Judy Collins

[jarkko]

http://www.theage.com.au/news/music/gem ... 90392.html

Gem of a voice shines on
March 25, 2006

She is a contemporary of Bob Dylan and Joan Baez and, like them, still performs. Next month one of the divas of American song returns to Melbourne for the first time in almost 40 years.

NEARLY half a century ago, a young woman entered a recording studio in New York. She had an acoustic guitar with her and a voice that would later be described as the language of amethysts.

Judy Collins was 21. It was the winter of 1961, and Collins had driven to the city from Connecticut. Another young hopeful had also blown in to the big smoke that year. His name was Bob Dylan. Their paths would cross many times in the next decade. Collins would record many of his songs, including Like A Rolling Stone, Masters of War, Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues, It's All Over Now, Baby Blue, Simple Twist of Fate and With God on Our Side.

A couple of years and albums later, Collins received a call on behalf of another young singer-songwriter who was just starting out. It was the middle of the night and the caller said there was a young woman who had written a song that Collins might like to record. The phone was then handed to Joni Mitchell, who played Both Sides Now.

The song catapulted Collins from the folk circuit onto the hit parade in 1967, as well as helping Mitchell get a recording contract. Its harpsichord tinkling has dated, but Collins' voice, warm and wise beyond its years, renders the song timeless.

Collins was also instrumental in thrusting another young songwriter into the public arena. His name was Leonard Cohen. Although he was a published author, singing was another matter. He was young, shy and wary of his own talent.

Collins, though, knew he had something special. She recalls that in 1965, Cohen was scheduled to perform at a benefit concert. He started singing Suzanne, stopped midway and walked off. Collins, who was in the wings, persuaded him to return, joined him and together they finished the song.

In recent years Collins, for whom former lover and collaborator Stephen Stills wrote Suite: Judy Blue Eyes, has recorded albums of Dylan and Cohen songs.

"I could sing a whole program of Leonard Cohen at the drop of a hat," she says. In both cases, she has employed a trademark of her music — interpreting the song to draw out new melodic and harmonic possibilities. She has the voice to do it, too. And, she says, it is as strong and healthy as ever — which is to say it has a lilting dreamlike quality that flows like a river, even in conversation, yet has a strong undercurrent of determination.
"I've been very lucky," she says. "It's a combination of a lot of things: good luck, good health, taking care of it and not beating it up — just looking after it."

The amethyst remark is attributed to Richard Farina, poet, novelist, songwriter, friend to Collins, Dylan and Joan Baez and husband to Mimi Baez, Joan's sister. Farina died in a motorcycle accident in 1966, just days after his novel Been Down So Long, It Looks Like Up To Me was published. The year before, he had written the liner notes to Collins' Fifth Album, which in reference to her voice, reads in part:

"Sound not terribly unlike

the melodies you'd hear

if jewels like amethysts

could bloom."

Collins' career is fixed in popular music history with her covers of three songs: Both Sides Now, Send in the Clowns and Amazing Grace. The success of these songs, however, has clouded the depth and diversity of her output. Collins began as a folksinger, mining traditional and contemporary material (she has done exquisite and arguably definitive versions of Who Knows Where the Times Goes? and The Moon is a Harsh Mistress), but as she established herself, genres became unimportant. It was whatever got under her skin.

It's the same today as it was 40 years ago, purely intuitive. "If something hooks me, it hooks me," she says. "I'll know it's right for me. It's hard for me to concentrate solely on my own material because I like to mix it up with songs that I'm attracted to because I am trained really as an interpretative singer."

Collins' passion for her work is undiminished, she says, since she was starting out in the early '60s. "It's even more fun than ever, that's the secret. If you're hooked the way I am, you never stop loving it, you never stop getting better, hopefully, and you never stop trying to get better and you never stop loving the audience."

The barb at the end of all these hooks is that even if you are one of the divas of American song, you still have to practise. "It's hard work," she says. "You've got to keep your hands in shape. I play every day. I do have a trick that I can read while I play, so I can read a mystery or a book about Abraham Lincoln while I'm doing my scales. I learnt to do that while I was a kid in junior high school." Even so, she admits, her memory is not what it used to be. "I was on piano earlier trying to relearn Running For My Life from 1978," she says. "It's got a lot of words, but they're not troubling me, it's the chord structure — I don't know what I did, but I want to learn it again."

For decades, Collins has kept a journal. She writes in it every day. In the mornings she reads a couple of poems by the American poet Billy Collins, just to get the juices flowing (he's "very inspiring") and then she tries to do something of her own. "Yesterday I wrote a poem to my cat." The work ethic is "not for sissies. I like that, it's the way I was brought up."

In her autobigraphy, Trust Your Heart, Collins writes of her parents. Her father was a blind singer who performed across the country, driven to the shows by her mother.

"I rode in the back seat of Claudia (their car) while my mother drove and when it rained the windshield wipers whined and scraped across the glass, and I told my parents the song it sang was 'Daddy works, daddy works'. He did, he worked like a dog."

