The story of Judee Sill, a relatively obscure figure from the early 70s folk-rock scene, starts as another familiar fable of showbiz tragedy.
After a chaotic youth of abuse, addiction and petty crime – including heists on gas stations and liquor stores across California – Sill ended up incarcerated, first in reform school and eventually prison. It was there Sill became determined to pursue what she felt was her musical calling, and upon release, she began playing jazz bass and flute in the dark basements of the Los Angeles club circuit. She was the first artist signed to David Geffen’s Asylum Records in 1971, landing her a Rolling Stone cover and garnering the attention of music industry players like Graham Nash, who approached her as a producer enchanted by her “sense of melody and structure, which was really exceptional”.
