Judee Sill: Abracadabra - The Asylum Years (2006)

A singer/songwriter with deeply religious overtones and a penchant for the occult, Judee Sill is one of rock's more interesting and lesser-known stories. She led a wild life as a teenager and in her early 20s, spending time in both reform school and jail in the mid-‘60s and developing a nasty drug habit that was to haunt her for the rest of her life. In the late ‘60s she attracted attention for her work within Los Angeles’ folk rock fraternity. An early composition, ‘Dead Time Bummer Blues’, was recorded by the Leaves, whose bass player, Jim Pons, later joined the Turtles. He introduced Sill to Blimp, the band’s publishing company, the fruit of which was ‘Lady O’, their finest late-period performance. The song also appeared on 1971’s Judee Sill, the artist’s debut for Asylum Records, which was largely produced by Pons in partnership with another ex-member of the Leaves, John Beck. Graham Nash supervised the sole exception, the beautiful ‘Jesus Was a Cross Maker’, which drew considerable comment over its lyrical content. 1973’s Heart Food continued this uncompromising individual’s quest for excellence and deftly balanced upbeat, country-tinged compositions with dramatic emotional ballads. A gift for melody suggested a long, successful career, but Judee Sill subsequently abandoned full-time music and died of an overdose in 1979. Sill’s first two albums (a third one was recorded in 1974, but never released at the time) resurface here with extensive bonus tracks, including an almost uncomfortably intimate live version of ‘Jesus Was a Cross Maker’ which stands as a testament to its incredible compositional elegance. For those seeking the perfect addition to early ‘70s female singer-songwriters, such as Carly Simon, Laura Nyro and Joni Mitchell, the little known Judee Sill will be a remarkable surprise. Essential. http://www.boomkat.com/, http://www.allmusic.com/, http://www.oldies.com/

Judy on a live performance of her classic 'Jesus Was a Cross Maker':
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This was recorded in London on February of 1973 for the "Old Grey Whistle Test" TV program on the BBC. Just outstanding:
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