Music with Judee Sill
Judee Sill & David Bearden, Mill Valley, CA, 1973
Photograph by James Bearden
“Sill was a genius and we sort of thought of ourselves as genderless angels that had a message for the world.”
— David Bearden, Judee Sill: Dreams Come True
Judee Sill's music style is mystic Christian folk, influenced by classical composers such as Mahler, Beethoven, and Bach. Graham Nash produced the first single for her first album, "Jesus Was A Cross Maker," released to radio in 1971—the album Judee Sill soon followed. Sill toured with Graham Nash and David Crosby as their opening act.
Soon after, Sill became the first artist signed to David Geffen's Asylum label and released two albums. She sold her song "Lady-O" to The Turtles and made the cover of Rolling Stone.
Judee Sill and David Bearden are known for their personal and professional relationship that inspired her second album Heart Food (1973). Bearden played on it and wrote the lyrics to Sill's solo piano song "When the Bridegroom Comes." They toured internationally with Roy Harper and Jimmy Page and performed at the legendary Royal Albert Hall, among other venues. Bearden fulfilled the role of a Cowboy-Jesus figure for Sill, accompanying her on the guitar. She gave him solo time onstage covering Hank Williams' songs like "Someday You'll Call My Name" and "Weary Blues." While on tour, they kept an intimate joint diary released in Bearden’s 2018 poetry book, The Mental Traveler.
Artists like Bonnie Prince Billy, Cass Elliot, Linda Ronstadt, The Hollies, and Warren Zevon have covered her songs and inspired Iggy Pop to write a song called "Young, Loud & Snotty."
To learn more see Bearden's Biography "Music with Judee Sill (1972-1975)."
In response to Lost Angel: The Genius of Judee Sill documentary.
