developed the gospel style that would characterize her future recordings. After a stint in college and three down-and-out years of addiction, she cleaned up and began work on her dream of becoming a songwriter. She spent a short time penning songs for The Turtles' production company before signing her own deal with Asylum.
For her self-titled debut, Sill gathered a production team that included Jim Pons and John Beck of The Leaves, as well as engineer/producer Henry Lewy, known for his work with Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, The Flying Burrito Brothers, and Leonard Cohen. Her guitar playing provides the foundation for most of the songs, joined by various combinations of pedal steel, strings, and brass. "Jesus Was A Cross Maker," built on a bed of Sill's gospel-flavored piano, was produced by Graham Nash and crafted as a single. Rich with cosmic imagery and ambiguously spiritual lyrics, the songs on Judee Sill often blur the line between the earthly and the divine.
This Rhino Handmade release of Judee Sill has been remastered from original source materials and expanded with ten bonus tracks. "The Pearl" and "The Phoenix," which appear in more produced versions on Sill's second album, Heart Food, are included here in their original form. Also included are a home demo of "Jesus Was A Cross Maker" and a complete October 1971 performance at the Boston Music Hall.
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