She went to my high school and graduated with my older brother. She sang at our school coffeehouse when she was a senior and I was a sophomore. When her song ended, you could have heard a pin drop, and then the place erupted! My brother saw her last concert done locally near our home. She was so weak she could hardly walk on stage, but she didn't want to stop singing 😢
I'd be willing to wager a fair sum that those 'breaks' in her sustain were due to the rather astonishing fact that SHE HAD A COLD when she did this performance. Think about that for a moment. Simply incredible.
I’ve never been able to make it through this song and several others of hers without crying. She does an amazing version of Sting’s “Fields of Gold”. The first time Sting heard her version was when a journalist played it for him, during an interview and he was brought to tears. Eva had the extraordinary ability to convey so much emotion with her voice.
By the time she hits the 4th guitar note, I am releasing joyful tears of anticipation of being moved to a sacred place of worship. If I try to listen to this more than 3 times in a row, my entire being has been drained of every drop of moisture it can hold. This incredible performer should have been a household name on everyone's list since back in 1996 where she did this live very shortly before she died of cancer at the young age of 33. It is almost as if she sang her heart to death as a last gift to the World! How is it even possible that so many of us are just receiving the gift. Thankyou RUclips Reaction videos for bringing this Eternally Joyful gift to a World that can be deaf to true talent, AMEN and AMEN
@@Lela-plants Es cierto lo que usted dice, Eva Cassidy hace una enorme versión de fields of gold, y de tantas canciones, es una cantante conmovedora, échele un vistazo también a la versión de fields of gold de Sean Keane, también es emocionante y diferente
Played this song for my Father on his Death bed and again at his Funeral. I like to think her angelic voice escorted him on his way. RIP Dad. I miss you.
Beth, one of the many things that make Eva so great here is her guitar accompaniment. I have never heard a solo artist accompany herself in such a flowing yet changing way that allowed room for the varying emotions she was feeling. And yet, the guitar often seamlessly emphasized her emotions without getting in the way. What a gift to the world! 🙏
@@SRPM-yk9xw I'm not sure what you meant by that comment, but I do know that listening to great music like this has made it easier for me to express what I feel about it. Bless you as well!
Around the the turn of the century a friend gave me her album 'Songbird'. By the time I got to this song, the last on that exquisite CD, I had already nearly fallen out my chair several times. It was a few days later I found out she had passed away years prior. I was saddened to say the least. Eva remains one of the truly greatest singers of all time. Thanks so much for the thoughtful reaction.
This performance was recorded only 7 or 8 months before she passed. In this song. when you look at it now and hear her singing it, it sounds as her farewell song. as if she already knew she would not not be here for a long time anymore. It will give me chills ans goosebumps forever. This is the ultimate version of the song. Eva, forever in our hearts. ❤
I'm so glad you finally got to Eva. She was amazing. I first heard of her when several of us - a bunch of guys in their late forties who had spent their lives playing mainly rock and blues - got together for a practice. One of us had picked up her Songbird album and said "You've got to hear this." No practice that evening. We listened to the entire album, mostly not speaking at all, then spent the rest of the evening talking about it.
Just the phrasing alone is genius, And the rest. Power, tenderness, yearning, regret, hope, it's all there. A unique and very special achievement. Thanks for bringing this remarkable performance and magnificent work of art back to us, Beth. Eva was such a loss.
Eva is one of the most amazing vocalists and song interpreters of all time, IMO. Her crystal clear soprano combines with a pitch perfect delivery to deliver all the feels (as the kids say). She covered all the genres with equal perfection. Another fantastic cover by her is Sting's "Fields Of Gold". Sting himself said it was the best version of his song he had heard. My third favourite is her rendition of "Songbird".
Beth, I had the very same reaction to this performance the first time I witnessed it. It can still bring tears to my eyes. I also love her cover of Cyndi Lauper’s Time After Time.
You have just witnessed what I consider to be the finest rendition of this song ever recorded. There are a few good ones but I don't think anything beats this. She has quite a few other recordings on her RUclips channel that are worth viewing. There's nothing more I can say. Wonderful reaction.
Such fragility and vulnerability in her performance. Her crystal clear voice delivers so much emotions, I can't help but tear up every time I see this...gone too soon.
When a great singer is taken from us prematurely it makes them all the more great , Eva,sandy Denny , Janis Joplin,Amy winehouse,mama Cass all had so much more to give and offer and all missed
this performance is in a bar.....setting.... her guitar is impeccable the production value for the times is remarkable ....the current times are lacking exalting images ....it kills the soul
my thoughts exactly.....never really cared for the song (bruddah IZ 's version was good), but hearing her performance reduced me to an emotional wreck.....what a stunningly beautiful song, and what an exquisite artist she was. Her untimely passing was a terrible loss for the world.......for she was one those beings who brought light to the world......her talent and her beautiful soul were so luminuous that they shine just as brightly all these years later....
