Judee Sill Album Reviews

1970s singer-songwriter Judee Sill was the first artist signed to David Geffen’s Asylum record label. But she had a troubled life; after her father died, her relationship with her stepfather was difficult, and she slipped into a life of crime. After she was arrested for armed robbery, she was sent to reform school, where she learnt about gospel music and served as a church organist. After a stint in jail, she became a professional songwriter, providing material for The Turtles, and with the support of Graham Nash, she was able to release her debut album in 1971.

But Sill’s unique, Bach-influenced music failed to break through into the mainstream, and she was dropped from Geffen’s label after frustration at the lack of success of her sophomore album Heart Food. She drifted away from music, working as a cartoonist. She died young in 1979 after overdosing on painkillers prescribed for her back, which was injured in an earlier car accident.

While she has always been a peripheral figure, she’s had enough shout-outs from fellow musicians that her profile has increased recently – Warren Zevon covered ‘Jesus Was A Cross Maker’ in 1995, Jim O’Rourke produced Dreams Come True, a posthumous collection of material, while musicians as diverse as Andy Partridge and Liz Phair have acknowledged her influence. As a female singer-songwriter operating in the early 1970s, other introspective artists like Joni Mitchell and Laura Nyro are reference points. Sill has her own musical niche, however; she accompanied herself in four-part chorale or fugue, while her influence from Bach and frequent use of religious imagery are also distinctive.

Judee Sill

judee-sill-debut

1971, 8.5/10
Judee Sill had built up a catalogue of material while working as a songwriter for The Turtles’ publishing company, Blimp Music. Her debut record was the first album released on David Geffen’s Asylum label and is mostly produced by Joni Mitchell’s longtime engineer Henry Lewy. The exception is the single ‘Jesus Was A Cross Maker’, produced by Graham Nash, which is noticeably more direct and punchy than the rest of the record. The rest of the material is spacier, with no rhythm section, and Sill accompanying herself, mostly on acoustic guitar, backed by strings and her own multi-tracked vocal harmonies.

As good as the rest of the record is, ‘Jesus Was A Cross Maker’ towers over the rest of the album – written about Sill’s relationship with Eagles associate JD Souther, the propulsion from the rhythm section and the pretty tune make it stand out, and it’s wise that it’s tucked away in the middle of the record. But there’s other lovely material – songs like ‘Crayon Angels’ and ‘The Lamb Ran Away With The Crown’ are pretty and filled with interesting imagery.

One all-time great and lots of solid album tracks make Judee Sill an excellent debut from a fascinating and unique singer-songwriter.


Heart Food

judee-sill-heartfood

1973, 8/10
Judee Sill disliked touring as an opening act, and she was unable to take her career further with Heart Food. The album received strong reviews, but poor sales, and she lacked the resilience to deal with the album’s failure. Sill produced and arranged the album herself, and it’s fuller sounding than her debut but generally similar.

It’s similar to Judee Sill in that there are lots of solid album tracks and one standout tune. This time, it’s the extraordinary closing track, ‘The Donor’, a haunting eight-minute meditation based on the traditional Church piece “Kyrie Eleison”, featuring complex multi-tracked vocals from Sill. It’s an overlooked masterpiece. There’s also the beauty of ‘The Kiss’ and ‘When The Bridegroom Comes’, and the more pop-oriented feel of ‘Soldier of the Heart’.

Sadly Heart Food was Sill’s last studio album – she abandoned her third album, and largely lost interest in music, working as a cartoonist instead.


Dreams Come True

judee-sill-dreams-come-true

2005, 7/10
Sill only recorded two albums during her lifetime. As interest in Sill’s work grew in the 21st century, producer Jim O’Rourke cleaned up an aborted third album that Sill had recorded in Mike Nesmith’s studio in early 1974. Dreams Come True also features a second disc of rarities and home demos, albeit often with primitive sound quality. It’s clearly a step below Sill’s two completed albums, but her discography is so small that any addition is welcome. Former Byrd Kevin Kelley is on drums, while Tommy Peltier is on guitar.

These songs aren’t complete – they’re merely studio demos, not yet given full arrangements – in particular, Sill doesn’t apply her Bach-inspired multipart harmonies to these songs. But there’s strong material nonetheless – opener ‘That’s The Spirit’ features a lovely baroque piano riff, while ‘Til Dreams Come True’ is elegant and hymn-like. It’s more bluesy than Sill’s first two records, with her piano driving ‘The Living End’. The second disc is patchier – the second half is mostly covers – but songs like ‘Waterfall’ are strong despite the primitive sound.

It’s not a lost masterpiece, but Dreams Come True is a welcome appendix to Sill’s discography.

10 Best Judee Sill Songs

The Donor
Jesus Was A Cross Maker
The Kiss
The Lamb Ran Away With The Crown
Crayon Angels
That’s The Spirit
When The Bridegroom Comes
Enchanted Sky Machines
Soldier of the Heart
Waterfall

Back to 1970s Album Reviews….

4 Comments

  1. Her ideology was absolutely horrifying. It was just full of religious vengefulness and vindictiveness, but I like a couple of her songs.

  2. I appreciate these reviews, and I agree with your comments on both albums. I thought you might like to know a little about Dreams Come True, as I own a copy of it. It is a mixed bag.

    The good: The eight songs that make up the unfinished album are fully produced and are very high in quality. They are bouncy and energetic, as Judee plays piano and is accompanied by other musicians. The first song, “That’s The Spirit,” sounds a little tentative, but it is still good, and after that Judee just grooves along with total confidence. The more uptempo numbers remind me a bit of “I Feel The Earth Move” by Carole King. It is the most accessible batch of songs that Judee ever recorded and the easiest to listen to. The package includes a large booklet full of comments from people who knew her. It is a choppy read, but it’s interesting. There are a few good pictures of Judee at various stages of her life.

    The not-so-good: Aside from those eight excellent tracks, which total less than 27 minutes, the only other song worth listening to in this two-CD set is a pretty acoustic guitar ballad called “Waterfall, which is like a throwback to her debut album. The other tracks are rough recordings with guide vocals, and on some of them she sings the vocals without melody, which makes them basically unlistenable. Also, the packaging, although generous, is overly complex. The booklet and the slipcase for the CDs are two separate pieces. This is the only item in my CD collection that is not self-contained. The track listings are buried in the booklet rather than being displayed in a handy location. As you listen, you will keep having to leaf through the booklet to relocate the track listings.

    Overall, I do think Dreams Come True is worth owning if you like Judee Sill’s first two albums. It is a really good mini-album that shows off a different facet of her talents and significantly adds to her legacy.

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Aphoristic Album Reviews is almost entirely written by one person. It features album reviews and blog posts across a growing spectrum of popular music.

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Graham Fyfe has been writing this website since his late teens. Now in his forties, he's been obsessively listening to albums for years. He works as a web editor and plays the piano.

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