Judy Henske (born 20 December 1936, Chippewa Falls,
WisconsinWisconsin is one of the fifty U.S. states. Located in the north-central United States, Wisconsin is considered part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the...
) is an American singer and songwriter, once known as "the Queen of the Beatniks".
Henske attended Notre Dame Grade School and Notre Dame-McDonell Memorial High School, and then Rosary College,
River Forest, IllinoisRiver Forest, often abbreviated RoFo, is an affluent suburban village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Two universities make their home in River Forest, Dominican University and Concordia University Chicago. The village is closely tied to the larger neighboring community of Oak Park,...
before studying at the
University of Wisconsin–MadisonThe University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...
. She then worked in the office at
Oberlin CollegeOberlin College is a private liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio. It was founded in 1833 by Presbyterian ministers, and is home to the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, making it the only top-ranked liberal arts college with a top-ranked conservatory...
,
OhioOhio is a Midwestern state of the United States. The thirty-fourth largest state by area in the U.S., it is the seventh-most populous with nearly 11.5 million residents...
, before moving to
Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia is the largest city in Pennsylvania and the sixth-most-populous city in the United States.In 2008, the population of the city proper was estimated to be over 1.4 million, while the metropolitan area's population of 5.8 million made it the country's fifth-largest...
, where she worked as a cook in a Quaker co-operative.
Around 1959, she relocated to
San Diego, CaliforniaSan Diego , named after Saint Didacus , is the second-largest city in California and the ninth largest city in the United States, located along the Pacific Ocean on the west coast of the United States. The US Census Bureau estimates the city's population at 1,279,329 as of 2008...
, where she lived on a sloop in the yacht basin.
Judy Henske (born 20 December 1936, Chippewa Falls,
WisconsinWisconsin is one of the fifty U.S. states. Located in the north-central United States, Wisconsin is considered part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the...
) is an American singer and songwriter, once known as "the Queen of the Beatniks".
Life and recording career
Henske attended Notre Dame Grade School and Notre Dame-McDonell Memorial High School, and then Rosary College,
River Forest, IllinoisRiver Forest, often abbreviated RoFo, is an affluent suburban village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Two universities make their home in River Forest, Dominican University and Concordia University Chicago. The village is closely tied to the larger neighboring community of Oak Park,...
before studying at the
University of Wisconsin–MadisonThe University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...
. She then worked in the office at
Oberlin CollegeOberlin College is a private liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio. It was founded in 1833 by Presbyterian ministers, and is home to the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, making it the only top-ranked liberal arts college with a top-ranked conservatory...
,
OhioOhio is a Midwestern state of the United States. The thirty-fourth largest state by area in the U.S., it is the seventh-most populous with nearly 11.5 million residents...
, before moving to
Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia is the largest city in Pennsylvania and the sixth-most-populous city in the United States.In 2008, the population of the city proper was estimated to be over 1.4 million, while the metropolitan area's population of 5.8 million made it the country's fifth-largest...
, where she worked as a cook in a Quaker co-operative.
Around 1959, she relocated to
San Diego, CaliforniaSan Diego , named after Saint Didacus , is the second-largest city in California and the ninth largest city in the United States, located along the Pacific Ocean on the west coast of the United States. The US Census Bureau estimates the city's population at 1,279,329 as of 2008...
, where she lived on a sloop in the yacht basin. She began singing in coffee houses in
Pacific BeachPacific Beach is a neighborhood of San Diego, bounded by La Jolla to the north, Mission Beach and Mission Bay to the south, Interstate 5 to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. While largely populated by young people, surfers, and college students, the population is becoming older, more...
, San Diego, and
Los AngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the municipality of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123.445 inhabitants...
, where she worked with the likes of
Lenny BruceLenny Bruce , born Leonard Alfred Schneider, was an American stand-up comedian, writer, social critic and satirist of the 1950s and 1960s. His 1964 conviction in an obscenity trial led to the first posthumous pardon in New York history.-Early life:Bruce was born in Mineola, New York, grew up in...
. She then moved on to
Oklahoma CityOklahoma City is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma.Oklahoma City may also refer to:*Oklahoma City metropolitan area*Downtown Oklahoma City*Uptown Oklahoma City*Oklahoma City bombing*Oklahoma City National Memorial...