Beth, in the late 1990's I was watching a news show, and they had a segment in Eva. I was totally mesmerized by her voice and her story, and I must admit, I shed a few tears. The next day, I went out and bought several of her CD's and I fell in love with her amazing voice. Just now, watching you listening to her sing, I shed a few more tears...tears of joy, that we both are so lucky to have discovered Eva Cassidy's magic. Thank you for featuring her on this video.
I love and will always love Judy garland but eva I think is as much a classic as that original masterpiece. Because they're both iconic. Many forget in wizard of Oz was set in depression era Kansas or just prior, but it was tough living. Dorothy was an orphan, a mean woman tried to kill her dog. She sang this song from that fervent wish everyone has to escape darkness that we live in. It's not meant to be sunshine and roses. But Judys version really became the fantasy of heaven and happiness. Eva I think captured the real core of this song, the suffering and hardship we endure but dream of escaping from, at least for a little while. If there is a heavan, if there is any consciousness after we die, I hope she knows now how absolutely amazing she was. And maybe duet with miss Judy.
I grew up in the DC area and saw her perform many times, a lot of musicians got together and gave a benefit concert at a club called "The Bayou" in Georgetown, DC, to raise money for her medical bills, she was in attendance and at the end she was helped out on stage and sang, the song she performed was "What a Wonderful World" a few weeks later she was gone
She went to my high school and graduated with my older brother. He and my sister were at that concert, too, and by the end of the night they were gutted by all the sadness😢
@@larrywright6214 I love Lucy's cover. It is a tribute to Eva. I think Eva would have appreciated that. Lucy always honors the people she covers. I lived in D.C. when Eva was in the dives there. Never saw her there though. I really regret that. So very sad that she was taken so early. But I am told a large cult following grew up around her in England after her death.
I cannot imagine what it must have been like to BE THERE, at Blues Alley, on January 3, 1996, when all these unbelievable hit covers were recorded. Would LOVE to hear from anyone who was there, because I consider this to be the greatest single night of vocals in all of human history. I would give the last year of my life to be transported back to that night, to hear it live.
I got my Mom into Eva Cassidy and she passed it on to the rest of the family. She's a hidden gem that people discover and are blown away by her. Amazing.
I think of her vocal affect more as wistful than tender. This puts places her interpretation perfectly in line with the 1930s composer intent. They wanted to convey hope for relief and happier future for a public being smashed by the Great Depression. Most faithful and beautiful interpretation of this classic in my view.
Each time I watch this performance I can’t get through it without tears in my eyes. Her voice is spectacular, yet so controlled. The guitar playing is just perfect! What breaks me every time is knowing she would pass away just a short 9 months later. Eva died from melanoma which had metastasized and eventually was in her lungs. Such a loss💔💔. Thanks your this review!
Exquisitely tender. Such an arrangement with a lovely conversation between her voice and guitar. Almost a jazz feel. Your explanation of why it is so heartfelt and honest was also exquisite.
Eva had the perfect combination of awesome control, tone, style and phrasing and when you add in her incredible arrangements and guitar playing, it makes her music magical and mesmerizing. This song in particular always makes me tear up. It's a huge tragedy that she died just a few months after this was recorded from metastatic melanoma.
I think this performance demonstrates perfectly that, delicate, emotional and dynamic can be just as in your face as harsh and brash. There is no better performance of this song that I've heard.
This performance was basically a cover band in a bar in Washington, DC. I've been in alot of those kind of bars, both as a drinker and as a musician/singer. It's always a din of noise; usually no one pays attention to the "background music". But for this entire hour-long performance you could hear a pin drop in the audience. And thank God! Can you imagine if this performance had been lost because of poor recording conditions?! Eva is a gif to humankind.
Eva’s voice is so beautiful and dynamic. Her version of the blues song Stormy Monday from this same concert is quite lively and fun. Thanks for keeping Eva’s music alive.
It's literally goosebumps in a bottle. Like, I can not think of any other artist or person that guaranteed gives me goosebumps when I listen to them, but it's just automatic with her... I always get them
It was on a Cancer Research advert in the UK back in the days my grandad had cancer, when I was super young. I always link it back to that now, and it destroys me. Still love the song, it’s gorgeous
I cannot listen to her version of this song without getting tears in my eyes. It is pure magic, the way she pulls you in. Strength, vulnerability, beauty, longing, she embodies it all. It's like she creates a world where it's just her and you, the listener, and you're having the most intimate and tender moment. An amazing talent, gone too soon.
