# Eva Cassidy - greatest singer you have never heard **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 2, 2008, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eva-cassidy-greatest-singer-you-have-never-heard/475339 "2008-12-02T15:11:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eva-cassidy-greatest-singer-you-have-never-heard/475339/21 "2008-12-03T19:42:53Z")
I, too, have heard of her, and she does have a lovely voice. But I’ll go against the crowd here and say that all those mournful, heart-wrenching, sad-sounding songs make me want to gouge my ears out then stab myself in the heart. I’d have to be institutionalized for clinical depression if I listened to track after track of that stuff over and over. > [@yojimbo](#): > > Just watched this again. It’s been a while since I saw it but it still packs a punch. The section at 4mins in is very moving, the way she controls the power is superb. I’m sure this will also be an unpopular opinion, but I actually like [Katharine McPhee’s Somewhere Over the Rainbow](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAg9C0OQr8c) better, and I think her voice is just as lovely as Eva Cassidy’s. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eva-cassidy-greatest-singer-you-have-never-heard/475339/22 "2008-12-03T20:16:14Z")
> [@Shayna](#): > > I’m sure this will also be an unpopular opinion, but I actually like [Katharine McPhee’s Somewhere Over the Rainbow](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAg9C0OQr8c) better, and I think her voice is just as lovely as Eva Cassidy’s. It’s all subjective so your opinion is a valid as mine but I have to disagree on nearly every level. The production was horrible. It seemed like a West End/Broadway performance. I also didn’t really like the phrasing. Her voice doesn’t song as full and strong either. She’s well cute though 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eva-cassidy-greatest-singer-you-have-never-heard/475339/23 "2008-12-03T20:19:03Z")
> [@Shayna](#): > > I, too, have heard of her, and she does have a lovely voice. But I’ll go against the crowd here and say that all those mournful, heart-wrenching, sad-sounding songs make me want to gouge my ears out then stab myself in the heart. I’d have to be institutionalized for clinical depression if I listened to track after track of that stuff over and over. Well, she did seem to be primarily a blues singer. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eva-cassidy-greatest-singer-you-have-never-heard/475339/24 "2008-12-03T21:04:05Z")
Michelle Kwan used her version of Fields of Gold for one of her skating routines. I saw her do it live years ago with my daughter. I now know why people go gaga over figure skating–the combination of that song, that singer, the choreography and Kwan–fantastic. It’s a cliche, but poetry in motion. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eva-cassidy-greatest-singer-you-have-never-heard/475339/25 "2008-12-03T21:46:20Z")
“Live At Blues Alley” is the Eva album to start with, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eva-cassidy-greatest-singer-you-have-never-heard/475339/26 "2008-12-03T22:35:52Z")
I started with Songbird. I love Eva and now so does my mom. She even used to play Eva’s music at the hospital where she worked during counseling sessions. She said a lot of the patients enjoyed it too. Her version of Over the Rainbow is probably the most moving ever, and I also happen to love Iz’s version. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eva-cassidy-greatest-singer-you-have-never-heard/475339/27 "2008-12-04T19:56:21Z")
She did a lot of blues songs as well as the ballads she is most know for. The CD Live at Blues Alley has her doing a wide variety of styles such as jazz, blues, rock and ballads. A lot of people think she only did ballads because that is what most people hear on the radio. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eva-cassidy-greatest-singer-you-have-never-heard/475339.md?page=1)