Search - Judy Henske :: Henske, Judy / High Flying Bird

"High Flying Bird" is "Loose in the World"

Gregor von Kallahann | 04/05/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The release of this "two-fer" is a cause for celebration for Judy Henske fans everywhere. Visitors to Judy's fan site know how long fans have been campaigning to get these two classic albums on CD. Now at last, this British import has been made available, which while not as likely to get the promotion a domestic release might receive, certainly is preferable to the previous miserable state of affairs.Judy Henske is an enormous talent and has always been a marketer's nightmare. She was eclectic to the point of being virtually unclassifiable in the early 60s folk boom. Unlike Joan Baez and Judy Collins and so many other women of the era, she sang with barrelhouse gusto and passion. Sure Collins or Baez might do the occasional gospel number, but always with a kind of stately reserve. Henske was much rootsier, attacking Bessie Smith numbers before Janis Joplin was out of high school and covering Billie Holiday tunes while Diana Ross was still cooing "Baby Love." And there are wags out there who insist that Bette Midler did nothing but steal Judy's act.You'll never see Judy's releases in the blues section though (if you're lucky enough to find them in a record shop at all). She would follow up a blues standard with an olde Englishe murder ballad like "Love Henry" or a modern American folk-rock classic like "High Flying Bird." She was, as Dave Marsh has written, "beyond all categories except 'legendary' and 'great' "--a marketing problem as severe in the early 60s as it is today. She might have been better suited for the more eclectic and experimental later 60s, but by then, she was somewhat marginalized (although still recording--and making wonderful records--both as a solo act and with then-husband Jerry Yester).But the two early Elektra albums have a special place in the hearts of Henske fanatics. "Judy Henske" is a splashy debut, replete with comedy monologues and with sassy horn arrangements. "High Flying Bird" is more classically folky with sparer instrumental backing and a less raucous atmosphere. Together they make for a superb introduction to a major talent of the era (well, of any era really). It may surprise you that someone so abundantly talented never got the recogniton she deserved...but hey, she's still alive and kicking and it's not too late. Check her out now!If you sample this release and love it, be sure to get a hold of her recent comeback CD, "Loose In the World." I'm not sure if Judy's getting much in terms of royalties from the re-issues, but the independently released "Loose..." is all her baby and also deserves your attention and support."

What took them so long???

J. Harrell | Mobile, Alabama United States | 11/02/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have loved Judy Henske and her music since I first heard her in the 60's. A friend played her album JUDY HENSKE for me and I was blown away. I had never heard a singer before that literally gave me chill bumps, but Judy did and I have been a fan ever since. These two albums are my favorites - they are what sold many people on Judy Henske and caused them to remain fans over the past thirty plus years. We have long awaited the re-release of these albums on CD - we begged and pleaded for someone to bring us Judy's music from the 60's on a CD and finally someone heard us. Andrew Vachss (the writer) in every one of his Burke novels refers to Judy Henske and calls her "Magic Judy". She is indeed magic. Her voice is like no other - deep, powerful, haunting. She is definitely one of a kind and I can guarantee that if you listen to her once, you will be hooked. I ordered two CD's - one for now and one to put in a safe place for the future. I don't ever want to be without Judy's music."

The Super Voice is back!

Mark Oliva | Muenchsteinach Deutschland | 02/26/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Judy Henske, a small farmer's daughter (only 6'4") who fled from her southern Wisconsin youth, not only was one of the great legends of the 60s folk revival but simply is one of the greatest voices ever downside of the operatic stage. In one way, she was and is everything Janis Joplin would have become. In another, she's everything that Maria Muldaur is trying to be. And in still one more aspect, she does everything fort the blues, folk, cabaret and Moritat songs that Kirsten Flagstad or Birgit Nilsson did for Wagner's Brünnhilde. First and foremost, she's an original, a genuine rarity in any kind of music. Her singing flows from many legacies and still it is all her own, regardless of whether it began with Hoagy Carmichael, Bessie Smith or an unknown songwriter of a century past. This double CD re-release from 1963 and 1964 is simply not to be missed!"