Judith Anne Henske, an American singer-songwriter nicknamed “the Queen of the Beatniks” by producer Jack Nitzsche, died on April 27 in a nursing home “after a long illness,” according to a statement sent to the press by her husband. , Craig Doerge.
Known as Judy Henske, the artist was born in Chippewa Falls (Wisconsin) and took her first steps as a singer at Rosary College in River Forest (Illinois), and at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In 1959 she moved to San Diego, where she performed at various venues and participated in the recording of an album called ‘Coffee House’ with other artists. She then moved to Los Angeles, where she gained notoriety as a ballad singer and was booked to perform in different states.
While performing in Oklahoma City in 1962, Henske was recruited by former Kingston Trio member Dave Guard to join the Whiskey Hill Singers ., with whom he recorded the album ‘Dave Guard and the Whiskeyhill Singers’. In 1963 she participated in the recording of the soundtracks of ‘How the West Was Won’ and ‘The Original Hootenanny’, and a few months later, Jac Holzman signed her to the Elektra Records label through her manager Herb Cohen (Frank Zappa, among others). There she released two albums that combined folk, blues, jazz, and stand-up comedy. The first of these was ‘Judy Henske’, a recording of a nightclub performance with musical arrangements by Onzy Matthews; and the second was ‘High Flying Bird’, which included the homonymous song composed by Billy Edd Wheeler, and which shortly after would become an icon of folk-rock-covered by bands like Jefferson Airplane or The Wizards From Kansas (it was also the inspiration for the name of Noel Gallagher’s project after the breakup of Oasis).
It is said that Woody Allen was inspired by her for the main character of Diane Keaton in ‘Annie Hall’, which not surprisingly, also hailed from Chippewa Falls. The filmmaker met her at late-night stand-up sessions at Los Angeles cafes like the Unicorn on Sunset Strip, where she befriended fellow celebrity comedians like Lenny Bruce. She also rubbed shoulders with singer-songwriters Phil Ochs (she appeared in the 2011 documentary ‘Phil Ochs: There but for Fortune’) and Jackson Browne, with film critic Pauline Kael and with writers like Eve Babitz, Shel Silverstein or Andrew Vachss, who she wrote of her the phrase: “If Linda Ronstadt, as a singer, is a torch… Henske is a flamethrower”.
In 1966 she recorded another live album, ‘The Death Defying Judy Henske’, and several singles arranged and produced by Jack Nitzsche, and three years later she recorded the baroque/psychedelic folk album ‘Farewell Aldebaran’ for Frank Zappa’s Straight Records label. . In the 1970s and 1980s she participated in several of her husband’s recordings, and after a long retirement as a solo singer-songwriter, she returned to performing in Los Angeles clubs in the 1990s and released two more albums, ‘Loose In the World’ (1999 ) and ‘She Sang California’ (2004). In February 2007, Rhino Records released a limited edition 2CD compilation of her recordings, ‘Big Judy: How Far This Music Goes’ (1962-2004), spanning her entire career.
Amelia Warner
Amelia Warner writes all the Latest Articles. She mostly covers Entertainment topics, but at times loves to write about movie reviews as well.