Yes, good reaction, she was such a real artist...very unrated her whole life...glad we can still hear her wonderful songs and covers...a unique and special voice...:)
My favourite singer. I heard her music for the first time few months after her passing.. my gf at the time sent me mp3 of her songs. This song and Autumn Leaves or pretty all the covers she did live via 'Blues Alley Jazz Supper Club' I love listening to. When this video came out and seeing her play the guitar.. it made appreciate her so much more. Tori Amos with her piano.. Karen C with her drums... and now Eva with her guitar. RIP - Gordon Lightfoot (glad you did a reaction to this Canadain legend)
I've lobbied online for Eva Cassidy to receive multiple awards: a Grammy for (Over the Rainbow, Fields of Gold, Songbird, My Love is Like A Red, Red Rose), a CMA Award for (Tennessee Waltz, Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain, Penny To My Name), Jazz or Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for (Still Not Ready, San Francisco Bay Blues, Woodstock), or a Dove Award for (How Can I Keep From Singing, Way Beyond the Blue, People Get Ready). Something, my God, but apparently the clueless music industry does not know who she is, or either is still trying to categorize Eva Cassidy. It seems simple enough to me for them (music award powers-that-be) to create a "Multi-Genre Artist Award" and let Eva be the first to receive it posthumously. All of today's greatest singers know Eva is the Holy Grail of Vocalist. Even Adele said she used to rush home from school to listen to Eva Cassidy. It's time, people!!!
When the Eva Cassidy phenomenon broke, I remember reading an article that told the story of a guy playing this over the phone for his parents. His dad had often given the guy a hard time for liking softer, folky, touchy-feely music because the dad was more into straight macho rock. So the guy played the song and then asked what the parents thought. Mom loved it. The guy asked, "Dad?" And Mom said, "He's crying."
@seanbarry7378 : Thanks for pointing out that Eva's head cold prevented her from being 100% that evening and which surely would have got her "Irish up!" at not being able to perform to what she considered to be her usual standards. Regardless, she was absolutely magnificent.
a single frame of your reaction showed your expression that matched hers, i searched and found many so know that ur heart showed like hers in this. Pure Heart felt can only explain it no other, kinda like when someone says "what can I say". I't the heart not just the song and many do get it we just don't know or refuse to get what it is.
Of all the performances out there, this is the one I've listened to the most often. Despite the dozens of times I've heard this, I find myself in tears once again.
I bought one of her records a few years ago without having listening to any of her songs, just from what I had read. I was blown away by how she communicates with her voice. Love your videos, and your emotional reactions make them even more authentic :)
Eva performed several acoustic songs. As I feel and hear this - her Over The Rainbow - she stands so high above every other person who has tried to cover the song by making it her journey. She takes us, her audience, on her journey as individual confidants. She goes to a place inside that I imagine not many are allowed to view. It took a few times of listening to discover this is a duet. After I got to the acceptance of how pure and heartfelt her singing is, I realized her guitar was her singing partner, singing warmly, in euphonious chorus with her. Her Guild and her touch on its strings are, indeed, her duet partner. No accompanist could have done the same. Nobody will ever be able to reach the depths of my soul such as Eva did with her journey Over The Rainbow.
That album Songbird is a absolute gem. A classic that will stand the test of time, a legacy left by a amazing artist who died much too soon afterwards.
i've listened to this for years now and really appreciated your reaction. she's the first vocalist to really get me to listen to "danny boy" and understand all of the tragedy in it. a terrible shame that she's gone, but one of her albums "i can only be me" has just been paired with the london symphony orchestra and it's magic...
Thank you for introducing Eva Cassidy to many who missed the brilliant but fleeting shooting star who sang like an angel. I myself was introduced to her music only a few years ago and that was by chance when I heard a trumpet player (Alison Balsom) on RUclips play Eva Cassidy’s Autumn Leaves. I was so mesmerized by the music, even before I heard Eva Cassidy’s voice, that I had to find out who Eva Cassidy was. Imagine when I heard what I feel is possibly one of the greatest songs ever sung. Your audience needs to hear Autumn Leaves by Eva Cassidy. It is magical!
Ahhh Beth. I have never heard of this lady before. Wow wow. I started listening to your reaction and quickly it was click, is there karaoke available, then other songs of evas and finally 5 hours later I came back to you to finish listening to your reaction. What a musician Eva was with mastery of both the guitar and her voice. Last week it was Ren, Beth Hart a few months ago. The world is just full of amazing artists that we would never get to hear if not for things like you tube.
Hi Beth! First time seeing you and I just subbed. You have so many lovely qualities and I know I will be checking out your future reactions. I do not think crying while listening to Eva sing is very unusual. She brings years to my eyes often. Her voice is incredible- so sweet, sincere, clear, and delicate. I don't think anyone will ever top her performance of this very iconic song. It is hers alone. Thanks for letting me hear this again. Take care.🤗🌈
She floated like a feather in a beautiful world, thanks to Thom Yorke. Maybe he heared that rendition before writing these wonderful words. She was just unbelievable...love to her, everywhere she can be.
One of the best breakdowns of this song. As you point out so well: It's one thing to have total control over your tone & pitch. It's another thing to let that control break at just the right moment... Exquisite.
