Track Listing

1. Crayon Angels
2. Phantom Cowboy
3. Archetypal Man
4. Lamb Ran Away With The Crown
5. Lady-O
6. Jesus Was A Crossmaker
7. Ridge Rider
8. My Man On Love
9. Lopin' Along Thru The Cosmos
10. Enchanted Sky Machines
11. Abracadabra

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #84336 in Music
• Released on: 2005-09-26
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Dimensions: .24 pounds

CD Description
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'ssole single, "Jesus Was s Crossmaker"). JUDEE SILLfeatured 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.

Customer Reviews

a voice from the other side
I heard this first whilst browsing in Rough Trade. It had a very seductive immediacy. Kind of like a high. It was folky but there were other things going on. There was an enigmatic quality which led me to wander into its sound. The way Richard Manuel might beckon you as he sings Whispering Pines. This has a very strong devotional feel but oddly, given its overlooked status, a sweet popiness too. Judee manages to embrace southern gospel, country, 50s r n' b and, although it has many giveaways of the sunshine tinged californian sound of the day there is a richness that looks on past 1970. Hear the woodwind elaboration as she sings "But the lamb ran away with the crown" or "I screamed and wailed..." this is detailing of the highest order. And when she vocalises it rings with the kind of beauty you get with Karen Carpenter. This really is blessed music. It has the intensity of Keith Jarrett when he goes south cut with a strongly alluring sound of another kind of promise, that of drug experience.

There's music from the 70s I adore but I'm not really shocked it never caught on. Melissa Manchester, Paul Williams, Rupert Holmes, Cyndi Grecco. But you wonder what went wrong that Judee never enjoyed success. She has nothing of the angularity of Joni Mitchell, or Neil Young and a way of casting a song like a spell, you're sent along to some other dreamier place. So often at her highest this sounds so heartfelt you feel like crying. Everything is here. Inspired songwriting, a unique voice, a lush production that is for music what Boris Levens was to film design. By the end, on Abracadabera the finale is almost Broadway-like. In Jim O'Rourke's words, her voice 'could melt all defenses and when in harmony, could create heaven, right here on earth.'

The Lost Nightingale
After the adulation of Eva Cassidy and the continued deification of Nick Drake, is the music world ready for the next great re-discovery?

Judee Sill made only a couple of albums before drugs cut short her life, but this record is proof that her legacy should live on. it is a hauntingly beuatiful affair, with melodies that will lodge themselves in your head after only a couple of plays.

You need to get past the sub-Mamas & Papas la-di-da-ing and the irritation of too many late 60s strings poured like warm honey over some of the tracks, but the effort is worthwhile. This album will be in your CD player for weeks on end.

Try the first few bars of 'Abracadabra', gloriously enigmatic and ethereal; the unforgettable melody of 'Crayon Angels' or the punchy 'Jesus Was a Crossmaker', produced by Graham Nash. This is an album of fine songs delivered by a lady gifted with a silken voice, up there with the likes of Sandy Denny, Joni Mitchell & Eva Cassidy as one of the great female vocalists of all time. The only regret is how much more she could have produced if her life was not so cut short.

Give this album to someone you love, or better still, buy it for yourself and treasure its every note!

Judy Sill at last on CD
I do not normally write reviews but I bought this and Heartfood as LPs in the 70's and they are among my favourite albums. One of the other reviewers said they sound uninteresting at first but they sure stand repeated and repeated playing. I could not understand at the time why she was not feted as a great talent. I find a spirituality in all her work which is unusual. It's great that I can finally get CDs of both albums.