Her father would often beckon her out onto the stage during his performances, and Collins quotes him saying of her: "This tyke can harmonise with anything, even a car horn, a train whistle."

Singing was in her veins. She had been playing the piano since she was five, mostly classical material, but was drawn to folk music as a teenager. There began her entry into a world of music so old it had roots deep in the cold earth. To listen to her first half-dozen records is to hear a soul full of empathy for that tradition, who then added her own persona and refashioned the music for a new audience. Looking back now, she says: "I just feel so blessed that I have had the privilege to travel around the country like a troubadour and sing my music and make people laugh and cry — hopefully."

Ask who she is singing for, and she replies: "I'm really singing for myself, but there's something that happens — an organic mix of the audience and of my own talent, whatever that might be."

As sweet as her voice is, it is no armour against life's misfortunes. When she was 14, under what she thought was enormous and unfair pressure from her father about her classical piano playing, (she had just performed a Mozart concert and was practising a Paganini transcription for piano) she fell into despair and took about 100 aspirin tablets. She had the presence of mind, while panicking, to ring a friend for help.

Her first marriage ended in divorce (she has since remarried) and a custody battle for her son Clark, which she lost. For many years, she liked a drink, and one of her occasional drinking partners was Janis Joplin. (She quotes a Joplin line in her biography: "Don't compromise yourself, you're all you've got.") She underwent therapy for many years, entered rehab for her drinking in the '70s and has been sober ever since.

Then, in 1992, came the biggest blow of all. Her son, who had been in recovery for alcoholism, killed himself. From his death Collins wrote the book Sanity & Grace, which details his death and her path through that grief.

Running parallel with her music has been her commitment to social causes. Although not as strident as Baez, Collins has lent her name and voice to opposing racism and segregation in the American South, the Vietnam War and apartheid in South Africa.

In the '60s, she went on voter registration drives in the South for African-Americans. She has been arrested on picket lines. She says her hero is Nelson Mandela.

"God, what a saint," she says. "He's the person as an example of good conquering evil."

She still believes that good will prevail. "I do believe most people are trying to improve their attitudes, but they're burdened with all sorts of problems — bad upbringing, poverty, desperation. "It's a naturally occurring balance of good and evil and everybody's struggling, and what's that saying — 'What is a good man, but a bad man's teacher. What is a bad man, but a good man's job.' "

To Collins, "prayer does everything. Forgiveness is the real key." There may be the lilt of a dreamer in these sentiments, but her sincerity is real. For nearly 50 years it has flowed through her songs.

As to why it has taken almost 40 years to return to Australia, Collins can only offer an apology. "It's been four decades and I have no excuse. I don't know what happened — the time just went by."

Judy Collins will perform at Hamer Hall, Melbourne, on April 7. Her new album is Portrait of an American Girl.

MILESTONES JUDY COLLINS

1939-1960
■Born on May 1, 1939. Starts playing piano at five, makes public debut at 13, converts to guitar and traditional music at 15 after hearing Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger. Begins performing in folk clubs.

1961

■Releases first album, A Maid of Constant Sorrow, consisting of traditional material. Sings at a presidential dinner for John F. Kennedy.

1963

■Records with contemporary songwriters such as Bob Dylan.

1964

■Becomes involved in the civil rights movement. Also an activist against the Vietnam War and apartheid.

1967

■Wildflowers album, which contains Both Sides Now, a success, helping to launch career of Joni Mitchell.

1975

■Send in the Clowns wins Grammy for song of the year.

1992

■Son Clark commits suicide.

1994

■Becomes a spokeswoman for UNICEF.

1995

■Publishes first novel, Shameless.

1995-2006

■Continues to release albums and write. Writes Saints and Angels in New Orleans to aid Red Cross work after hurricane Katrina.

[Tchocolatl]

"... a voice that would later be described as the language of amethysts."

Very pretty image.

(Like a rolling stone....?)

Hum..."To Collins, "prayer does everything. Forgiveness is the real key." There may be the lilt of a dreamer in these sentiments, but her sincerity is real."

So is the statement, dear, So is the statement. The day a majority of people will be conscious that it is the reality, not a "dream", things will begin to improve on that pitiful rock (Earth named as per my cyberfriend Nightstalker did).

I wonder if this diary will be published some day, including the poem for the cat.

[lizzytysh]

This is a beautiful article. Thanks for posting it in its entirety, Jarkko. Her cd of Leonard's songs is stunning.

I was also very drawn to the amethyst likening.


~ Lizzy

[Philwilli]

Judy sings Joni Mitchel's "Both sides now"realy lovely.Infact i like her
version better than Joni's.Can listen to it again and again, it's just a
beautiful song.

[Dem]

Here is another older article on Judy Collins:
http://tinyurl.com/kpgdt

folk Phenom Collins clings to her positive attitude
April 20, 2006


By MICHAEL ZITZ

Judy Collins doesn't want to talk about protest music. She doesn't want to talk about parallels between Vietnam and Iraq or about President Bush's role in the war. And she certainly doesn't want to talk about folk music contemporary Joan Baez's loss of faith in the concept of changing the world through political action.