Eva had the most beautiful voice.ive never heard a woman with a more beautiful voice thank you for putting this on your u tube people needs to know what a talent she has.golden needle one of my favorites.😊
I’m not afraid to say that this performance always leaves me in tears. What a great artist she was, and still is. Thank you for your reaction Beth. Be well.
Such talent and it’s sad she died so young and it’s really awful that she never received recognition when she was alive and is now famous since she passed, it’s sorta sounds like she knew she was passing, another great cover she did was Fields of Gold
That was a truly beautiful reaction to an equally beautiful rendition of this song. You're right in saying it's her creative interpretation of the chord structure, melody line and then the build - ohhh! Such a bittersweet performance because we were blessed with her presence but then knowing she is no longer with us to further enjoy her music. x
A perfect performance. What especially gets me every time is the way she sets the whole song to build up to the phrase, "and the dreams that you dare to dream REALLY DO come true." Then, to top it off, so quietly, "If happy little bluebirds fly above the rainbow why, oh why, can't I." Such hope, and then resignation. Heartbreaking.
Makes you cry? I started crying when I saw the title of the video. This version of this song has such DEEP resonating memories for me. It is a masterpiece.
I discovered Eva years ago and I was so touched and mesmerized by her voice and the way that she put her emotions into her songs. One of my other favorites is Songbird. RIP sweet soul Eva ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
I have watched I don't know how many reaction videos of Ava, I believe yours is the best I've ever seen or heard. The insight, enjoyment, respect that you expressed is amazing and greatly appreciated. Thank you so much.
Gone too soon, and the world is diminished by her passing. I grew up in the county next to Eva's. Sadly, I didn't discover her until she was already ill, and never got to see her perform around the DC area clubs. She was otherworldly, she could do it all. Seriously, she is the best all around female vocalist I have ever heard---from jazz, to blues, to folk, gospel, to even some operatic type tune. But what an emotional impact she could deliver. Please do more Eva reactions!
Its become, IMVVVHO a definitive version of the song. If you want to hear a track of hers that will rip your heart out, listen to her cut of "Autumn Leaves". That is just staggeringly beautiful.
This is the one that gets the most attention but for me it is her Autumn Leaves and Fields of Gold that really show off how she can just command attention and make you feel things.
My favorite is Cause I Know You By Heart. I heard it shortly after my husband died and whenever I hear her sing this song the tears flow and I silently thank her for this connection. She just doesn’t “sing” a song, she tells a story. ❤
I'm crying...and if you keep playing Eva Cassidy I won't stop. What a tragic loss. Her voice is so pure and beautiful. I have all her music and I treasure it...always.
This was one of the greatest artist's to ever grace the world. However sadly for only a short time. I am in my sixties and a heavy metal fan. This though is quite simply a beautiful performance, so full of emotion.
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Her guitar playing is flawless.
yep. it's a duet.
She went to my high school and graduated with my older brother. She sang at our school coffeehouse when she was a senior and I was a sophomore. When her song ended, you could have heard a pin drop, and then the place erupted! My brother saw her last concert done locally near our home. She was so weak she could hardly walk on stage, but she didn't want to stop singing 😢
I'd be willing to wager a fair sum that those 'breaks' in her sustain were due to the rather astonishing fact that SHE HAD A COLD when she did this performance.
Think about that for a moment.
Simply incredible.
I’ve never been able to make it through this song and several others of hers without crying. She does an amazing version of Sting’s “Fields of Gold”. The first time Sting heard her version was when a journalist played it for him, during an interview and he was brought to tears. Eva had the extraordinary ability to convey so much emotion with her voice.
@shreveportjoe it’s nice to see a local her. Lol
Yes, her version of Fields of Gold...is so wonderful! Luv it!
By the time she hits the 4th guitar note, I am releasing joyful tears of anticipation of being moved to a sacred place of worship. If I try to listen to this more than 3 times in a row, my entire being has been drained of every drop of moisture it can hold. This incredible performer should have been a household name on everyone's list since back in 1996 where she did this live very shortly before she died of cancer at the young age of 33. It is almost as if she sang her heart to death as a last gift to the World! How is it even possible that so many of us are just receiving the gift. Thankyou RUclips Reaction videos for bringing this Eternally Joyful gift to a World that can be deaf to true talent, AMEN and AMEN
@@Lela-plants Es cierto lo que usted dice, Eva Cassidy hace una enorme versión de fields of gold, y de tantas canciones, es una cantante conmovedora, échele un vistazo también a la versión de fields of gold de Sean Keane, también es emocionante y diferente
Played this song for my Father on his Death bed and again at his Funeral. I like to think her angelic voice escorted him on his way. RIP Dad. I miss you.
This has to be the most mesmeric performance I have ever seen beautiful absolutely beautiful ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
Beth, one of the many things that make Eva so great here is her guitar accompaniment. I have never heard a solo artist accompany herself in such a flowing yet changing way that allowed room for the varying emotions she was feeling. And yet, the guitar often seamlessly emphasized her emotions without getting in the way.
