Evie Sands - Legacy

Legacy

Artists who have recorded versions of Evie Sands' songs include Barbra Streisand, Gladys Knight, Karen Carpenter, Arthur Prysock, Juice Newton, Linda Ronstadt, and Dusty Springfield, who went on record citing Sands as "my favourite female singer" and in fact recorded backing vocals on "Lady of the Night", a cut from Sands' Suspended Animation LP. She also has a popular following, and huge respect, amongst Northern Soul fans. Similarly to Springfield, who underwent a British-led return to popularity in the late-1980s, Sands saw a burgeoning cult following build around her when a new wave of pre-grunge British indie bands sang her praises and recorded her songs. Amongst these were Teenage Fanclub, BMX Bandits, and Spiritualized, whose first single was a version of "Any Way That You Want Me". Later on, Belle and Sebastian also declared themselves fans, performing with Evie on her first trip to Europe, whilst she was promoting the Women In Prison album.

Some of Sands' songs have become hit singles in their cover versions, most notably "I Can't Let Go" (The Hollies in 1966 and Linda Ronstadt in 1980) and "Angel of the Morning" (Merrilee Rush in 1968 and Juice Newton in 1981).

Karen Carpenter recorded a version of "I Love Makin' Love to You" in 1980 with producer Phil Ramone intended for her solo debut album; however, the song did not make the final cut for the album (perhaps due to the song's suggestive lyrics), and the album was not released until well after Carpenter's death. In the Karen Carpenter biography Little Girl Blue by Randy L. Schmidt, Evie Sands is quoted as saying she liked Carpenter's version: "When I heard Karen was going to cover it, I imagined her take on it would be similar to mine or closer to the mellow Barbra Streisand version. It turned out to be a perfect blend of both." (Little Girl Blue, p. 203) The track has since surfaced on the Internet and can be downloaded on YouTube, though it still has yet to be released on an album.

In more recent years, Peter Kember, aka Sonic Boom, from the band Spacemen 3, from whose ashes rose Jason Pierce's Spiritualized, also included Sands' original of "I Can't Let Go" on the Spacelines album, which compiled a varied selection of his favourite songs and influences. He even admits to lifting the middle eight of the song for his own "How You Satisfy Me" for his Spectrum project. Both Beck and Beth Orton have covered Sands' "It's This I Am I Find".