Collins--who appears in concert at the University of Mary Washington on Saturday night--wants to stay positive.

She wants to talk about her friend Bill Clinton and all the things she says he's been doing to make the world a better place since he left the White House.

Collins says she's all about positivity, about spirituality, about making people feel hopeful and empowered through her music and her own record label.

She says the best way to effect positive change in the world is one person--or perhaps one concert hall--at a time, adding a bounce to each listener's step and a sense that they can do something as individuals to make things better.

All the woman who was reprimanded by the judge for singing on the witness stand at the Chicago Seven trial will say about Iraq is that Americans don't seem to pay much attention to history.

"Why don't we learn from the past?" Collins said this week in a telephone interview with The Free Lance-Star. "Why is the world in such a terrible place?"

Answering her own question, she said: "Some people are less bright than others. Some people don't learn the lessons of the past."

Is that a slam at President Bush?

She wouldn't say.

Instead she praised President Clinton's "sterling" work in private life.

She sang at the former president's first inauguration. And Chelsea Clinton is said to be named for her cover of the Joni Mitchell song "Chelsea Morning," a favorite of Bill and Hillary Clinton.

Collins has a perspective on music, politics and history few can match.

The woman who began her career in 1961 with the album "Maid of Constant Sorrow" is still going strong 45 years later, releasing "Portrait of an American Girl," and she still deals with important issues in her songs.

But Collins said she sees no need for an outpouring of protest songs aimed at the war in Iraq like the one that folk singers such as Bob Dylan and Baez contributed to during the Vietnam War.

Even though she is often lumped in with Dylan and Baez, and despite the fact that she was supposedly deemed a political enemy by Chicago Mayor Richard Daley during the 1968 protests, Collins said she has never thought of herself as a "protest singer."

During the famous Chicago Seven trial--in which protesters faced conspiracy and other charges at the time of the '68 Democratic National Convention--defense lawyer William Kunstler called Collins as a witness.

She had attended a press conference with anti-Vietnam war protest leaders Jerry Rubin, Abbie Hoffman and Allen Ginsberg.

On the witness stand, Kunstler asked Collins what she did at the event. She testified that she "sang a mantra."

Then, on the stand, she began singing, "Where have all the flowers gone?"

"Just a minute, young lady," the judge said.

But Collins continued to sing.

"We don't allow singing in this court," the judge said sharply.

"That's what I do," Collins told him.

"This song is not entertainment, your honor," Kunstler said. "This is a song of peace, and [of] what happens to young men and women during wartime."

"I forbid her from singing during the trial," the judge said.

Collins then testified that she said at the Yippie press conference, "I want to see a celebration of life, not of destruction."

She then spoke the lyrics of "Where Have All the Flowers Gone," which say in part: "Where have all the young men gone? Gone for soldiers, every one. Gone to graveyards, every one When will they ever learn?"

Whether or not she was a "protest singer" in the '60s, Collins seems to be a bit more mellow now, at age 66.

"You keep looking for the positive as an artist or you should pack up your easel and go home," she said.

She said she's always done that by recording songs like "Amazing Grace," which she said she will perform at UMW along with other hits like "Both Sides Now" and "Send in the Clowns."

Collins said she's proud of a song titled "Saints and Angels in New Orleans," which she wrote as a tribute to victims of Hurricane Katrina. It's available on the Internet via iTunes with profits going to hurricane victims.

Early in her career she performed songs like "Chelsea Morning" that were written by others. Her covers helped make Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen stars.

In addition to Saturday's 7:30 p.m. concert at Dodd Auditorium, Collins will give a free master class Saturday from 3 to 4 p.m. at Dodd. It's open to the public, and no tickets or reservations are required. She will give an inspirational talk about her life and career, and may do some a cappella singing.

"This is a rare opportunity to hear the artist speak candidly and answer questions from the audience," said Kevin Bartram, UMW assistant professor of music and director of the UMW-Community Symphony Orchestra.

Collins said that because she came late to songwriting, tracks like "Saints and Angels," and "Kingdom Come," written about the Sept. 11 attacks, have great personal meaning to her.

In a recent appearance on ABC's "Good Morning America," Collins sang "Wings of Angels," a ballad she wrote about the loss of her 33-year-old son, Clark Taylor, who committed suicide in 1992. She also is the author of the 2003 book "Sanity and Grace: A Journey of Suicide, Survival and Strength," which she wrote about families coping with depression and suicide. And she's become a suicide prevention advocate.

But she knows it's the classics that are causing her to see more and more young people at her shows today, perhaps partly because of the impact of iTunes in teaching young fans about '60s music--and perhaps because there seems to be no end in sight to the war in Iraq.

As the song says: "When will they ever learn? Oh, when will they ever learn?"

To reach MICHAEL ZITZ: 540/374-5408
Email: mikez@freelancestar.com

Copyright 2006 The Free Lance-Star Publishing Company.