Judy Henske

Henske was--is-- no ordinary folk singer. She signed to Elektra Records in '63, when it was a young, still-vital label, and recorded one of the classic folk albums of all time (HIGH FLYING BIRD). She performed at legendary clubs like the Village Gate, the hungry i and Mr. Kelly's--sometimes on a bill with Woody Allen or Lenny Bruce--and on TV, including a memorable appearance on the short-lived JUDY GARLAND SHOW. Her early albums were characterized by a breathtaking eclecticism--she recorded everything from Buckeye Jim and Empty Bed Blues to Baltimore Oriole and Bart Howard's You Are Not My First Love--though she clearly had a special affinity for the blues--the full-out, wailing kind. Her live album, 1965's live DEATH-DEFYING JUDY HENSKE, with its long sections of between-song repartee, gave a good sense of her dry, hip sense of humor, which would later surface in her self-penned songs.All this won her a cult of lifelong fans. Which is fortunate because, after a mere four solo albums recorded in the '60s, Henske decided to take about 25 years off to raise her daughter and to write songs with musician-husband Craig Doerge, songs that would be recorded by the likes of Bette Midler (Yellow Beach Umbrella) and Crosby Stills & Nash (Might As Well Have a Good Time). But with the release in 2000 of LOOSE IN THE WORLD--her first solo album in all that time--it was as if she had never been gone. The fans are still there, most of the old albums have been reissued on CD, and she is winning fresh hosannahs from critics. (Rock critic Dave Marsh hailed her, in Playboy, as "beyond all categories except 'legendary' and 'great.'")Judy performs 'God bless the child' on "The Judy Garland Show." For more about Judy, please go to http://www.judyhenske.com