web analytics

Pop Rock Nation

Tag: Judy Collins

  • Judy Collins shines on Strangers Again…

    Judy Collins shines on Strangers Again…

    Rating:

    76 year old Judy Collins is still making music and she recently released a new album called Strangers Again…

    I found out about Judy Collins’ new album Strangers Again because I follow her on Facebook. She seems to be a very interactive Facebook user; from what I can tell, she personally updates her wall. And when I saw that she was releasing an album full of duets, I decided I wanted to have it. Collins was probably best known in the 1960s and early 70s, which was before I was born. Nevertheless, thanks to cheesy music compilations that were hawked on daytime TV back in the 1980s and 90s, I discovered her luminous soprano when I was in college. I used to play her lovely Colors of the Day compilation all the time. I owned it on cassette and later bought the download. I have always been enchanted by her voice, along with her mesmerizing blue eyes.

    The deluxe download version of Strangers Again consists of fifteen songs. I recognized many of the people joining Collins on duet versions of some of her best known songs. She sings with Willie Nelson, Jimmy Buffett, Jackson Browne, Joan Baez, Marc Cohn, Don McLean and Michael McDonald, among others. Some of the others who collaborate with Collins are people I don’t know. The very first song, “Strangers Again”, is a duet featuring Ari Hest, a singer-songwriter with whom I was unfamiliar. Given that until I bought this album, I didn’t know Ari Hest, it seems appropriate that they sing a ballad called “Strangers Again”, which has a very soothing, adult contemporary feel to it. Hest wrote this song and I like it… and now I need to get to know him.

    Jimmy Buffett joins Collins on a surprisingly fun duet rendition of “Someday Soon”, which happens to be one of my favorite songs by Judy Collins. This song, which has always seemed kind of country to me, is given an update with a little rollicking piano, organ, and Buffett’s southern twang. They seem to have enjoyed singing together on this number.

    I have to confess another reason I bought this album was because Judy Collins tackles “Feels Like Home”, a pretty ballad by Randy Newman that was featured on his musical, Faust. I’m pretty fascinated by how popular that song has become and how many people have covered it in the past twenty years. Bonnie Raitt was the first one I heard sing it. Then Linda Ronstadt, Chantal Kreviazuk, Diana Krall and Bryan Adams, Josh Groban, Neil Diamond… the list goes on. Here, Judy Collins sings with Jackson Browne. They sound good together, though this is not the most moving version I’ve heard. I don’t know what it is about that song, but it’s well-loved… and what’s really funny is that the character in Faust who sings it is not exactly a nice person. I’m guessing not many have heard the Faust soundtrack, though I used to listen to it all the time when it was new.

    The sentimental favorite, “Send In The Clowns”, gets a remake with Don McLean joining Collins. I’ve always liked this song and Don McLean, who still sounds great.

    “Diamonds and Rust” has always been a favorite song, mainly because I used to have a pony by that name… and the song is just so dramatic and expressive. Joan Baez and Judy Collins are great together, though I’m not sure if this song works as well as a duet. Are the women singing to each other or to a mutual lover? Collins and Baez harmonize beautifully, though.

    All in all, I’m just impressed by how great Judy Collins still sounds at age 76. This is especially evident as she and Marc Cohn sing “Belfast to Boston” together. Collins shows off her still superb soprano range and phrasing. Cohn’s idiosyncratic vocals provide an interesting contrast to Collins’ lilting, lyrical voice. Willie Nelson and Judy Collins share an equally haunting duet with “When I Go”… especially considering that Willie is now 82 and still singing well.

    Strangers Again is a lovely album, the kind of music that sounds great on a laid back Sunday morning over coffee and the newspaper. I suspect I will enjoy it for years to come. Surprisingly enough, I see on Amazon.com that the album frequently purchased with Strangers Again is Adele’s latest, 25. Go figure!

  • Happy anniversary to me!

    Happy anniversary to me!

    Bill and me today!
    Bill and me today!

    I’m delighted to report that after eleven years of marriage, I still feel like saying “Happy anniversary to me!”

    My husband Bill and I were married on a rainy Saturday at Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia. The date was November 16th, 2002. It was Bill’s second trip down the aisle and my first. It’s hard to believe all that has transpired since that fateful day eleven years ago. For the most part, time has really flown. I love Bill more today than I ever have. Every day, I find new reasons to be glad we found each other. In the spirit of my celebratory mood, I have decided to write a post about the music that has meant a lot to me in my relationship with Bill.

    The Ceremony

    I will never forget planning our nuptials. It was a stressful time, mainly because for half the time leading up to our wedding, I was finishing graduate school. We were also really broke. Nevertheless, I determined that I would choose music for the wedding that meant a lot to us. Bill and I are both of Celtic descent. I have more Scottish ancestry, while he is very Irish. I wanted our wedding to be kind of Celtic, while it was also military. No one wore a kilt, with the exception of the guy who played the bagpipes during my walk down the aisle. I chose to eschew the usual “Bridal Chorus” in lieu of a beautiful piece called “Highland Cathedral”. “Highland Cathedral” was composed by two Germans in 1985, yet it sounds like it could be an ancient Scottish piece. The first time I heard it, it was 2001 and I was at a kirk’in of the tartans in Columbia, South Carolina. I was moved to tears and determined that I would use that piece in my wedding if I ever got married. Sure enough, I used it to great success.


