BBC Radio Documentary on Judee Sill

[sgcim]

Obscure singer/songwriter from early 70s, who was the first artist David Geffen signed for Asylum Records.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04g8hrd

[Head Man]

Heard it on the radio last weekend... much better than I was expecting.

[sgcim]

I went into NYC for the first time since the pandemic to see the world premiere of the documentary on Judee Sill that I had contributed some home recordings of the jazz pianist she married, Bob Harris.

https://www.docnyc.net/film/lost-angel-the-genius-of-judee-sill/

The two directors of the film worked for NINE Years(!) on the doc, and it showed it. It was done very well, considering that she died back in 1979, and they had no footage of her speaking. They used a voice actress to simulate JS' voice on the two interviews that she did for Rolling Stone and some other periodical, and she also read the letters and diary entries by JS, that her family had contributed to the directors.

They went over the tragic stories of her life; child abuse, robbing liquor stores, jail, prostitution, drug addiction, back injuries,etc.., which I had heard before, so I didn't find  particularly affecting. But then they played some of her music through the incredible sound system of the SVA Theater, and when they reached some of the string arrangements done by Bob Harris (the first album) and JS (the second album), I felt the tears welling up in my eyes. Her music could be very powerful emotionally, even though the lyrics dealt with her weird theosophy that audiences pretty much ignored back in the early 70s.

Then the credits rolled, and I was surprised that they included my name in big letters under the "Thanks to" part at the end. I was so surprised, I burst out laughing.

A young woman from Rolling Stone interviewed the two directors and the singer/songwriter Shawn Colvin, who had covered one of JS' songs. Since I knew most of the things in the film, I decided to ask about the incident in which David Crosby was bugging her and JS took off his belt, and started running after him, whipping him with it as Crosby fled for his life. The director I emailed about it said he had heard that there was a rubber chicken involved, so I asked him about the David Crosby "Rubber Chicken Incident", and the packed theater started laughing. The director seemed kind of embarrassed about the question, and said he couldn't discuss it publicly, and they ended the Q&A session on that note.

Anyway, the audience concluded that not enough people knew about JS, and the directors urged them to spread the word about her. You can still see the doc streaming on the web through the link I posted above, so I've done my part.