What a gift to the world! 🙏
Phoebe Snow playing Poetry Man is the same for me.
In the Netherlands we have Maaike Ouboter fullfilling that role with the song "Dat ik je mis".😉 (Which is her own song).
You genuinely think you can write, don't you? Bless!
@@SRPM-yk9xw I'm not sure what you meant by that comment, but I do know that listening to great music like this has made it easier for me to express what I feel about it.
Bless you as well!
@@BarrySowder Good for you! Just try not to inflict it on the rest of us.
Brings tears to my eyes too, if this performance doesn’t move you, you have no soul.
Around the the turn of the century a friend gave me her album 'Songbird'. By the time I got to this song, the last on that exquisite CD, I had already nearly fallen out my chair several times. It was a few days later I found out she had passed away years prior. I was saddened to say the least. Eva remains one of the truly greatest singers of all time. Thanks so much for the thoughtful reaction.
This performance was recorded only 7 or 8 months before she passed. In this song. when you look at it now and hear her singing it, it sounds as her farewell song. as if she already knew she would not not be here for a long time anymore. It will give me chills ans goosebumps forever. This is the ultimate version of the song. Eva, forever in our hearts. ❤
From what I have heard from those who knew her, she didn't have her diagnosis of melanoma yet.
@@snkeptz Thank you... That's what exactly what I want to know... ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
I'm so glad you finally got to Eva. She was amazing. I first heard of her when several of us - a bunch of guys in their late forties who had spent their lives playing mainly rock and blues - got together for a practice. One of us had picked up her Songbird album and said "You've got to hear this." No practice that evening. We listened to the entire album, mostly not speaking at all, then spent the rest of the evening talking about it.
Just the phrasing alone is genius, And the rest. Power, tenderness, yearning, regret, hope, it's all there. A unique and very special achievement. Thanks for bringing this remarkable performance and magnificent work of art back to us, Beth. Eva was such a loss.
Eva is one of the most amazing vocalists and song interpreters of all time, IMO. Her crystal clear soprano combines with a pitch perfect delivery to deliver all the feels (as the kids say). She covered all the genres with equal perfection. Another fantastic cover by her is Sting's "Fields Of Gold". Sting himself said it was the best version of his song he had heard. My third favourite is her rendition of "Songbird".
My favorite female singer of all time! You need to react to her singing Autumn Leaves...amazing!!!
Beth, I had the very same reaction to this performance the first time I witnessed it. It can still bring tears to my eyes.
I also love her cover of Cyndi Lauper’s Time After Time.
You have just witnessed what I consider to be the finest rendition of this song ever recorded. There are a few good ones but I don't think anything beats this. She has quite a few other recordings on her RUclips channel that are worth viewing. There's nothing more I can say. Wonderful reaction.
Such fragility and vulnerability in her performance. Her crystal clear voice delivers so much emotions, I can't help but tear up every time I see this...gone too soon.
When a great singer is taken from us prematurely it makes them all the more great , Eva,sandy Denny , Janis Joplin,Amy winehouse,mama Cass all had so much more to give and offer and all missed
Eva Cassidy and her beautiful Acoustic Guitar playing just melts my heart.
this performance is in a bar.....setting.... her guitar is impeccable the production value for the times is remarkable ....the current times are lacking exalting images ....it kills the soul
Never liked this song until I heard her version. Masterful and hard to imagine anyone improving on this interpretation. Such a beautiful voice.
my thoughts exactly.....never really cared for the song (bruddah IZ 's version was good), but hearing her performance reduced me to an emotional wreck.....what a stunningly beautiful song, and what an exquisite artist she was. Her untimely passing was a terrible loss for the world.......for she was one those beings who brought light to the world......her talent and her beautiful soul were so luminuous that they shine just as brightly all these years later....
Yup, the song is all grown up and adult.... best version so far
Beth, in the late 1990's I was watching a news show, and they had a segment in Eva. I was totally mesmerized by her voice and her story, and I must admit, I shed a few tears. The next day, I went out and bought several of her CD's and I fell in love with her amazing voice. Just now, watching you listening to her sing, I shed a few more tears...tears of joy, that we both are so lucky to have discovered Eva Cassidy's magic. Thank you for featuring her on this video.
I love and will always love Judy garland but eva I think is as much a classic as that original masterpiece. Because they're both iconic. Many forget in wizard of Oz was set in depression era Kansas or just prior, but it was tough living. Dorothy was an orphan, a mean woman tried to kill her dog. She sang this song from that fervent wish everyone has to escape darkness that we live in. It's not meant to be sunshine and roses. But Judys version really became the fantasy of heaven and happiness. Eva I think captured the real core of this song, the suffering and hardship we endure but dream of escaping from, at least for a little while. If there is a heavan, if there is any consciousness after we die, I hope she knows now how absolutely amazing she was. And maybe duet with miss Judy.
