Eva Cassidy was the third of four children born to Hugh and Barbara Cassidy. From an early age, she displayed artistic and musical talent. When she was nine years old, her father taught her to play the guitar, and she began to play and sing at family gatherings.
While a student at Bowie High School, she did sing with a local band, called Stonehenge, and received considerable praise.
At the age of eighteen, Cassidy began her professional career, singing and playing guitar in a Washington, D.C., area band, called Easy Street. This band performed in a variety of styles, at weddings, corporate parties, and pubs.
During the summer of 1983, Cassidy sang and played guitar, six days per week, at Wild World, in Maryland. Her brother Dan was also a member of this working band.
Throughout the 1980s, Cassidy worked with a number of other bands, including the soul and Motown-oriented band The Honeybees, and the techno-pop band Characters Without Names, later called Method Actor.
During this period, Cassidy also worked as a propagator at a plant nursery and as a furniture painter in Annapolis, Maryland. In 1986, she met (bassist and recording engineer) Chris Biondo, who encouraged her and helped her find work as a backup singer for various acts. In 1990, Biondo and Cassidy hired the so-called "Eva Cassidy Band", composed of Chris Biondo, Lenny Williams, Keith Grimes and Raice McLeod, and she began to perform frequently in the Washington area.
In 1992, Biondo played a tape of Cassidy's voice for Chuck Brown. Best known as the "Godfather of Go-go", Brown is also a jazz and blues vocalist. This led to the first commercial recording of Cassidy, the duet album with Chuck Brown, The Other Side; which featured performances of classic songs such as "Fever", Billie Holiday's "God Bless the Child" and Cassidy's signature tune "Over the Rainbow". The album was released and distributed by Liaison Records, the label that also released Brown's Go-go albums. The duet CD attracted the attention of various record companies, but the offers all required Cassidy to pigeonhole herself within a single style (e.g., pop or jazz), something she adamantly refused to do.[citation needed]
In 1993 Eva Cassidy was first honored by the Washington area music community when she was awarded two Wammie awards for "Female Vocalist Roots/Traditional R&B" and "Vocalist Jazz/Traditional." The next year she was chosen to perform for the awards ceremony.
In January 1996, Cassidy recorded the album Live at Blues Alley, about which The Washington Post later commented that "she could sing anything and make it sound like the only music that mattered". [1] Cassidy was unhappy with her singing on the album, because she had a bad cold on the night of the recording; she began recording a studio album which was eventually released as Eva by Heart posthumously in 1997.
During a promotional event for the Live at Blues Alley CD in July 1996, Cassidy noticed an ache in her hips, which she attributed to stiffness from painting murals. The pain persisted, and, a few weeks later, Cassidy was diagnosed with melanoma. By the time of her diagnosis, the cancer had spread throughout her body. Cassidy's health rapidly deteriorated, and her final performance was in September 1996. At the performance, she had used a walker to reach the stage, sang "What a Wonderful World" in front of an audience of friends, and was subsequently admitted to Johns Hopkins Hospital.[citation needed]
Eva Cassidy died on November 2, 1996, at the age of 33. She was posthumously inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Washington Area Music Association.
Coat of Many Colors
Eva Cassidy Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning | Line by Line Meaning
I go wonderin' once again
Back to the seasons of my youth
I recall a box of rags that someone gave us
And how my momma put the rags to use
There were rags of many colors
Every piece was small
And I didn't have a coat
And it was way down in the fog
Momma sewed the rags together
Sewin' every piece with love
She made my coat of many colors
That I was so proud of
As she sewed, she told a story
From the bible, she had read
About a coat of many colors
Joseph wore and then she said
Perhaps this coat will bring you
Good luck and happiness
And I just couldn't wait to wear it
And momma blessed it with a kiss
My coat of many colors
That my momma made for me
Made only from rags
But I wore it so proudly
Although we had no money
I was rich as I could be
In my coat of many colors
My momma made for me
So with patches on my britches
Holes in both my shoes
In my coat of many colors
I hurried off to school
Just to find the others laughing
And making fun of me
In my coat of many colors
My momma made for me
And oh I couldn't understand it
For I felt I was rich
And I told them of the love
My momma sewed in every stitch
And I told 'em all the story
Momma told me while she sewed
And how my coat of many colors
Was worth more than all their clothes
But they didn't understand it
And I tried to make them see
That one is only poor
Only if they choose to be
Now I know we had no money
But I was rich as I could be
In my coat of many colors
My momma made for me
Made just for me
The lyrics of "Coat of Many Colors" by Eva Cassidy narrate the story of a young girl whose mother made her a coat out of a box of rags that someone gave them. Although they were poor and did not have money to buy a new coat, her mother's resourcefulness and love made the girl feel rich, proud and happy. The coat of many colors became a symbol of the love, care and talent of her mother.
