Linda part of Judee Sill documentary

[eddiejinnj]

Well, I think that Rob's observation that the "Bandit" title is more reflective of the true subject/meaning of the song. I think that they (the NYT) are running scared as far as defamation with printing "even that wretched bastard"; though it was a quote. As far as Linda, her changing the title might have been to confirm/validate Judee's feelings towards the subject of the song and maybe, just maybe, to relieve some guilt on her part (whether justified/unjustified) if she in fact met J.D. at Judee's house.

eddiejinfl

[RobGNYC]

And now the JD reference is back. Including the prior link to Linda’s recording. I’m confused. Maybe it’s what Eddie said, the NY Times was checking on covering itself legally? Maybe JD had a little fit? Regardless, Judee’s comment is in the documentary.

[rick]

Here is The New York Times article as it is right now (Friday evening, April 12, 8:36 p.m. Pacific Time, and, by the way, "wretched bastard" is in the version online now) --

The Ultimate Judee Sill Primer A new documentary puts a spotlight on the ’70s musician.


The Ultimate Judee Sill Primer


A new documentary puts a spotlight on the ’70s musician. Listen to 10 of her essential songs.


By LINDSAY ZOLADZ


Dear listeners,
I first encountered the music of Judee Sill a little over a decade ago, when, on a whim at a record store, I blind-bought a reissue of her 1973 album, “Heart Food.” It’s since become a favorite of mine — an LP that somehow marries the searching spirit of Laurel Canyon folk with the technical grandeur of Bach. Finding it impossible to settle on a single descriptor of her music, Sill once called it “occult holy Western baroque gospel.” In an interview featured in the new documentary “Lost Angel: The Genius of Judee Sill” (which is now playing in New York and available to rent on various streaming platforms), she says that what she aims to capture in her songs is “that moment of redemption, where the lowest thing and the highest thing meet.”

Her life was full of those moments. By her early 20s, Sill had endured an abusive childhood and was struggling with a $150-a-day heroin addiction; one of the most succinctly characteristic facts of her youth was that she learned how to play gospel music when she was the church organist at her reform school. Following a stint in prison and the unexpected death of her only brother, she devoted herself with an almost religious fervor to becoming a great singer-songwriter.

Sill is one of those artists who should have been more commercially successful than she was, and “Lost Angel” is filled with her marquee peers — Graham Nash, Linda Ronstadt, David Crosby — praising her talents and speculating why it didn’t happen for her. Maybe she was too obstinate or self-destructive; maybe her vision was a tad too strange for middle-of-the-road record-buyers in the early ’70s. Or maybe her record company was too focused on promoting other musicians. Sill was the first new artist signed to David Geffen’s nascent Asylum Records, and when the two brilliant albums she made for the label failed to find a large audience, Geffen transformed, in her mind, from a savior to a scapegoat. It was probably some combination of all of these factors that kept her music in relative obscurity, and after a series of unfortunate accidents that once again triggered her drug habit, Sill succumbed to her addiction in 1979 and died at 35.

The two dazzling studio albums she completed during her lifetime, her 1971 self-titled debut and the even more compositionally ambitious “Heart Food,” were out of print when she died but reissued by Rhino Records in 2003. (Jim O’Rourke also mixed some of the unfinished material that Sill intended for her third album on a collection released in 2005.) The documentary features impassioned interviews with younger artists — Weyes Blood; Adrianne Lenker and Buck Meek of Big Thief — who have since discovered Sill’s music, making the case that she’s more popular and influential now than she’s ever been.

Even so, Sill is hardly a household name, so I wanted to make today’s playlist an introduction to her bewitchingly beautiful music. You’ll hear highlights from both of her albums along with a transfixing demo and recordings of two other artists, the Turtles and Nash’s first band the Hollies, interpreting her songs.

Sill believed deeply in music’s ability to comfort, transport and heal. So leave behind what ails you and, to paraphrase one of my favorite songs of hers, prepare to soar through mercury ripples of sky.