, before joining ex-Kingston Trio member
Dave GuardDave Guard , was an American folk singer, songwriter, arranger and recording artist. Along with Nick Reynolds and Bob Shane, he was one of the founding members of The Kingston Trio....
and the
Whiskeyhill SingersThe Whiskeyhill Singers were formed in early 1961 by Dave Guard after he left the Kingston Trio. Guard formed the Singers as an attempt to return to the Trio's earlier roots in folk music. The Singers lasted about six months before disbanding...
around 1961 in
Menlo Park, CaliforniaMenlo Park is an affluent city in San Mateo County, in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. It is located at latitude 37°29' North, longitude 122°9' East. Menlo Park had 29,964 inhabitants as of the 2007 U.S. Census.-History:...
, recording an album.
After the Whiskey Hill Singers disbanded she returned to Hollywood. She got a big boost when given a solo guest shot on ABC-TV's
HootenannyHootenanny was a musical variety television show broadcast in the United States on ABC from April 1963 to September 1964. The program was hosted by Jack Linkletter...
, and was signed as a series regular on
The Judy Garland ShowThe Judy Garland Show is an American musical variety television series. The show aired on CBS during the 1963-1964 television season. Despite a sometimes stormy relationship with Judy Garland, CBS had found success with several television specials featuring the star...
. Henske was quickly dropped, however, after critics panned her and accused
CBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is an American television network, one of television's original "big three", which also include NBC and ABC. Like NBC, CBS started out as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System...
of a cynical attempt to lure younger viewers to Garland's show. Henske appeared, as a performer, in the 1963 exploitation movie "Hootenanny Hoot" at the height of the folk music craze.
However, she gained the attention of
Jac HolzmanJac Holzman founded Elektra Records in his St. John's College dorm room in 1950 and Nonesuch Records in 1964. He signed such legendary acts as The Doors and the Paul Butterfield Blues Band to Elektra and discovered folk singer Judy Collins. In 1970 he sold all his music interests to Kinney...
and
Elektra RecordsElektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009.-Beginnings:...
, for whom she made two solo albums. The first of these highlighted her offbeat humour in her live performances; the second featured
Billy Edd WheelerBilly Edward "Edd" Wheeler is an American songwriter, performer, writer and visual artist. He has written songs performed by over 90 different artists including Judy Collins, Bobby Darin, The Kingston Trio, Johnny Cash, Neil Young, Kenny Rogers, and Elvis Presley.Wheeler is also author of 16 plays...
's song "High Flying Bird", a minor hit later covered by many bands of the era including
Jefferson AirplaneJefferson Airplane was an American rock band formed in San Francisco in 1965. A pioneer of the psychedelic rock movement, Jefferson Airplane was the first band from the San Francisco scene to achieve mainstream commercial and critical success....
. During this time she worked extensively as a solo singer in New York, working among others with
Woody AllenWoody Allen is an American screenwriter, film director, actor, comedian, writer, musician, and playwright....
, with whom she had a relationship. There was speculation that the character
Annie HallAnnie Hall is a 1977 American romantic comedy film directed by Woody Allen from a script co-written with Marshall Brickman. One of Allen's most popular films, it won numerous awards at the time of its release, including four Academy Awards, and in 2002 Roger Ebert referred to it as "just about...
, born in Chippewa Falls, was partly inspired by Henske, although longtime love interest
Diane KeatonDiane Keaton is an American film actress, director, and producer. Keaton began her career on stage, and made her screen debut in 1970...
, born Diane Hall, was also a prototype for the character.
Henske married musician
Jerry YesterJerry Yester is an American folk rock musician, record producer, arranger.Growing up in Burbank, California, Yester formed a duo with brother Jim, the Yester Brothers, and starting playing folk clubs in Los Angeles in 1960. While Jim was in the army, Jerry joined first the New Christy Minstrels,...
in 1963, and continued to work, appearing in
Anita LoosAnita Loos was an American screenwriter, playwright and author. On pronouncing her name, "The family has always used the correct French pronunciation which is lohse...
' musical
"Gogo Loves You" in
Greenwich VillageGreenwich Village , often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families. Greenwich Village, however, was known in the late 19th – earlier to mid 20th...
in 1964 at the Theatre de Lys, in which her performance was praised as "utterly delightful," as well as singing at many New York and East Coast clubs. After a failed attempt in the mid-60s by
Mercury RecordsMercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Music Group in the US, and are both subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal Music...
to present her as an all-round entertainer, she and Yester moved back to
Laurel CanyonLaurel Canyon can refer to several things:*Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles, California, an area in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles*Laurel Canyon Boulevard, a street that connects the San Fernando Valley to Hollywood that passes through Laurel Canyon...
before returning to the East Coast when Yester joined
The Lovin' SpoonfulThe Lovin' Spoonful is an American pop rock band of the 1960s, named to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. When asked about his band, leader John Sebastian said it sounded like a combination of "Mississippi John Hurt and Chuck Berry."...