The song goes on to describe how the girl went to school wearing her coat, but her classmates made fun of her, teasing her because of the patches and the colors. The girl tried to explain that her coat was precious to her because of the memories and emotions that were woven into it, but the other children could not understand. Despite the cruel teasing, the girl continued to wear her coat with pride, knowing that it represented the love and hard work of her mother.
Line by Line Meaning
Back through the years
I go wonderin' once again
Back to the seasons of my youth
I am reflecting on my past and remembering my childhood.
I recall a box of rags that someone gave us
And how my momma put the rags to use
There were rags of many colors
Every piece was small
And I didn't have a coat
And it was way down in the fog
My family was poor and someone gave us a box of rags. My mother used the rags to make me a coat, despite not having enough material. It was a foggy day when I first wore the coat.
Momma sewed the rags together
Sewin' every piece with love
She made my coat of many colors
That I was so proud of
My mother sewed the rags together with love and created a beautiful coat of many colors. I was proud of the coat and grateful to my mother.
As she sewed, she told a story
From the bible, she had read
About a coat of many colors
Joseph wore and then she said
Perhaps this coat will bring you
Good luck and happiness
And I just couldn't wait to wear it
And momma blessed it with a kiss
My mother told me the story of Joseph's coat of many colors from the Bible and hoped that wearing the coat would bring me happiness and luck. I couldn't wait to wear it, and my mother blessed it with a kiss.
My coat of many colors
That my momma made for me
Made only from rags
But I wore it so proudly
Although we had no money
I was rich as I could be
In my coat of many colors
My momma made for me
My mother made me the coat from rags, but I wore it proudly. Although we were poor, I felt rich because of the love and care that went into making the coat.
So with patches on my britches
Holes in both my shoes
In my coat of many colors
I hurried off to school
Just to find the others laughing
And making fun of me
In my coat of many colors
My momma made for me
I went to school wearing my coat but with patched pants and worn-out shoes. Other kids laughed and made fun of me for my coat, but I still wore it proudly, knowing that it was made with love by my mother.
And oh I couldn't understand it
For I felt I was rich
And I told them of the love
My momma sewed in every stitch
And I told 'em all the story
Momma told me while she sewed
And how my coat of many colors
Was worth more than all their clothes
I couldn't understand why the other kids made fun of me, as I felt rich and cherished my coat. I explained how my mother had sewn it with love and told them the Bible story. I believed that my coat was worth more than all of their clothes.
But they didn't understand it
And I tried to make them see
That one is only poor
Only if they choose to be
Now I know we had no money
But I was rich as I could be
In my coat of many colors
My momma made for me
Made just for me
The other kids didn't understand the value of my coat, and I tried to make them see that being poor is only a mindset. Although we were poor, I felt rich because of my mother's love and the coat she made me.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Dolly Parton
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Arthur Markos
This is just sublime, gorgeous
Prabhas Ray
Eva is wrapped with many coats colours like the playing of her guiter,
the touching lyrics,the melody and modulations of her enchanting voice
Laurel Ewing
I’m happy to hear that she recorded Dolly’s Coat Of Many Colors. A cut from the same clothes I suspect.
Leon Erin
Beautiful song and a more soothing sounding Eva here .She was close to her mama to , as close as any daughter could be .
WEE MO Dundee
Beautiful voice.
MLChampion
Nothing quite like a mother's ability to make something out of nothing.
CF
she a soothing voice
Екатерина Прекрасная
Красивый голос!
Richard Perkins
Eva Cassidy's unique sounding guitar.
Jonathan Ma
Just the most beautiful thing