See you in my holiest dreams,

Lindsay



1. Judee Sill: “There’s a Rugged Road”
This tone-setting opening track from “Heart Food” showcases the latticework of Sill’s fingerpicking, her gently elegant way with melody and the psychedelic bent of even her folkiest material: “When the sun goes down at the right time,” she sings in a clarion voice, “she comes winding through the purple haze.”





2. Judee Sill: “Jesus Was a Cross Maker”
This was perhaps her most famous song, and almost certainly her most covered. Interviews in “Lost Angel” confirm that Sill wrote this tune about her “unhappy romance” with the singer-songwriter and future Eagles collaborator J.D. Souther. As Sill tells a live audience in one clip, “One morning I woke up and realized ‘he’s a bandit and a heartbreaker’ rhymes with ‘but Jesus was a cross maker.’ And I knew that even that wretched bastard was not beyond redemption.”





3. The Turtles: “Lady-O”
Early in her career, Sill wrote several songs for the pop-rock band the Turtles, including this melancholic folk tune that she would record herself a few years later on her debut album. Sill plays guitar and bass on this recording, and she also composed and conducted the orchestral parts.




4. Judee Sill: “The Lamb Ran Away With the Crown”
Here’s another highlight from her self-titled record. What begins as a simple folk song becomes, in its final minute, something impressively sublime thanks to a layered, unexpectedly dense arrangement that foreshadows the more sophisticated fugue form with which Sill would experiment on her next album.




5. Judee Sill: “Soldier of the Heart”
Another shoulda-been-hit, this upbeat, piano-driven number coins the perfect phrase to describe Sill’s mystic warrior outlook on life: “Soldier of the heart, how’d you get so strong?





6. Judee Sill: “Ridge Rider”
This cowboy ballad — featuring percussion that approximates a horse’s clomp — sketches out an archetype often found in Sill’s music: the romantic loner. “Bless the ridge rider, the ridge he’s riding is mighty thin,” she sings. “I guess the ridge rider forgets he’s traveling with a friend.” In a humorous moment in the documentary, three different men claim that they were the inspiration for this song.



7. Judee Sill: “The Kiss (Solo Demo)”
“I can’t decide if this is a romantic song or a holy song,” Sill said when introducing this tune to a live audience shortly after she wrote it. Her best songs are a little bit of both. The version of “The Kiss” that appears on “Heart Food” is magnificent, but I also love this solo demo version released on the rarities collection “Songs of Rapture and Redemption,” which shows the purity of Sill’s talent.




8. The Hollies: “Jesus Was a Cross Maker”
Sometimes it’s easier to appreciate the uniqueness of Sill’s voice as a songwriter when someone else is singing her songs. Sill’s own version of this single was produced by Graham Nash, and a year later his former band the Hollies released their own more ornately arranged take.




9. Judee Sill: “Lopin’ Along Thru the Cosmos”
There’s a stirring generosity of spirit about this song from the self-titled album, which finds Sill admitting with heartbreaking clarity, “I’m looking so hard for a place to land, I almost forgot how to fly.”




10. Judee Sill: “The Donor”
This eight-minute grand finale of “Heart Food” is probably the most impressive thing Sill ever composed: an intricately arranged, personal plea for God to, in Sill’s words, “give us a break,” that speaks a musical language somewhere between Bacharach and Bach. As the musician Weyes Blood marvels astutely in “Lost Angel,” “She was literally crying out to God for mercy. It’s a level of desperation and vulnerability that totally transcends a lot of the real personal songwriting that was going on at the time.” Just an astonishing piece of music.




Bonus Tracks

In 2013, I wrote a column for Pitchfork that was sort of about my first encounter with Judee Sill’s music, and also about the strange and sprawling “virtual cemetery” Find a Grave.

If you're so inclined, you can read it here:

Lindsay Zoladz' posting on Pitchfork about Judee Sill

I stand by my description of the melody of “The Kiss” being “so crystalline and palliative that, if you could drink it, it would probably cure leprosy and make you fall in love with the next person you see.”