I grew up in the DC area and saw her perform many times, a lot of musicians got together and gave a benefit concert at a club called "The Bayou" in Georgetown, DC, to raise money for her medical bills, she was in attendance and at the end she was helped out on stage and sang, the song she performed was "What a Wonderful World" a few weeks later she was gone
Lucy Thomas does a great cover of this.
Amazing❤
She went to my high school and graduated with my older brother. He and my sister were at that concert, too, and by the end of the night they were gutted by all the
sadness😢
@@larrywright6214 I love Lucy's cover. It is a tribute to Eva. I think Eva would have appreciated that. Lucy always honors the people she covers. I lived in D.C. when Eva was in the dives there. Never saw her there though. I really regret that. So very sad that she was taken so early. But I am told a large cult following grew up around her in England after her death.
I cannot imagine what it must have been like to BE THERE, at Blues Alley, on January 3, 1996, when all these unbelievable hit covers were recorded. Would LOVE to hear from anyone who was there, because I consider this to be the greatest single night of vocals in all of human history. I would give the last year of my life to be transported back to that night, to hear it live.
I can't but cry when I hear this.. It is achingly beautiful..
I got my Mom into Eva Cassidy and she passed it on to the rest of the family. She's a hidden gem that people discover and are blown away by her. Amazing.
I think of her vocal affect more as wistful than tender. This puts places her interpretation perfectly in line with the 1930s composer intent. They wanted to convey hope for relief and happier future for a public being smashed by the Great Depression. Most faithful and beautiful interpretation of this classic in my view.
If you watch her doing 'Autumn Leaves' and don't bawl your eyes out, you're not human.
She is so amazing.
Thanks for the reaction.
Fall never comes that I don't think of her "Autumn Leaves" it hangs around me like a mantle till Winter comes.
A wonderful evaluation of Eva's masterpiece. ( crying.......).
Eva voice so captivating.haunting. When you hear her beautiful voice you know it's her singing.😂😂❤
Each time I watch this performance I can’t get through it without tears in my eyes. Her voice is spectacular, yet so controlled. The guitar playing is just perfect! What breaks me every time is knowing she would pass away just a short 9 months later. Eva died from melanoma which had metastasized and eventually was in her lungs. Such a loss💔💔. Thanks your this review!
She was still singing note for note with her guitar lead. Perfect ❤️
Exquisitely tender. Such an arrangement with a lovely conversation between her voice and guitar. Almost a jazz feel. Your explanation of why it is so heartfelt and honest was also exquisite.
Eva had the perfect combination of awesome control, tone, style and phrasing and when you add in her incredible arrangements and guitar playing, it makes her music magical and mesmerizing. This song in particular always makes me tear up. It's a huge tragedy that she died just a few months after this was recorded from metastatic melanoma.
I think this performance demonstrates perfectly that, delicate, emotional and dynamic can be just as in your face as harsh and brash. There is no better performance of this song that I've heard.
This performance was basically a cover band in a bar in Washington, DC. I've been in alot of those kind of bars, both as a drinker and as a musician/singer. It's always a din of noise; usually no one pays attention to the "background music". But for this entire hour-long performance you could hear a pin drop in the audience. And thank God! Can you imagine if this performance had been lost because of poor recording conditions?! Eva is a gif to humankind.
Eva’s voice is so beautiful and dynamic. Her version of the blues song Stormy Monday from this same concert is quite lively and fun.
Thanks for keeping Eva’s music alive.
It's literally goosebumps in a bottle. Like, I can not think of any other artist or person that guaranteed gives me goosebumps when I listen to them, but it's just automatic with her... I always get them
I always lover her "Fields of Gold"
It was on a Cancer Research advert in the UK back in the days my grandad had cancer, when I was super young.
I always link it back to that now, and it destroys me.
Still love the song, it’s gorgeous
I cannot listen to her version of this song without getting tears in my eyes. It is pure magic, the way she pulls you in. Strength, vulnerability, beauty, longing, she embodies it all. It's like she creates a world where it's just her and you, the listener, and you're having the most intimate and tender moment.
An amazing talent, gone too soon.
it is like she and her guitar are having a conversation... she is simply amazing.
Yes, good reaction, she was such a real artist...very unrated her whole life...glad we can still hear her wonderful songs and covers...a unique and special voice...:)
It is important to point out that Eva was fighting a cold that night.
Even in a bad night, Eva was amazing.
My favourite singer. I heard her music for the first time few months after her passing.. my gf at the time sent me mp3 of her songs.
This song and Autumn Leaves or pretty all the covers she did live via 'Blues Alley Jazz Supper Club' I love listening to.
When this video came out and seeing her play the guitar.. it made appreciate her so much more. Tori Amos with her piano.. Karen C with her drums... and now Eva with her guitar.
