Judy Collins: Artist of the Month October 2021

1975

 

 

Earlier this month I signed up to usher a Judy Collins concert. Given that she’s 82 years old, I did so with some trepidation. I’ve been listening to Judy blue eyes since the 1960s—yes, the Crosby, Stills & Nash song “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” was written in her honor—and I know that Old Man Time can be cruel to singers. He stole Linda Ronstadt’s voice and reduced Pete Seeger to a croak, a descriptor that would be charitable if applied to 76-year-old Stephen Stills. Joni Mitchell is five years younger than Collins and you are unlikely ever again to hear her on the stage.

 

Now

 

Imagine the delight at being able to write this line: Judy Collins still sings like an angel. Unless you ascribe to the theory that she met the Devil at the crossroads and traded her soul for the ability to sing, a lucky roll of the genetic dice is the only possible explanation. It would be facile to say that she sounds as good as she ever did, but her voice is to agelessness what Catherine Deneuve’s body is to the human figure.

 

Collins performed a 90-minute set at Northampton’s Academy of Music in which she transformed the theatre into an intimate living room in which she held court with song and story. As you might imagine from one whose career began in 1959, Collins has quite a collection of tales to tell, though most of them are slice-of-life amusing rather than slash-and-burn slams. She recounted a few stories about those she has known well: Seeger, Dylan, Eric Anderson, Leonard Cohen, Sandy Denny, Willie Nelson, Stephen Sondheim, and others.

 

It hasn’t all been roses. Her 1958 marriage to Peter A. Taylor ended in divorce in 1965 and their only child, Clark committed suicide in 1992 at age 33. She has been candid about this, her bout with smoking, and struggles to overcome TB and bulimia. She also had high-profile relationships with actor Stacy Keach, singer John Phillips, TV personality Geraldo Rivera, and Stephen Stills before beginning a relationship with fashion designer Louis Nelson in 1978. (They married in 1996.) I suppose by the standards of the day, this makes Collins practically a saint!

 

Music, though, has always been at the fore of Collins’ life. Curmudgeons sometimes dismiss Collins. She has raised ire by covering so many Dylan songs, though why you’d want to hear his vocals over hers is beyond me; the clarity of Collins’ tones are unparalleled.  She’s seldom a grit-and-drama performer, though she’s a first-class interpreter other people’s compositions. Two of her biggest hits, “Both Sides Now” and “Chelsea Morning” were penned by Joni Mitchell at a time when Collins was a far bigger star than Mitchell. Collins’ career speaks for itself: 28 solo albums, 4 of which went gold and two others that rose to platinum. In addition to her folk and pop offerings, she has also interpreted Stephen Sondheim songs–he won a Grammy thanks to her cover of “Send in the Clowns”–other show tunes, popularized Leonard Cohen offerings, and was practically a one-woman Jacques Brel revival machine. I’m not ashamed to say that her 1975 album Judith is among my all-time favorites.

 

At the Academy of Music show, Collins stuck to her folk repertoire. For most of the show she stood front and center with her 12-string guitar and was accompanied by a pianist. Later, she plopped down on the bench and, as one who was schooled in Mozart, proved she knows her way around the ivories. She was especially adroit at lush arpeggios–perfect for spotlighting her ability to ascend and descend the scales. It was also the right tool for one of her own superb compositions, “The Blizzard,” a song so beautiful it aches. My only beef is this: Lose the baroque wig!

 

Here is a list of my ten all-time favorite Collins recordings, in alphabetical order. My first brainstorm had twice as many titles, so if you ask me tomorrow, I might have a different list.

 

·      “The Blizzard” – It turns winter and trust into magic

·      “Both Sides Now” –Cover that arguably made Mitchell a household name

·      “Houses” – One of her own, orchestral and lovely

·      “Last Thing on My Mind” –Early recording that gave boost to Tom Paxton

·      “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress” – Deeply moving Jimmy Webb cover

·      “Rainbow Connection” –Not even Kermit can sing it better!

·      “Send in the Clowns” –No bloody wonder Sondheim won a Grammy

·      “Silver Skies Blue” –This is what Collins sounds like in her 80s

·      “Suzanne” – Leonard Cohen classic, but who’d you rather hear sing it?

·      “Who Knows Where the Time Goes?”– I heard this before I knew of Sandy Denny and am forever grateful to Collins for the introduction

 

Rob Weir