    This is a video I made after Bill and I visited Scotland for our 10th anniversary. I used Phil Coulter’s version of “Highland Cathedral” followed by Amy Grant’s very different version of “Highland Cathedral”.

    At my wedding, we had an organist and bagpiper play “Highland Cathedral” together and it sounded something like this…

    Other music used in our ceremony were basic hymns. I also had people sing hymns for us, since I am always singing for them!

    Love songs

    There are quite a few love songs that make me think of my relationship with Bill. Our first dance was to “Someone To Watch Over Me”, a classic Gershwin tune.


    Amy Winehouse singing “our song”.

    But there are plenty of other mushy songs that make me go weak in the knees when I hear them. For instance, I gave serious thought to us dancing to this song by Lyle Lovett…


    It captures my sense of humor, but doesn’t really reflect the truth…

    A better song might have been this one by Beth Nielsen Chapman.


    “All I Have” is a gorgeous wedding song, but harder to dance to.


    My version of Beth Nielsen Chapman’s pretty love song.

    Other songs that come to mind are Judy Collins’ version of “In My Life” and Don Henley’s “Taking You Home”, both of which I recorded recently.


    Judy Collins singing in 1966.


    I covered Judy Collins’ cover of the Beatles’ “In My Life”.

    There have been other, less lovey songs that have inspired Bill and me. While we are in love with each other, our marriage is really more like a great friendship. And we do a lot of things that great friends do together, like drink a lot of beer.


    This video includes “King of Beers” by Too Much Joy and “Beer Run” by Todd Snider, as well as photos of Bill enjoying our favorite pastime.

    In any case, I feel pretty sure tomorrow we’ll have a great time. We usually take trips for our anniversary, but this year’s move and my recent dental woes precluded that. I have high hopes for next year, though! Have a great weekend, y’all!

  • Discovering Sandy Denny…

    Discovering Sandy Denny…

    I am a little ashamed to admit that 35 years after her death, I am only now discovering Sandy Denny…

    My husband, Bill, has been out of town all week. When he goes out of town, I try to find more things to keep me busy. That keeps me from wallowing too much in self-pity. I hate it when he goes away on business because I end up feeling pretty lonely. This week, I ended up making a number of new recordings and a tentative deal with a fellow music enthusiast who plays guitar. My YouTube friend from Scotland proposed that he play a track for me on guitar, which I would then add vocals to. As we were trying to come up with an appropriate song, he suggested “Who Knows Where The Time Goes”, which was written by British singer and songwriter Sandy Denny.


    Sandy Denny sings “Who Knows Where The Time Goes” with Fairport Convention.

    I knew the song. The person I first heard sing it was not Sandy Denny, though. It was Judy Collins. I own a copy of her greatest hits album, Colors of the Day, which I used to listen to all the time when I was in college twenty years ago. That album includes Judy Collins’ take on Sandy Denny’s beautiful song. For some reason, I never bothered to find out who had penned it, even though I so enjoyed the lyrics and melody.


    Judy Collins’ version of “Who Knows Where The Time Goes”.

    Years later, the late Eva Cassidy covered “Who Knows Where The Time Goes” and my YouTube friend proposed that we should try to do the song in Eva’s style. Honestly, I am not all that familiar with Eva Cassidy’s music, either. Sure, I have heard some of her better-known covers like “Fields of Gold” and “Songbird”, but I haven’t yet sat down with one of her albums and given it a proper listen, even though I think Eva Cassidy’s voice was beautiful.


    Eva Cassidy’s version of “Who Knows Where The Time Goes”.

    As I listen to these three women’s interpretations of the same lyrics, I am struck by how beautiful and ethereal they are in their own way. Sandy Denny’s vocals are simple and pure, while Judy Collins gives the song sort of a luminous quality. Eva Cassidy’s take is more soulful and emotional. All three versions are timeless and would have been as much at home in the 60s as they are in 2013.

    Sandy Denny, like Eva Cassidy, died young. She was just 31 years old and a new mother when, in March 1978, she fell down some stairs and hit her head on concrete. Denny abused drugs and alcohol and in the wake of her accident, she visited a doctor who prescribed Distalgesic, a drug that does not mix with alcohol. On April 17, 1978 Denny collapsed and fell into a coma. She died four days later, officially of a traumatic mid-brain hemorrhage after blunt force trauma.

    Though Sandy Denny had a devoted cult following, she never quite made it to mainstream success. That’s why I’m learning about her now. Oddly enough, I was actually living in England when Sandy Denny died. Granted, I was only five years old at the time, but I was already a music lover.

    Anyway, I did try my hand at this song, though not with help from my YouTube friend, and I think it turned out pretty decently. But I think I need to spend more time discovering Sandy Denny and Fairport Convention.


    My version of “Who Knows Where The Time Goes”.