.
In 1969, she returned to music with Yester, making the baroque / psychedelic
folkThe term folk music originated in the 19th century as a term for musical folklore. It has been defined in several ways; as music transmitted by word of mouth, music of the lower classes, music with no known composer...
album
Farewell AldebaranFarewell Aldebaran by Judy Henske and Jerry Yester is an album of folk rock and psychedelic songs issued in 1969.Henske and Yester met while both were working in the West Coast folk scene in the early 1960s, Henske as an uncategorizable solo singer recording folk, blues, jazz and comedy, and Yester...
for
Frank ZappaFrank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, electronic, orchestral, and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed album...
’s
Straight RecordsStraight Records was a record label formed in 1969 to distribute productions and discoveries of Frank Zappa and his business partner/manager Herb Cohen. Straight was formed at the same time as a companion label, Bizarre Records. Straight and Bizarre were manufactured and distributed in the U.S. by...
. The pair then formed a band,
RosebudRosebud was the name of an American popular music group which released a single, eponymous album in 1971.Its members were Judy Henske, Jerry Yester, Craig Doerge, John Seiter, and David Vaught. The album was a follow-up to the Henske-Yester collaboration, Farewell Aldebaran...
, making a further album before they separated and Henske returned to domestic life with musician
Craig Doerge' is an American keyboard player, songwriter and session musician.He began playing in a college band at Hartford, Connecticut, and then moved to Los Angeles in the mid-1960s to work as a studio player and songwriter with A&M Records, and with Jim Keltner and others playing on cartoon soundtracks...
; they married in 1973.
Henske then retired from the stage, but continued to write songs. She returned to performing in the 1990s, releasing two subsequent albums
Loose In the World (1999) and
She Sang California (2004). In February 2007, Rhino Records issued a limited edition 2-CD compilation set of her recordings,
Big Judy: How Far This Music Goes (1962-2004), covering her entire career.
Henske and Doerge now live in
Pasadena, CaliforniaPasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States; and is a satellite city of Los Angeles. Famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and the Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home of many leading scientific and cultural institutions, including the...
, where they continue to write and record.
Influence
Crime writer
Andrew VachssAndrew Henry Vachss is an American crime fiction author, child protection consultant, and attorney exclusively representing children and youths...
is a fan of Henske, and has promoted her music in some of his novels.
Albums
- Dave Guard and the Whiskeyhill Singers, 1962 (Capitol T/ST-1728) (as member of group)
- How the West Was Won (soundtrack, as member of group singing "900 Miles" and "Ox Driver's Song")
- Judy Henske, 1963 (Elektra EKS-7231)
- High Flying Bird, 1963 (Elektra EKS-7241)
- Little Bit of Sunshine… Little Bit of Rain, 1965 (Mercury SR 61010/MG 21010)
- The Death Defying Judy Henske, 1966 (Reprise R-6203)
- Farewell Aldebaran
Farewell Aldebaran by Judy Henske and Jerry Yester is an album of folk rock and psychedelic songs issued in 1969.Henske and Yester met while both were working in the West Coast folk scene in the early 1960s, Henske as an uncategorizable solo singer recording folk, blues, jazz and comedy, and Yester...
, 1969 (with Jerry Yester) (Straight Records STS-1052/Reprise Records RS-6388)
- Rosebud
Rosebud was the name of an American popular music group which released a single, eponymous album in 1971.Its members were Judy Henske, Jerry Yester, Craig Doerge, John Seiter, and David Vaught. The album was a follow-up to the Henske-Yester collaboration, Farewell Aldebaran...
, 1971 (as member of group) (Reprise RS 6426)
- Loose in the World, 1999 (Fair Star Music)
- She Sang California, 2004 (Fair Star Music)
- Big Judy: How Far This Music Goes, 1962-2004 (box set) 2007 (Rhino Handmade)
Singles
- "That's Enough" / "Oh, Didn't He Ramble," 1962 (Staccato 101 and Gold Leaf 1001). Credited to Judy Hart
- Rider ! 1963 (Capitol) The Kingston Trio album Sunny Side
- "I Know You Rider" / "Love Henry," 1963 (Elektra 45004)
- "High Flyin' Bird" / "Charlotte Town," 1963 (Elektra 45007)
- "Til The Real Thing Comes Along" / "Lonely Train," 1963 (Elektra 45010)
- "Crazy He Calls Me" / "Baby," 1965 (Mercury 72387)
- "Road to Nowhere" / "Sing A Rainbow," 1966 (Reprise 0485)
- "Day To Day" / "Dolphins In The Sea," 1966 (Reprise 0587)
External links