Judy Collins

Folk music doesn’t produce stars bigger than Judy Collins. For nearly 50 years she has been performing and recording folk, pop, and art music at a very high level. Her crystal clear, pure soprano voice is just as captivating today as it is on her debut 1961 recording, A Maid of Constant Sorrow.

A classical piano prodigy, she turned to folk music early on, embracing the social and musical elements of the movement. At the urging of her friend Leonard Cohen (whose songs she recorded on her early albums), Collins began writing and recording her own songs. Her popularity owes just as much to the songs she helped popularize, Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now” and Stephen Sondheim’s “Send In the Clowns,” both Grammy award-winning performances. Her performances since the mid-70s have balanced her original material with her other hits, and gems by artists like The Beatles and Harry Chapin, all showcases for her haunting, focused voice. Last spring, Judy was interviewed by MPR’s Kerri Miller.

Here’s a link to that candid and illuminating conversation.
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/04/07/midmorning2/

NY Times review – Folk Goddess ….

She was the first singer to brings one of Leonard Cohen’s beautiful songs to a large audience.
• Judy Collins and Leonard Cohen sing “Suzanne”

• Judy sings “Suzanne” in 2009

• Her recording of “I’ll Think it’s going to Rain Today” was incandescent.

• And she reprised it with Graham Nash

• Judy & Joan Baez at Newport in 2009

• She had a huge hit with Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now”

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