American Tune

However, it's the choice of songs that lets the collection down. "Yesterday" is a self-indulgent, cheesy parody of the Beatles classic (tellingly, it's one of her earliest recordings) and "God Bless This Child" drops the blues of the Billie Holiday standard and replaces it with a dreary and insipid interpretation. Her delicate, often haunting vocal does breathe life into the usually wet "True Colours" and both "Drowning in a Sea of Love" and "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)" are highlights, set apart by smoky, acoustic funk and jazzroom playfulness respectively. Anybody coming to Cassidy's legacy for the first time (there must be a few people left) would be better starting with Songbird and progressing, via 2000's Time After Time, to this--a worthwhile addition, but not a solid album. --Cortman Virtue

It's my belief that Eva only recorded a track if she felt that she could do it justice, put her stamp on it and bring a fresh interpretation to the original composition.

Most of the recordings on this CD were made in one take and have only recently been discovered. They all show her talent and that of Keith Grimes and Chris Biondo.

Forget the artificially produced unpluggeded version that other Artists put out this is UNPLUGGED in it's true and natural state.

A couple of the tracks like True Colours and Yesterday you will enjoy straight off because of their familiarity BUT the beauty of this album is that Eva introduces you to her musical favourites and influences.

My favorite at the moment is Dark Eyed Molly with Keith Grime's haunting tin whistle. Eva heard this Fairport Convention song back in 1990 and immediately wanted to record it. She has taken it to another level and I hope that it will get people asking who Fairport are and get them to search out the group and their distinctive sometimes raunchy English Folk.

This is I believe what Eva has left behind not only a great interpretation of other artists work but a SIGN POST to other artists.

In contrast to Dark Eyed Molly the her version Duke Ellington's It Don't mean a thing(If it ain't got that swing) really bounces along and lets her show off another dimension to and control of her voice and Bruno Nasta's violin is a joy to listen to.

Dan Cassidy picks up the violin for Yesterday whilst Lenny Williams give a tremendous piano performance accompanying Eva's voice and guitar playing on the Beatle's classic.

The Album finishes off with 'You Take My Breathe Away' written by English singer and songwriter Claire Hamill a song that she used to perform at weddings and a lovely track to conclude the album.

I must have been playing the album on and off now for about three weeks and each time I do a different track stands out.

I would recommend that you buy for your collection for the simple reason that no matter what mood you are in there will always be a track that you can put on to either compliment or alter.


Masterpiece   August 25, 2003
 8 out of 13 found this review helpful

This is yet another masterpiece from Eva's family and friends who have worked so tirelessly to bring the work of this late genius to a wider audience.

The tracks are somewhat raw as they are mainly rehearsal or live tracks, but they still make 99% of other artists pale by comparison.

The highlight for me, as a long-time Cyndi Lauper fan, is "Time After Time" which is even better than Cyndi's original.

I would recommend anybody who recognises genius in music when they see it, or who just wants to listen to sheer class, to add this, and all of Eva's other recordings, to their collection.


Amazing Eva   August 24, 2003
 6 out of 9 found this review helpful

I have been listening to American Tune for over a week now. Just like all of the Eva Cassidy CD's I own, it is amazing. Eva never let's me down. She totally blows you away with "Drowning In A Sea Of Love" then makes you not want to move a muscle while listening to "Yesterday","The Water Is Wide" and the spellbinding "You Take My Breath Away". Her voice is so amazing that you just hang on every word. Usually after listening to other artist I tire of the songs. But not Eva. Every song is unique. I can listen to her sing these same songs over and over, which I have been doing for the last 8 months and I still love everything she sings! If you want to hear refreshing music sung with sincere emotion, and the most beautiful voice you will ever hear, you will find it in American Tune and everything Eva Cassidy sings! Purchasing her CD's is the best music investment I've ever made.


Not one track disappoints   August 23, 2003
 3 out of 6 found this review helpful

She has the most beautiful voice I have ever heard, plays guitar excellently and when it comes down to making a song her own I know of no superlatives worthy. A lovely album.


Eva firing on three cylinders is still excellent stuff   August 23, 2003
 12 out of 12 found this review helpful

How many more of these are left? We were told when Time After Time came out that they were short on unreleased tracks but they keep coming. No Boundaries was a disappointment but Imagine was excellent. This one features Eva yet again tackling some old standards and songs that many people would shy away from and she does, as usual, a superb job. Clearly, the producers have stayed true to Eva and not done 'a Hendrix' in that they haven't messed with the recordings and overdubbed ad nauseum. But what the album gains in rawness and pureness it lacks in finesse and I couldn't help thinking while I listened to it that Eva would have wanted it to be a little tighter, a little more refined, a little nearer her exacting and self-critical standards [which is why I can only give it four stars, much as I love the woman]. Like many posthumous albums, you listen to this one with mixed feelings. Would she have released these had she lived? Possibly not, but the irony is that she didn't live and we can get to hear them and aren't they a delight?! Eva Cassidy is one of the few singers who can literally reduce me to floods of tears and while this album hasn't done that yet, I can't guarantee I won't be sobbing buckets in the future! If you're an Eva fan - or just a fan of heart-felt, heart-rending music, you have to add this to your collection.