Good stuff. Thanks, Ned.
― The Ballad of Mel Cooley (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 16 March 2021 21:10 (three years ago) link
i loved this--
Another afternoon, they were laying on the deck in Sill’s backyard, right below an enormous beehive. Souther was nervous about getting stung, and Sill said, “Oh, for God’s sake,” handing him two Percodans. She welcomed the bees to land on her. “She’d talk to them and call them ‘little poo-poo face,’” Souther remembers. “The whole time she lived in that house, she’s the only one who never got bit.”
― map ca. 1890 (map), Tuesday, 16 March 2021 21:18 (three years ago) link
and the story about selling a car in mexico for heroin. she really did see it all.
― map ca. 1890 (map), Tuesday, 16 March 2021 21:23 (three years ago) link
her stepdad sounds like he was a true monster. and alcohol abuse not exactly helping anyone out.
― map ca. 1890 (map), Tuesday, 16 March 2021 21:24 (three years ago) link
that was really good. the doc will be great, i'm sure. cool anecdote from andy partridge about "the kiss" being his favorite song (and also one he can't listen to).
also, it sent me off on a nice walk down David Blue lane, like a nice parting gift
― Zach_TBD (Karl Malone), Tuesday, 16 March 2021 22:25 (three years ago) link
Hadn't seen that, thanks! I do still remember some lines from her encounter w Grover Lewis, who helped establish and maintain RS Real New Journalism cred very early on (it's also in at least one of his collections):
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/judee-sill-soldier-of-the-heart-233809/
― dow, Tuesday, 16 March 2021 23:27 (three years ago) link
It's always interesting to see the nuances of someone's life when you've only heard the outlines. Like hearing she died "a lonely junkie's death" in liner notes and shorter articles, and then seeing her eating a sandwich at a family wedding or reading about a walk with a friend she took shortly before her death. Different sides of a life that don't fit with the cliches.
― Halfway there but for you, Wednesday, 17 March 2021 00:43 (three years ago) link
Wow, what a great article. But also incredibly sad. I always hear her music as very affirmative and hopeful, but next time I listen it may have more of a bittersweet tinge.
― o. nate, Wednesday, 17 March 2021 19:11 (three years ago) link
i'll definitely watch the documentary.
definitely a major "this person should have been huge" artist, perhaps the best example of this i can think of. although seems unlikely it might have saved her.
the kiss is an all-timer for me
― himpathy with the devil (jim in vancouver), Wednesday, 17 March 2021 19:27 (three years ago) link
This is all I want to listen to atm
― Urbandn hope all ye who enter here (dog latin), Sunday, 3 October 2021 03:39 (two years ago) link
I'm lookin' so hard for a place to land,I almost forgot how to fly
― Urbandn hope all ye who enter here (dog latin), Sunday, 3 October 2021 03:42 (two years ago) link
It's all so great but here are my very favourites based on having the two albums on rotation these last two days? Anything essential I'm missing?
― Urbandn hope all ye who enter here (dog latin), Sunday, 3 October 2021 11:01 (two years ago) link
Dreams Come True is very good. Not better than the two proper albums, but I still highly recommend it if you need more Judee.
― Cow_Art, Sunday, 3 October 2021 14:37 (two years ago) link
co-sign dreams come true. "i'm over" is maybe my favorite song she did.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tx1BGIz92xQ
― things repeat forever and there never is a remedy (Austin), Sunday, 3 October 2021 15:34 (two years ago) link
I found Dreams Come True a bit of a letdown, years passed and I forgotten I'd ever heard it but I should give it another spin.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Sunday, 3 October 2021 18:21 (two years ago) link
The disc of demos/home recordings on Dreams Come True is wonderful
― J. Sam, Sunday, 3 October 2021 18:29 (two years ago) link
"Emerald River Dance" tears my heart in half every time
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tzs_QXTisyA
― Soundslike, Sunday, 3 October 2021 23:50 (two years ago) link
Apart from Dreams Come True, there's demos, alternates, and live tracks found on the CD reissues. It can all be found on Abracadabra, The Asylum Years. There's one outtake, "The Desperado," from Heart Food. Vinyl nerds can find these tracks on the Songs of Rapture and Redemption 2lp set. I'm glad I have these different versions but I never find myself reaching for them.
Live In London: The BBC Recordings is pretty good.
Chariot Of Astral Light by Tommy Peltier features Judee on some songs and while it's not bad, it does feel like the bottom of the barrel. There's a nice interview with Tommy where he talks about his relationship with Judee. I should give it another chance.
― Cow_Art, Monday, 4 October 2021 04:25 (two years ago) link
That judee sill documentary I helped out on (as music supervisor) is nearly done https://t.co/onbJqaaoD4— Pat Thomas (@PatThomas1964) July 2, 2022
― dow, Sunday, 3 July 2022 03:40 (one year ago) link
Guardian article on the new Judee Sill documentary, including a teaser trailer
― Portsmouth Bubblejet, Thursday, 24 November 2022 13:37 (one year ago) link
Is it easy to see this doc?
― Because the Nighttoad (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 30 April 2023 04:30 (one year ago) link
Just saw a young charming singer who grew up a block away from where I live who did a Judee Sill cover- while wearing a picture of Dolly Parton hanging around her neck, who she also covered- and it was great! Actually did two Judee Sill covers along with two Roches covers. Can’t now recall what the first Judee Sill tune she did was, the second was “Enchanted Sky Machines.”
