{"id":808,"date":"2007-02-08T00:51:40","date_gmt":"2007-02-08T04:51:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.chrismclaren.com\/blog\/2007\/02\/08\/if-linda-ronstadt-is-a-torch-singer-then-judy-henske-is-a-flame-thrower\/"},"modified":"2007-02-08T01:00:31","modified_gmt":"2007-02-08T05:00:31","slug":"if-linda-ronstadt-is-a-torch-singer-then-judy-henske-is-a-flame-thrower","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.chrismclaren.com\/blog\/2007\/02\/08\/if-linda-ronstadt-is-a-torch-singer-then-judy-henske-is-a-flame-thrower\/","title":{"rendered":"“If Linda Ronstadt is a torch singer then Judy Henske is a flame thrower”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Big<\/a><\/p>\n

What you are looking at there is the cover of Rhino Handmade<\/a>‘s new limited edition compilation, Big Judy<\/a>. It’s an attempt at a retrospective of the career of Judy Henske<\/a>. While I can’t comment on how successful it is until my copy gets here, I can share my excitement about this with you.<\/p>\n

If you’re already “in the know” then I don’t need to explain that excitement.<\/p>\n

If you’re not… well, let’s see if we can correct that.<\/p>\n

First off, you’ve seen Annie Hall<\/a>, right? Well, word on the street<\/a> is that Judy is<\/em> Annie Hall. That doesn’t tell you anything about her music, but it should pique your interest.<\/p>\n

I first encountered Judy in the pages of Andrew Vachss<\/a>‘ fiction. His series character Burke<\/a> is a huge fan of Henske, and there are often moments in the books where all action stops while Burke is completely captured by Henske. (You can see some excerpts and info<\/a> at Vachss’ web site<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Me, I had never heard of Henske, much less actually heard her. I wasn’t even born the first time her career flourished, and all her music was out of print at the time I was reading the Vachss books.<\/p>\n

Shortly thereafter, though, she released a new album (after a 28 year gap from the previous one), and when I heard about that I thought I would order it. Well, I’m pretty damn glad I indulged that whim, since Loose In The World<\/a> is one of my favourite albums. <\/p>\n

Not long after that some of<\/a> her earlier<\/a> albums<\/a> were rerelased, and I got a chance to see what she had been like back in the day… and was very happy to have the chance. Then she released another new album<\/a>, and of course I got that one. And so on. At this point I think I have everything that’s ever been released on CD.<\/p>\n

Telling you that I’m a fan of hers, of both the old stuff and the newer stuff, isn’t quite the same thing as demonstrating her power to you, is it?<\/p>\n

OK. Try this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\"Back<\/center><\/td>\n
\"Modern<\/center><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Old School Judy<\/strong><\/center><\/td>\n
Modern Day Judy<\/strong><\/center><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"LinkTill The Real Thing Comes Along<\/a><\/center><\/td>\n
\"LinkWish I Had My Old Guitar<\/a><\/center><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

There’s one of the “flame thrower” songs from back in the day, and one of my two favourites from the modern period. That should give you some idea. <\/p>\n

Now you should understand why I’m excited.<\/p>\n

Here are some places you can find out some more information:<\/p>\n