The Neal Casal Music Foundation shared the posthumous Neal Casal Christmas ballad, “Cora Jones.” While versions of the song have circulated, “Cora Jones” had never been officially released until today.
A press release gave some history on the late singer-songwriter’s “Cora Jones”:
In the early 1990s, Neal Casal spent much of his free time on outdoor adventures with his close friends Eric and Libby McDonald near their house in rural Wisconsin. It was a beautiful, idyllic time that stunningly and sadly was broken by the kidnapping and murder of a 12-year old local girl, Cora Jones. The community was devastated by this awful event and Casal was particularly affected to think such horror could randomly come to this special place he loved to visit. He was moved to write “Cora Jones” as a tribute to her and what he learned about her short life.
Casal recorded “Cora Jones” in 1998 at Studio City in Van Nuys, California with producer Jim Scott. Along with Neal on vocals and guitar, the track also features Greg Leisz on bass and pedal steel guitar, John Ginty on piano and Don Heffington on drums.
As the song revolves around Christmas, the musicians float into the “Silent Night” melody during the coda giving Jim Scott the last-minute idea to call his friend and renowned opera singer Juliana Gondek to sing over the melody. After fighting through L.A. traffic, Gondek delivered her gorgeous vocal in one take, “capping off an emotional and incredible day of recording for Casal on what he considered one of his greatest songs,” as per the press release.
Jim Scott remixed “Cora Jones” in 2022 from the original analog master tape. Listen in the lyric video below:
