Remembering Jackie Fletcher (1951-2025)

On March 7 Jaclynn Lee Fletcher (1951 – 2025) passed away unexpectedly, but peacefully in her sleep. Jackie, as she was known by her friends, played an important role in the life of Eva Cassidy.

Jacky had met Larry Melton at Smith’s guitar factory where she worked as a financial administrator and they soon became friends. She met “the Bowie kids”, as she called them, including Eva, at one of their gatherings in 1993.These Bowie friends were younger than her, but Jackie liked them and she shared their passion for music. She saw that Eva was much-loved and that this special girl needed extra care. During one of their conversations Jackie discovered that Eva was reluctant to confront her boyfriend, bassist and producer Chris about her feelings. Eva wanted to leave him but she was too nervous to tell him. While Chris was not at home, Jackie, Hugh and Larry helped her to move out.

Eva and Larry Melton in 1984

Jackie decided to offer Eva a room in her big house in Annapolis. Eva visited first and they took a cycling tour of the neighbourhood, since it was not only important to see something of the surroundings but also to assess whether they would enjoy each other’s company. They visited a gallery and they bought an ice cream. Eva decided to stay the night. When she looked out of the window from the bed and saw how beautiful the moon looked silhouetted against the sky, she made up her mind: “I’ll take it.” The view was indeed affecting. It was a very old house, in fact some locals believed it to be haunted. An early owner had kept slaves in the grounds and rumour had it that the slaves had returned after their death, a story that made a huge impression on Eva. She enjoyed ghost stories, and she was as fascinated by the history of slavery as she was appalled by its cruelty.

Eva surrounded herself with fresh flowers, vintage hats and old pieces of furniture she bought at second-hand stores that she painted in light pastels. She filled the house with her arts and crafts. She was prolific, creating new things every day from clay, glass, copper, tin, oil, beads and trinkets. Although Eva appreciated her newfound freedom and loved the house, Jackie could be very outspoken. Eva, in contrast, always needed time to think before she voiced her opinions. She talked deliberately, as if every word was important to her. She began to feel cautious in Jackie’s presence. When Eva arrived home after a long day’s work she would go up to her room, preferring her own company as she always had.

Eva in her room in Jackie Fletcher’s house

Jackie asked Eva to help with cleaning and odd jobs around the house but Eva resisted, preferring to pay Jackie to do it because, as she put it, “I don’t do chores.” She was extremely focused on her music and art and she couldn’t afford to be disturbed during the creative process. But Jackie insisted that Eva be responsible for her “own apartment”, meaning she was left to clean her own kitchen block. There were two exceptions to the rule: they shared the responsibility for the bathroom and in wintertime they worked outside together to clear snow, which was often very deep. Despite their personality differences, Eva and Jackie would have interesting conversations about life, music, art and friendship. They discussed civil rights, discrimination and the horror of slavery.

Jackie Fletcher

Eva barely ever cooked meals and she liked to eat fatty foods, tuna sandwiches being about the only healthy thing she ate. Jackie tried to convince her of the importance of organic food, but it was difficult; Eva had learned bad habits from gigging around town, where after a performance she would stop along the road at a fast-food restaurant or a gas station to buy junk food. Sometimes Jackie would resort to cooking vegetables from her own garden and taking them upstairs to Eva in her room. Jackie tried to help Eva with her finances. Although she was never late with rent, Eva didn’t have a proper bank account and she showed no interest in money: “I didn’t notice that petrol prices have risen… I still get $20 worth,” she once told Jackie.

The two would spend time discussing Eva’s relationship with Chris, Jackie discovering that there were two sides to the story. Chris was not afraid to be blunt and he was difficult in an argument. He didn’t listen to Eva, but she admitted that she’d found it hard to make her feelings clear. Chris and Eva remained close friends and they even went on holiday together after the split.

Eva Cassidy Live at Pearl’s

Jackie taught Eva to be more assertive, making it possible to discuss all kinds of little issues that had grown into mountainous problems in Eva’s mind. Many of these were related to the Eva Cassidy Band. She believed she had lost control musically, that the other band members ignored her ideas. Jackie tried to instil in Eva that without her there would be no Eva Cassidy Band: she was the band’s leader and its namesake – and also its greatest asset.

Jackie encouraged Eva to do some more solo performances in Annapolis. Afterwards, she collect ed contact details of the visitors so that they would get an invitation again next time.Eva’s new home town was the perfect place for small or solo gigs. The old town had plenty of bars and restaurants interested in low profile and acoustic live music. The atmosphere in the bars and restaurants had a certain Englishness and people liked to listen to well-played songs. Eva’s guitar playing had much improved and it combined perfectly with her voice. For a small audience, watching an Eva Cassidy performance could be a meaningful musical event.

Eva’s shyness remained a problem, though, especially for those who didn’t know her well. She lost herself completely in her singing, her voice alone transporting the listeners – she would look at the ground constantly, very rarely making eye contact with her audience. For this reason, Eva liked to play in dark and somewhat dingy bars and restaurants. Pearl’s was a small dark restaurant in a strip mall across the street from a cemetery. Punters ate in total silence when Eva performed and she felt safe because she wasn’t hindered by spotlights. Several live recordings were made at Pearl’s and appeared initially on the 1994 bootleg album Live At Pearl’s. They would later be included in various combinations on the albums American Tune (2003), Somewhere (2008) and Simply Eva (2011). Eva played at the old Reynold’s Tavern on Friday, October 7, 1994, with Dan and their friend Larry Melton.

Jackie Fletcher said about this gig: “When Eva, Dan and Larry played together the pure sound of all their instruments was extraordinary… no distortion, no equipment… Eva may have had a mic, but otherwise, they were all acoustic, if I remember correctly. This must have been one of Eva Cassidy’s best performances ever.”

Eva Cassidy at Blues Alley, Georgetown

In the sleeve notes of her Live at Blues Alley album Eva offered a slightly odd acknowledgement to “Jackie Fletcher for not making me buy sugar”. In the context of the lyrics to ‘Honeysuckle Rose’ it is possible to conclude that this was a veiled declaration of affection, but of course it may also simply refer to Jackie having persuaded Eva not to take sugar in her tea as she was beginning to have a weight problem. Jackie reacted: “It was kind of silly that she put that writing into the liner notes. It was about how when we were housemates, and shared a kitchen, that I tried to tell her that she need not buy sugar – because I had lots of it in store… that’s all! It fit into the lyrics of ‘Honeysuckle Rose’, I believe, and made sense to her. I was very appreciative to appear in the liner notes, but it was very, very silly.”