Hear

Judee Sill: Lost Angel, Lost Too Soon

Despite influencing fellow artists including Liz Phair, Shawn Colvin, Warren Zevon and XTC’s Andy Partridge, Judee Sill’s life was one of crushing disappointment and frustration.  In 1979 at the age of 35, the unusually gifted singer/songwriter finally succumbed to a punishing drug addiction.

The new documentary, Lost Angel: The Genius of Judee Sill (currently streaming on Amazon Prime) introduces many of us to a tortured talent that was extinguished too soon.

 

At 18, Sill was arrested, convicted, and incarcerated for her part in a spree of southern California armed robberies.  Following her release from prison, she committed her life to a soul-consuming goal of becoming the biggest music star she could possibly be.  The biggest star whoever would be.

Rare breed 70s superstars including Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, and Graham Nash (who produced Sill’s first single, 1971’s “Jesus Was a Cross Maker”, which influenced Nick Lowe’s 1974’s “What’s So Funny ‘Bout Peace, Love, and Understanding”) still uniformly gush over this wonder waif’s exceptional capacity to write, compose, sing and command both guitar and piano.  Her consistently captivating live performances generally consisted of Sill singing while playing one of these instruments as her only accompaniment.

Sill released two albums, 1971’s Judee Sill and Heart Food in 1973. Both were critically acclaimed but didn’t do much commercially. In 1974, she recorded demos for a third album that was set aside until the songs were included in 2005’s posthumous collection, Dreams Come True.

Even though she wasn’t particularly religious, her songs of spiritual strife, anguished longing, and an ill-defined relationship with God proved to be almost entirely inaccessible to the record-buying public.

As she became more self-destructive, David Geffen, initially an enthusiastic supporter of Sill, dropped her from his Asylum label.  And though she would search exhaustively, no other record company would sign her. Defeated and deflated, Sill eventually dropped out of the music industry altogether.

In the agonizing wake of a series of car wrecks and botched back surgery, she descended into dependence on pain meds.  Determining that this did not extricate her from oppressive misery, she consumed copious amounts of practically any controlled substance she could score. Sill was playing for the highest stakes now; it was a desperate game she knew she would never win.

Sill always staunchly believed that her exquisitely personal lyrics and complex melodies would reach and touch everyone everywhere.  Regrettably, these startlingly unguarded and unvarnished confessions by Judee Sill were largely sung for herself.

-John Smistad

Fair use image from Judee Sill

10 comments on “Judee Sill: Lost Angel, Lost Too Soon

  1. Eoghan Michael Lyng

    I saw the documentary last year; a triumph!

    Very nice work, John.

  2. John Smistad

    Thank you, sir.

    May she know peace eternal now.

  3. Great article, John. When I interviewed Russ Giguere of The Association for a few years back, he spoke very fondly about Judee, her music, and his friendship with her. Thanks for shining a light on her life, and her music.

  4. Terrific article, John! I didn’t know Judy until a recent CS article on underrated 70s artists mentioned her. It is so sad to lose such an amazing talent to drug addiction. May God have mercy on her. I read somewhere that she wrote “Jesus Was A Cross Maker” as an “FU” to her ex-boyfriend, JS Souther. Good to see her memory live on in Culture Sonar and to know Judy is an inspiration for young indie singer-songwriters.

  5. Thanks very much, our friend. It would appear that Souther may have been a real jerk in this relationship dynamic, yes.

  6. Ellen Fagan

    Beautiful piece, John, so poignant. Judy was unknown to me until now & I will be doing a deep dive into her music. Hope she is at peace. Her legacy continues.

  7. Thanks, Ellen. Means a lot. Keep on rockin’, girl. :}

  8. Very nice profile of an underappreciated artist who suffered more than most. (I’m doing my own WP profile of Sill, which is how I found yours.) Peace.

  9. Thanks, min venn. Credit goes to fellow CS contributor Christian Flynn, whose piece of last Christmas Eve first introduced me to Sill.

    Here’s the link to Christian’s article: https://www.culturesonar.com/underrated-70s-artists-worth-checking-out/

Leave a Reply (and please be kind!)

Love the Beatles? Get this eBook FREE when you subscribe.

It turns out there's a lot to say. Just say "yes" to get yours.