RIP - Gordon Lightfoot (glad you did a reaction to this Canadain legend)
I've lobbied online for Eva Cassidy to receive multiple awards: a Grammy for (Over the Rainbow, Fields of Gold, Songbird, My Love is Like A Red, Red Rose), a CMA Award for (Tennessee Waltz, Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain, Penny To My Name), Jazz or Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for (Still Not Ready, San Francisco Bay Blues, Woodstock), or a Dove Award for (How Can I Keep From Singing, Way Beyond the Blue, People Get Ready). Something, my God, but apparently the clueless music industry does not know who she is, or either is still trying to categorize Eva Cassidy.
It seems simple enough to me for them (music award powers-that-be) to create a "Multi-Genre Artist Award" and let Eva be the first to receive it posthumously. All of today's greatest singers know Eva is the Holy Grail of Vocalist. Even Adele said she used to rush home from school to listen to Eva Cassidy. It's time, people!!!
I am so happy that you reacted to this performance! ❤️ I've wished for more people to discover Eva! She truly passed too soon.😢
When the Eva Cassidy phenomenon broke, I remember reading an article that told the story of a guy playing this over the phone for his parents. His dad had often given the guy a hard time for liking softer, folky, touchy-feely music because the dad was more into straight macho rock. So the guy played the song and then asked what the parents thought. Mom loved it. The guy asked, "Dad?" And Mom said, "He's crying."
"If happy little bluebirds fly above the rainbow, why, oh why, can't I?" What a marvelous ending to a song.
And she sang with a cold. Truly one of the greatest voices ever recorded.
@seanbarry7378 : Thanks for pointing out that Eva's head cold prevented her from being 100% that evening and which surely would have got her "Irish up!" at not being able to perform to what she considered to be her usual standards. Regardless, she was absolutely magnificent.
It is such an iconic version of this song. It’s almost like she’s singing a lullaby, perhaps to herself.
Please more Eva.thank you very much.great job you did.
My absolute favourite version. Love it.
a single frame of your reaction showed your expression that matched hers, i searched and found many so know that ur heart showed like hers in this. Pure Heart felt can only explain it no other, kinda like when someone says "what can I say". I't the heart not just the song and many do get it we just don't know or refuse to get what it is.
Of all the performances out there, this is the one I've listened to the most often. Despite the dozens of times I've heard this, I find myself in tears once again.
I discovered Eva Cassidy thanks to my dad. Such wonder and beautiful music. Hoping she's somewhere over a beautiful rainbow.
Her version of "Danny Boy" is extremely touching, too. Makes me weep every time.
A great loss to the world, vocals of an angel........ Thank you for this vid.
This version must be a vocal coaches wet dream. The range, the power, the arrangement. Wonderful stuff.
I bought one of her records a few years ago without having listening to any of her songs, just from what I had read. I was blown away by how she communicates with her voice. Love your videos, and your emotional reactions make them even more authentic :)
Eva performed several acoustic songs. As I feel and hear this - her Over The Rainbow - she stands so high above every other person who has tried to cover the song by making it her journey. She takes us, her audience, on her journey as individual confidants. She goes to a place inside that I imagine not many are allowed to view.
It took a few times of listening to discover this is a duet. After I got to the acceptance of how pure and heartfelt her singing is, I realized her guitar was her singing partner, singing warmly, in euphonious chorus with her. Her Guild and her touch on its strings are, indeed, her duet partner. No accompanist could have done the same.
Nobody will ever be able to reach the depths of my soul such as Eva did with her journey Over The Rainbow.
Eva is simply the greatest voice our world has ever known. What a gift. Thank you Eva. Thank you so much. 🎺
That album Songbird is a absolute gem. A classic that will stand the test of time, a legacy left by a amazing artist who died much too soon afterwards.
I allways get tears in my eyes when I listen to this and her version of Autumn leafs my tears are falling. Just beautiful singing.
Makes me cry, too, Beth 😢 Such sadness and longing in her voice
i've listened to this for years now and really appreciated your reaction. she's the first vocalist to really get me to listen to "danny boy" and understand all of the tragedy in it. a terrible shame that she's gone, but one of her albums "i can only be me" has just been paired with the london symphony orchestra and it's magic...
Yep... I'd be very suspicious of anyone that didn't weep, knowing her story and then hearing this. Gets me every single time!
Thank you for introducing Eva Cassidy to many who missed the brilliant but fleeting shooting star who sang like an angel. I myself was introduced to her music only a few years ago and that was by chance when I heard a trumpet player (Alison Balsom) on RUclips play Eva Cassidy’s Autumn Leaves. I was so mesmerized by the music, even before I heard Eva Cassidy’s voice, that I had to find out who Eva Cassidy was. Imagine when I heard what I feel is possibly one of the greatest songs ever sung. Your audience needs to hear Autumn Leaves by Eva Cassidy. It is magical!
Ahhh Beth. I have never heard of this lady before. Wow wow. I started listening to your reaction and quickly it was click, is there karaoke available, then other songs of evas and finally 5 hours later I came back to you to finish listening to your reaction. What a musician Eva was with mastery of both the guitar and her voice. Last week it was Ren, Beth Hart a few months ago. The world is just full of amazing artists that we would never get to hear if not for things like you tube.
