This is an interesting, thank you. I know Judy Collins name; as you mention she shows up in discussions of many of the major singer/songwriters of the era, but didn't know much of her story.
You may be getting to this in your next post, but I was recently reading this interview with Tom Rush about the start of Joni Mitchell's career, and there's an interesting note about Collins: https://www.jonimitchell.com/library/view.cfm?id=1366
TR: So I was immediately enthralled by the songwriting and by her, she was very charming, and Chuck was a lovely person, too. And I started doing "The Circle Game" and "Urge for Going" and I think those were the first two. And I tried to get different labels to sign her. Elektra said they didn't want to sign her because she sounded too much like ...
WB: Joan Baez?
TR: No, Judy Collins.
WB: Oh. Well, Judy Collins was actually Joni's hero back then.
TR: I know, and she did sound a lot like Judy back then, but so what? The songs were so stunning that it was irrelevant, but I couldn't persuade Elektra of that. I also brought her east for a while to open shows for me, sort of introduced her around parts of the east coast.
Thanks for sharing this , Nick. That is a very interesting interview in terms of a lot of different artists, including Judy's relationship to Joni. Tom Rush's name has come up in different places in terms of singing her songs and helping her out. I will be covering Joni so it's good to have this!
Now that is a very interesting post about "The Albatross." I knew that she was good friends with Leonard Cohen and that he encouraged her writing, but hadn't looked at the lyrics to that song. The 'quasi-Arthurian neverwhere' in 60s folk revival and the use of the word isinglass were especially intriguing. Thanks for sharing that, Nick. It looks like you're becoming a Judy Collins fan.
Thank you for shining the spotlight on Collins. I was in elementary school when I first heard her, and she became my benchmark for beautiful voices, both consciously and subconsciously, for the rest of my life. Later on I would find Linda Ronstadt, Annie Haslam and Lara Fabian, but Judy always stayed with me. In another thread here I mentioned that her version of "Both Sides Now" remains one of the most arresting, perfect recordings I've ever heard. Thank you for also bringing out a little bit of her backstory.
Looking forward to it! When I wrote my two-parter "10 songs that make me drop everything", Ronstadt's "Diff'rent Drum" was one of the 10. One producer told her "Your voice is a train." Wonderful metaphor.
This is an interesting, thank you. I know Judy Collins name; as you mention she shows up in discussions of many of the major singer/songwriters of the era, but didn't know much of her story.
You may be getting to this in your next post, but I was recently reading this interview with Tom Rush about the start of Joni Mitchell's career, and there's an interesting note about Collins: https://www.jonimitchell.com/library/view.cfm?id=1366
TR: So I was immediately enthralled by the songwriting and by her, she was very charming, and Chuck was a lovely person, too. And I started doing "The Circle Game" and "Urge for Going" and I think those were the first two. And I tried to get different labels to sign her. Elektra said they didn't want to sign her because she sounded too much like ...
WB: Joan Baez?
TR: No, Judy Collins.
WB: Oh. Well, Judy Collins was actually Joni's hero back then.
TR: I know, and she did sound a lot like Judy back then, but so what? The songs were so stunning that it was irrelevant, but I couldn't persuade Elektra of that. I also brought her east for a while to open shows for me, sort of introduced her around parts of the east coast.
Thanks for sharing this , Nick. That is a very interesting interview in terms of a lot of different artists, including Judy's relationship to Joni. Tom Rush's name has come up in different places in terms of singing her songs and helping her out. I will be covering Joni so it's good to have this!
I’m glad you liked it. Yes, I also thought the interview included a number of interesting topic.
I will also mention, that I enjoyed this post about a different track from that album: https://www.sixtiesmusicsecrets.com/an-attempt-to-justify-my-love-of-the-albatross/
Now that is a very interesting post about "The Albatross." I knew that she was good friends with Leonard Cohen and that he encouraged her writing, but hadn't looked at the lyrics to that song. The 'quasi-Arthurian neverwhere' in 60s folk revival and the use of the word isinglass were especially intriguing. Thanks for sharing that, Nick. It looks like you're becoming a Judy Collins fan.
I saw Judy Collins live in Central Park in 1971. Just her and a guitar and I was 16 and entranced
That's a lovely memory, and how fortunate to see her live like that.
Another anthem resurfaced from near obscurity; Judy Collins' voice was there to greet many an intrepid sunrise, a soothing for the anxious soul.
Very poetically put. She was a balm for many of us.
Thank you for shining the spotlight on Collins. I was in elementary school when I first heard her, and she became my benchmark for beautiful voices, both consciously and subconsciously, for the rest of my life. Later on I would find Linda Ronstadt, Annie Haslam and Lara Fabian, but Judy always stayed with me. In another thread here I mentioned that her version of "Both Sides Now" remains one of the most arresting, perfect recordings I've ever heard. Thank you for also bringing out a little bit of her backstory.
I remembered you mentioning your esteem of Judy and "Both Sides Now" and thought about dedicating it to you, but not everyone welcomes that.
I'd always loved her voice too but never appreciated how kind she'd been to musicians in need, so my esteem for her has risen accordingly.
Linda is coming up, right after Joan.
Looking forward to it! When I wrote my two-parter "10 songs that make me drop everything", Ronstadt's "Diff'rent Drum" was one of the 10. One producer told her "Your voice is a train." Wonderful metaphor.
That is a great metaphor.
In case people are interested, here are your two 10 songs posts -- https://zapatosjam.substack.com/p/ten-songs-that-make-me-drop-everything?utm_source=publication-search
https://zapatosjam.substack.com/p/ten-songs-that-make-me-drop-everything-d77?utm_source=publication-search
Why thank you!