― Because the Nighttoad (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 30 April 2023 04:37 (one year ago) link
That’s my kinda show
― Naive Teen Idol, Sunday, 30 April 2023 13:26 (one year ago) link
I wish it had been recorded.
― Because the Nighttoad (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 30 April 2023 14:20 (one year ago) link
One of The Roches covers was “The Hammond Song.”
― Because the Nighttoad (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 30 April 2023 14:21 (one year ago) link
I had been hoping a Martha Wainwright song would be played but added “or a song by someone related to her” and The Roches sort of count, do u see?
― Because the Nighttoad (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 30 April 2023 14:22 (one year ago) link
I didn’t even tell you about the sing-a-long encores of “Do Right Woman, Do Right Man” and the Tapestry version of “You’ve Got A Friend.”
― Because the Nighttoad (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 30 April 2023 17:09 (one year ago) link
What's her name?
― dow, Sunday, 30 April 2023 17:21 (one year ago) link
Ali Dineen. Think she has maybe one album and a few other things out now. They seem pretty good but the live experience was really something extra.
― Because the Nighttoad (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 30 April 2023 17:43 (one year ago) link
3) The artist behind this song is the phenomenally talented Ali Dineen. I was her 7th grade English teacher. So imagínate how proud I am.— Lin-Manuel Miranda (@Lin_Manuel) February 8, 2017
― curmudgeon, Sunday, 30 April 2023 18:58 (one year ago) link
Yes, apparently she went to Hunter, I guess.
― Because the Nighttoad (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 30 April 2023 19:06 (one year ago) link
I’m kind of equally if not more impressed that she has the likes of Richie Barshay playing gigs with her.
― Because the Nighttoad (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 30 April 2023 19:13 (one year ago) link
Also, there's some kind of folksy scene at a place called Jalopy House in Brooklyn that I never heard of that she seems to be associated with, some other people from that place made the journey last night from their borough to ours.
― Because the Nighttoad (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 30 April 2023 19:24 (one year ago) link
This may give you an idea about the vibe:https://www.instagram.com/p/CVWjK25jcdu/
― Because the Nighttoad (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 1 May 2023 17:51 (one year ago) link
― Because the Nighttoad (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, April 30, 2023 2:24 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink
Jalopy Theater? A lot of their programming seems a little like folk music cosplay to me, like people who exactly replicate the Sun country sound or do 60s western swing or spot on piedmont blues or stuff like that. Curious to check her out though.
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Monday, 1 May 2023 18:59 (one year ago) link
It seems like that, and maybe is like that, but what I have briefly experienced seemed to be at higher level.
― Because the Nighttoad (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 1 May 2023 19:26 (one year ago) link
Looks like the doc is finally streaming. The trailer makes it look like the kind of talking-head doc with contemporary luminaries talking about how much the subject influenced them, but I'll probably still watch it because it's Judee Sill.
― o. nate, Friday, 12 April 2024 21:17 (one month ago) link
Its really great - there is loads of brilliant archive chat with Judee, some brilliant footage , plenty of scurrilous gossip. they do the annoying animation thing but it is based on her own illustrations so they get away with it. It packs a real emotional wallop. Think its the only time i have ever cried in a cinema.
― cw, Saturday, 13 April 2024 14:14 (one month ago) link
Just finished watching. Animations, "handless" handwriting, relevant talking heads—all the music doc tropes of the last howevermany years—but I found it a pretty rich experience because the details of Judee's story were all kind of a blur in my mind, having read or picked up some things here and there over the years. It was nice to have it all in one place, crafted with love.
― ⓓⓡ (Johnny Fever), Sunday, 14 April 2024 03:51 (one month ago) link
I had learned most of the major points of her biography from the 2021 Rolling Stone article, so I knew this would be a tough watch in some ways. This filled in some missing detail, and the bits of footage were great to see, as well as the extensive written quotations (whether just from letters or if there was also a diary, it wasn't clear to me). Definitely worth a watch.
― o. nate, Monday, 22 April 2024 14:53 (one month ago) link
i feel like there used to be a personal site belonging to a childhood neighbour of judee sill where she recounted stories from when they hitchhiked together but i'm starting to wonder if i invented it.
― plax (ico), Monday, 22 April 2024 16:06 (one month ago) link
I've never heard of that, but it does sound like something she might have done. Certainly not any weirder than her more well-documented youthful hijinx like armed robbery.
― o. nate, Monday, 22 April 2024 16:24 (one month ago) link
yah it was v sweet iirc and jarred with the 'troubled' version of her omnipresent in descriptions you read
― plax (ico), Monday, 22 April 2024 16:31 (one month ago) link
this doc was v sad, i knew 90% of the fucked up shit but the gaps turned out to be very dark. some boilerplate talking head crap and rote animation to fill in narrative gaps but overall better than vast majority of rock doc imo. they kind of glossed over how such a woman with a hardscrabble upbringing could have such a great musical education to do the notation/arranging that she did but then they mentioned the well-to-do stepdad(?) who was also an abuser maybe(?) who was affluent and provided music lessons. Weirdly I ordered a Heart Food vinyl reissue just before I saw this, sounds so great. They had a good radio interview with her to intersperse within the doc but there were (AI?) fake voiceovers too, right - I get confused about what is "kosher" in docs these days?
― buzza, Friday, 10 May 2024 10:30 (two weeks ago) link
I don't think it was AI. There was a voice actor reading her diary stuff. Whoever it was did a pretty good job of imitating her voice.
― o. nate, Friday, 10 May 2024 14:42 (two weeks ago) link