Judith Anne Henske (December 20, 1936 – April 27, 2022) was an American singer and songwriter, dubbed "the Queen of the Beatniks" by producer Jack Nitzsche. Initially performing in folk clubs in the early 1960s, her performances and recordings embraced blues, jazz, show tunes, and humorous material. Her 1963 recording of "High Flying Bird" was influential on folk-rock, and her 1969 album Farewell Aldebaran, with husband Jerry Yester, was an eclectic "fusion of folk music, psychedelia, and arty pop".
Through her manager, Herb Cohen, she gained the attention of Jac Holzman and Elektra Records, for whom she made two solo albums. The first of these, a recording of a nightclub performance, highlighted the offbeat humor in her live performances with musical arrangements by Onzy Matthews; the second featured Billy Edd Wheeler's song "High Flying Bird", a minor hit in 1963 that was later covered by many bands of the era, including Jefferson Airplane. During this time, she worked extensively in New York as a solo singer, and shared the stage with Woody Allen, among others. Her relationship with Allen is said to have informed the script of Annie Hall, a character from Chippewa Falls similar to Henske.
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Links to Peel[]
Although Judy Henske made her name with her solo records for Elektra Records, Peel ignored them, probably because they had been recorded and issued in the early 1960s, while he was living in the USA and before the label had moved on from its folk origins. The albums were not released in the UK. It is possible that he might have heard of her then, as he liked some American night-club comedians of the era; in Margrave Of The Marshes he describes how, on the Kat's Karavan radio show he listened (and briefly contributed) to when he was living in Dallas, the blues records he liked were "interspersed with comedy tracks by Jonathan Winters, Shelley Berman, Bob Newhart or Brother Dave Gardner (a big local favourite)" (p.151). Judy Henske seemed to have contacts with noted comedians, as well as including comedy in her stage act.
However, in 1969-70 Peel did take to the album she recorded with Jerry Yester for Frank Zappa's label Straight Records, Farewell Aldebaran, and particularly the track "Three Ravens", which became a lasting favourite. Later, Judy Henske perfomed with the band Rosebud whose sole LP was also issued on Straight in 1971 and was available on import in London shops. Peel took an interest in the Straight label's releases, so he may have played a track or two from the album, although there is no evidence of this so far in the relatively few existing playlists from that year. A few years later Judy Henske retired from the music business to raise a family and did not return to performing until the 1990s, which helps explain why no further records by her were played on Peel's shows.
Festive Fifty Entries[]
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Sessions[]
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Other Shows Played[]
- 27 September 1969: Three Ravens (LP - Farewell Aldebaran) Straight
- 11 October 1969: Three Ravens (LP - Farewell Aldebaran) Straight
- 01 November 1969: Three Ravens (LP: Farewell Aldebaran) Straight
- 29 November 1969: Snowblind (LP - Farewell Aldebaran) Straight
- 13 December 1969: Three Ravens (LP - Farewell Aldebaran) Straight
- 20 November 2001: Three Ravens (LP - Farewell Aldebaran) Straight
- November 2001 (FSK): Three Ravens (LP - Farewell Aldebaran) Straight