[PoP80]

The original version by Judee Sill is so beautiful. None of the cover versions come close because of the difficult phrasing. Judee's version is melodic and the lyrics flow, whereas the others, including Linda's sound too choppy (IMHO). 

[cymru56]

I have been entranced by Judee's songs since first hearing them live on the BBC in 1972. Although her albums are excellent there is a slight tendency to overproduction and the purity of her live performances is lost by the double tracking on several songs. I much prefer live versions of "Jesus...." and "The Kiss" on the Rarities album on YouTube and her performance of "The Kiss" from "The Old Grey Whistle Test" in 1973 (also on YT) has lodged in my memory since I saw it when originally broadcast.

[rick]

A Judee Sill Documentary Ensures Her Musical Genius Won't Be Forgotten

[eddiejinnj]

I wonder if the Linda quote is out of context and if so by how much? On the surface, it seems like a somewhat cold "objective" comment on the situation. It is fortunate for Linda that her music had taken root so to speak before she went to Asylum.

eddiejinfl

[PoP80]

Linda's comment is realistic in stating that Judee's music wasn't commercial or mainstream enough to sell records at that time. Music is a business first and foremost. It's not taking anything away from her talent as a singer or songwriter. Indie artists became more marketable later on and Judee was ahead of her time in that respect. I'm glad she's being recognized however late it might be at this point.

[eddiejinnj]

Also, it depends on when Linda said this. If it is in the historical context such as Pop presents, then her analysis can be perceived as such.

eddiejinfl

[PoP80]

www.dailynews.com/2024/04/09/judee-sill-died-in-obscurity-a-new-film-says-the-la-musician-was-one-of-the-greats/

Interesting remarks by Shawn Colvin, who is a longtime admirer of Judee Sill's music.

[eddiejinnj]

MAYBE, one thing that can be said of Capitol re: Linda is that they gave her enough poetic license and time artistically. I guess one big difference between the early scenarios of their respective careers was that Linda did have 2 hits on her group's sophomore album and her solo one. The record company allowed such license as she had commercial potential and hung in there with Linda. eddiejinfl

[MokyWI]

I rented it from Amazon, watching now, almost through it. Very well done. More Linda than I was expecting.

[eddiejinnj]

Wow, cool you got to watch it, moky. Am glad Linda is in it as much as she is. Did they show JD's friendship with Sill after breakup as the newest article above says. It would be good history to know especially if she was around when JD and Linda were working.

eddiejinfl

[MokyWI]

Apr 14, 2024 17:40:48 GMT -5 eddiejinnj said:

Wow, cool you got to watch it, moky. Am glad Linda is in it as much as she is. Did they show JD's friendship with Sill after breakup as the newest article above says. It would be good history to know especially if she was around when JD and Linda were working.

eddiejinfl

Linda and JD speak the most outside of friends/family. Lots of Jackson and Nash…David Geffen. Most of the clips of JD, Jackson, Nash comments are from a good ten years ago, you don’t see Linda but her voice is from a while ago.

[rick]

A review of the documentary from The Wall Street Journal (via MSN) --


‘Lost Angel: The Genius of Judee Sill’ Review: A Forgotten Singer of the ’70s

[mused]

who holds her publishing now I wonder???

[RobGNYC]

“more chops than anyone other than Brian Wilson”—from Linda, there’s no higher praise.

[musedeva]

Apr 15, 2024 15:34:06 GMT -5 RobGNYC said:

“more chops than anyone other than Brian Wilson”—from Linda, there’s no higher praise.

