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.
Red Top
Eva Cassidy Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
See how you got me spinning
Going round and round
And I don't want to stop
You've got me so if I don't go around
Well I'm sure gonna drop gonna drop gonna drop
So red top you just keep right on spinning
And don't you ever stop
Remember that if you don't go around
Well I'm sure gonna drop gonna drop gonna drop
My sweet little flower you win
I'm spinnin' and I promise I will love you forever
I know that there is no one who can thrill me
No one can kill me baby like you do
And I tell the world I'm in love with you
Yes I'm in love with you
Any old thing you say and everything that you do
So baby won't you tell me you're mine
And hold me tight through the night If you love me
Gonna go spinning and spinning
Don't you ever stop
‘Cause I'm high upon a dream and I don't want to drop now
I would take a solo but I don't know
I gotta go right on spinning
It's a symbol of my little red top
I gotta go right on spinning
I gotta go round and round
Until I tumble down and fall with a drop mornin' glory
Now you know the story of my little red top
My little red top
See how you got me spinning
Going round and round
And I don't want to stop
You've got me so that if I don't go around
Well I'm sure gonna drop gonna drop gonna drop
So red top you just keep right on spinning
Going round and round
And don't you ever stop mm ah uh
Remember that if you don't go around
Slow down baby 'cause I'm sure gonna drop
(Yeah)
The lyrics to Eva Cassidy's song "Red Top" involve a dance or a toy called a "red top" that the singer is completely enthralled with. The singer describes the sensation of spinning as almost addictive, and they don't want to stop for fear of falling or losing the feeling. The singer also describes their love for someone else, saying that no one else can thrill or kill them in the same way that this person can. The singer is completely devoted, asking for the other person to reciprocate their feelings.
At the heart of the song seems to be the idea of losing oneself in something completely. The red top serves as a symbol for this sensation, and the singer is content to keep spinning as long as the top does. Through the comparison to love, the song also suggests that falling in love is a similar experience, where one can feel caught up and lost in the experience.
The song is not necessarily Eva Cassidy's most well-known or popular, but it showcases her soulful voice and ability to convey emotion in her singing. The song's origins are not entirely clear, but it seems to be a cover of an earlier version of the song. Despite the lack of information about the song, it remains a favorite among fans of Cassidy and highlights her unique style and vocal abilities.
Line by Line Meaning
My little red top
The singer is referring to a spinning top that is colored red.
See how you got me spinning
The singer is amazed at how long the spinning top can keep spinning and it has captivated their attention.
Going round and round
The spinning top is continuously rotating on its axis.
And I don't want to stop
The artist is enjoying watching the spinning top and doesn't want it to stop spinning.
You've got me so if I don't go around
The artist is so captivated by the spinning top that they feel like they will fall if they do not spin around with it.
Well I'm sure gonna drop gonna drop gonna drop
If the singer does not spin around with the spinning top, they will fall.
So red top you just keep right on spinning
The singer is addressing the spinning top and encouraging it to keep spinning without stopping.
Remember that if you don't go around
The artist is warning the spinning top that if it stops spinning, the artist will fall.
My sweet little flower you win
The artist is addressing someone they refer to as "my sweet little flower".
I'm spinnin' and I promise I will love you forever
The artist is so enamored with the person they are addressing that they feel like they are spinning like the top and they will love them forever.
I know that there is no one who can thrill me
The singer believes that the person they are addressing is the only one who can make them feel alive and excited.
No one can kill me baby like you do
The artist is saying that the person they are addressing has so much control over them that they have the ability to "kill" them emotionally.
And I tell the world I'm in love with you
The singer wants to let everyone know that they are in love with the person they are addressing.
Yes I'm in love with you
The singer reiterates that they are in love with the person they are addressing.
Any old thing you say and everything that you do
The singer is saying that they are so in love with the person they are addressing that anything they say or do is perfect in the eyes of the singer.
So baby won't you tell me you're mine
The artist is asking the person they are addressing to commit to them.
And hold me tight through the night If you love me
The artist wants the person they are addressing to hold them tight if they truly love the artist.
Gonna go spinning and spinning
The singer is comparing their love for the person they are addressing to the spinning top, and saying that they will keep spinning around in love.
Don't you ever stop
The singer is asking the person they are addressing to never stop loving them.
‘Cause I'm high upon a dream and I don't want to drop now
The artist is saying that their love for the person they are addressing is like a dream and they don't want that feeling to go away.
I would take a solo but I don't know
The artist is referencing a musical solo, but saying that they can't take one because they are so in love and distracted by the person they are addressing.
I gotta go right on spinning
The artist is saying that they need to keep spinning around in love.
It's a symbol of my little red top
The singer is comparing their love for the person they are addressing to a spinning top, which is a childhood toy and an innocent symbol of the singer's love.
I gotta go right on spinning
The artist repeats that they need to keep spinning around in love.
I gotta go round and round
The singer is describing the cyclical nature of their love, which they compare to the spinning top.
Until I tumble down and fall with a drop mornin' glory
The singer is saying that they will keep spinning around in love until they crash, like the spinning top, and the aftermath will be beautiful like the morning glory flower.
Now you know the story of my little red top
The singer is ending the song by summarizing their love story by comparing it to a childhood toy, the little red spinning top.
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., PRINCESS MUSIC PUBLISHING CORP
Written by: WOODY HERMAN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@oakbank214
Who is still listening to this in 2024 ❤
@marydwyer3241
Lost my brother in 2019 to brain cancer. Been playing this song ever since😢.
@olwinmcdonald563
I am 💗
@joerowlinson4498
Me too at 81.Joyful
@MrVaug
@@marydwyer3241Lost my mother to cancer, we played this at her funeral 💔
@Christian-fk9xg
i am
@benefitpartnersdirect2065
I graduated from high school with Eva and had the privilege of seeing her live before she died. So, so good. An amazing talent and also a very humble and sweet lady. A tragic loss....
@laurieelliott1969
That is so cool, this will play when I go to heaven. Love rainbows and what God made. Gonna fly like a bluebird and troubles fly away.
@bryanrendleman2001
She was the most amazing singing talent to ever perform.
@AngelaDoyle-jh9gn
How privileged you are to have known such amazing talent.