Judee Sill

Judee Sill (October 7, 1944 - November 23, 1979) was an American singer and songwriter. The first artist signed to David Geffen's Asylum label, she released two albums before disappearing into obscurity and eventually dying of drug abuse in 1979. Her eponymous debut album was released to major acclaim in 1971 and was followed two years later by Heart Food. She recorded demos for a third album in 1974 and they were released in 2005 under the title Dreams Come True. Sill was heavily influenced by Bach's metric forms and suites.

Judee's father and brother both died in separate incidents when Judee was quite young. Her mother remarried a Tom and Jerry animator and the combination of her rebellious nature and family backdrop of pervasive drinking drove her away from home and into a life of crime and drug use in her teens. During her incarceration for writing bad checks, Sill kicked her heroin addiction and decided to pursue songwriting. Becoming first a talented pianists organist and guitarist, Sill returned to the West Coast where she encountered Graham Nash and David Crosby (touring with them for a time as their opening act) and David Geffen who offered her a contract with his nascent label. Her albums were received well by critics but found little commercial success. Judee struggled with drug addiction during phases again following a car accident and its resulting physical pain and dropped out of the music scene and, sadly, died of a drug overdose in November of 1979.

Her first success was the selling of her song "Lady-O" to the Turtles. Long after her death, she has been lauded by many musicians, including Jim O'Rourke who mixed the posthumous collection of unreleased material, Dreams Come True.

Discography

• Judee Sill (1971) (Asylum)
• Heart Food (1973) (Asylum)
• Dreams Come True (2005) (Water)

External links

• Biography
• Observer article