Agreed!  That's incredulous......really sad Linda didn't record more of her stuff

I'm going to try to watch this now on Amazon? I think

[musedeva]

Oh WOW!! well watching all that sure brought a full circle ......kinda speechless after seeing that.....Judee was WAY ahead of her time.....she was new age right at the bloom

...the sad part was her isolation and longing....the fact she wrote and shared so much by her journals and interviews that is along with her SONGS...such a GIFT!!!

wow! and that Geffen got it right away...he knew her gift....very very sad


......the evil of drugs and interpersonal loss......

this totally reveals how Linda really tried to help her,,,,I'm sure if they could of gotten thru that session Linda would of recorded alot more of her stuff.....what a diff that would of made....


she took it to the edge,,,,,meaning to come back for more
but there was nothing more to come back to

[RobGNYC]

One-week run in NYC ends tomorrow (apparently it won't be extended) so I went to see it today at IFC Center, West Village. Extraordinary story. I had no idea that she was such a brilliant musician. One of my favorite images was of her conducting her own orchestral sessions (she insisted on having a baton). Linda speaks as much as, maybe more than, anyone else in the documentary. Although they worked together directly only once, on Linda's "Bandit and a Heartbreaker" session, it sounds like Linda saw Judee live many times, like at the Troubadour, enough to be able to comment on how she liked to watch Judee's thumb (guitar) and left hand (piano). Also, Judee went to one of Linda's recording sessions when JD was there, sometime in 1974-75. The film left me wanting more details on the "Bandit" session--Linda says that she couldn't do the song without Judee there but that Judee was basically incapacitated by drugs at the session and "we moved on to another song." But somehow it got finished and appears on Linda's Box Set.

Linda is the first name in the interview credits on the poster:


  

[eddiejinnj]

Now, I would like that poster, lol!!! What year did we say that Linda recorded "Bandit? eddiejinfl

[RobGNYC]

The recording date is in the Box Set credits if someone could please check it—I don’t have a copy and the Discogs photos are too blurry.

[Biff McFly]

Recorded in March 1989. Mixed by George Massenburg in 1999.

[rick]

Wikipedia says Judee Sill died in 1979. Linda recorded “Bandit,” which on box set chronologically fits time-wise with “Cry Like a Rainstorm.” So, maybe Linda worked on the reworking of the song with Judee during the 1970s, but Linda didn’t record the studio version we know until well after Judee’s death.

[RobGNYC]

Linda’s “Bandit” history and her comments in the film make me wonder if any of the session with Judee is in the Warner/Elektra/Asylum vaults or if it was all scrapped at the time (best I can estimate from the film timeline, the session was sometime in 1979. Judee died in November.)

I forgot to mention that the film shows one of Judee’s journal entries—“Write songs for Linda Ronstadt to record.”

[eddiejinnj]

I had a feeling that it was recorded much later. They probably worked on the song but maybe they couldn't complete it if Judee wasn't doing well!!!
Thanks, rob, for the journal entry info. eddiejinfl

[musedeva]

Apr 14, 2024 6:53:45 GMT -5 eddiejinnj said:

I wonder if the Linda quote is out of context and if so by how much? On the surface, it seems like a somewhat cold "objective" comment on the situation. It is fortunate for Linda that her music had taken root so to speak before she went to Asylum.

eddiejinfl

it certainly is "out of context" when you see the film and EVERYTHING else Linda says!!!  when I first heard the "clip"...I thought that was basically Linda's commentary about Judee!!

NO!  She was going to bat for Judee and pulling her into her session work.....drugs are so F'd up

that film really really shows...if your someone willing to "observe" ....how a recovering addict can back slide

and backslide bad

Judee had everything going for her...on Steroids...she got P'd cuz she thought she wasn't being financed appropriately to be "Huge" ...well unfortunately

that's biz....and her songs were for the intelligentisia!! or something akin...i.e. ya gottah spend some time to appreciate

she just didn't have the look to pull em in without testing the waters...so to speak....sorry to say it...but the money gets invested on talent and appeal

Linda had respectful, timely and present appreciation for Judee and tried to make a difference...the initial soundclip didn't mirror that,,,,I am really glad I purchased the vid and I am really excited to try some of those tracks myself!!

Long Live Judee Sill!   Rebel with a Cause

[RobGNYC]

In the contents list next to this topic, what does the little open-book symbol mean? I don’t recall seeing it before.