Hi Beth! First time seeing you and I just subbed. You have so many lovely qualities and I know I will be checking out your future reactions. I do not think crying while listening to Eva sing is very unusual. She brings years to my eyes often. Her voice is incredible- so sweet, sincere, clear, and delicate. I don't think anyone will ever top her performance of this very iconic song. It is hers alone. Thanks for letting me hear this again. Take care.🤗🌈
She found and expressed the truth of the song. It is in my opinion one of the best ever written.
She floated like a feather in a beautiful world, thanks to Thom Yorke. Maybe he heared that rendition before writing these wonderful words. She was just unbelievable...love to her, everywhere she can be.
One of the best breakdowns of this song. As you point out so well: It's one thing to have total control over your tone & pitch. It's another thing to let that control break at just the right moment... Exquisite.
Eva had the most beautiful voice.ive never heard a woman with a more beautiful voice thank you for putting this on your u tube people needs to know what a talent she has.golden needle one of my favorites.😊
I’m not afraid to say that this performance always leaves me in tears. What a great artist she was, and still is. Thank you for your reaction Beth. Be well.
Such talent and it’s sad she died so young and it’s really awful that she never received recognition when she was alive and is now famous since she passed, it’s sorta sounds like she knew she was passing, another great cover she did was Fields of Gold
That was a truly beautiful reaction to an equally beautiful rendition of this song. You're right in saying it's her creative interpretation of the chord structure, melody line and then the build - ohhh! Such a bittersweet performance because we were blessed with her presence but then knowing she is no longer with us to further enjoy her music. x
A perfect performance. What especially gets me every time is the way she sets the whole song to build up to the phrase, "and the dreams that you dare to dream REALLY DO come true." Then, to top it off, so quietly, "If happy little bluebirds fly above the rainbow why, oh why, can't I." Such hope, and then resignation. Heartbreaking.
Makes you cry?
I started crying when I saw the title of the video.
This version of this song has such DEEP resonating memories for me. It is a masterpiece.
Her version is so full of hope and longing and melancholy. So beautiful. Thanks for sharing.
I discovered Eva years ago and I was so touched and mesmerized by her voice and the way that she put her emotions into her songs. One of my other favorites is Songbird. RIP sweet soul Eva ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
What a wonderful, touching improvisation. A masterful vocalist and guitarist as well. Thank you Beth for sharing this with us.
I have watched I don't know how many reaction videos of Ava, I believe yours is the best I've ever seen or heard. The insight, enjoyment, respect that you expressed is amazing and greatly appreciated. Thank you so much.
Gone too soon, and the world is diminished by her passing. I grew up in the county next to Eva's. Sadly, I didn't discover her until she was already ill, and never got to see her perform around the DC area clubs. She was otherworldly, she could do it all. Seriously, she is the best all around female vocalist I have ever heard---from jazz, to blues, to folk, gospel, to even some operatic type tune. But what an emotional impact she could deliver. Please do more Eva reactions!
Its become, IMVVVHO a definitive version of the song.
If you want to hear a track of hers that will rip your heart out, listen to her cut of "Autumn Leaves". That is just staggeringly beautiful.
Her Fields of Gold cover is amazing
100%.
Played it at my dad’s funeral. He was a fan.
And Autumn Leaves
I've rarely heard a voice of such purity" stings quote about Eva's rendition. I love that song and nightbird
Sting said it was the best
Eva Cassidy - Autumn Leaves
She was a true artist in every sense, I ave her album on Vinyl and sounds so amazing.
The most beautiful song I’ve ever heard💕
This is the one that gets the most attention but for me it is her Autumn Leaves and Fields of Gold that really show off how she can just command attention and make you feel things.
Whenever I need a cry I play this video. I will never tire of Eva's recording of this song.
This performance always gets to me. Beth, you did a remarkable reaction to this masterpiece.
One of the greatest vocalists who ever lived
Insightful comments on this performance, 100% agree.
Exquisite voice and masterful musicianship and her arrangement of the song is perfection.
Every time I watch this video I cry...
Pure, honest, heartfelt, exquisite.
Thank you, loved your reaction. Every time I hear this I get teary eyed, it's as if she knew how to touch your soul with her music.
My favorite is Cause I Know You By Heart. I heard it shortly after my husband died and whenever I hear her sing this song the tears flow and I silently thank her for this connection. She just doesn’t “sing” a song, she tells a story. ❤
I'm crying...and if you keep playing Eva Cassidy I won't stop. What a tragic loss. Her voice is so pure and beautiful. I have all her music and I treasure it...always.
This was one of the greatest artist's to ever grace the world. However sadly for only a short time. I am in my sixties and a heavy metal fan. This though is quite simply a beautiful performance, so full of emotion.