STEPHEN STILLS & JUDY COLLINS

Original released on CD Wildflower CLO 0691

(US 2017, September 22)

Judy Collins provided Stephen Stills with the inspiration for "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes," a song he composed in 1969 as their relationship was coming to an end. Lovers no more, the two remained friends over the years and decided to strike up a musical partnership nearly 50 years later, releasing "Everybody Knows" in September of 2017. The album deliberately plays off their past, with the duo reviving songs from their individual albums - "Who Knows Where the Time Goes" from Collins; "So Begins the Task" from Stills - and selecting covers from their peers, including the Traveling Wilburys' "Handle with Care," Tim Hardin's "Reason to Believe," Bob Dylan's "Girl from the North Country," and Leonard Cohen's "Everybody Knows," which also lends its name to the album title. It's a clean and crisp production, so much so that its transparency reveals the disparity between Collins' sweet voice and Stills' scraggly singing, a pairing that can sound as smooth as sandpaper. Nevertheless, there's an inherent warmth to "Everybody Knows". Stills and Collins have a gentle, easy chemistry and the studio-slick supporting performances provide a nice bed for a project that is less nostalgia than a reassuring reminder of the comfort of growing old together. (Stephen Erlewine in AllMusic)

JUDY COLLINS - "Wildflowers"

Original released on LP Elektra EKS-74012

(US, November 1967)

Soothing. Unique. Natural. These are clear adjectives used best when describing the style and grace of Judy Collins and her album "Wildflowers". Her blend of folk and meditative music paints a tapestry of soft, nurturing colors that transcends the mind of the listener and seeks one's soul. Much of the material feels uplifting and full of spirit, or even spiritual to some degree. Yet other parts of the record can be viewed and felt as sad and morose, which gives the record some dexterity and variety among its ability to appeal toward contrasting moods. Collins makes a well-earned statement in her original tunes "Since You Asked," "Sky Fell," and "Albatross," that deep, meditative, and subtle can be effective within the realms of music as an art form. She is certainly artistic with her approach, staying away from the clichéd folk and pop music that flooded much of the '60s radio-friendly airwaves. Collins also includes her favorite melodies from the songbooks of Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen. This can benefit one as a pleasant listen, easy to sooth the mind and body, and release the burdens of everyday stress in society.

JUDY COLLINS: "In My Life"

Original released on LP Elektra EKS 7320

(UK, November 1966)

After the release of Judy Collins' "Fifth Album" in November 1965, Collins seems to have determined to expand her stylistic range instead of competing with such fellow commercial folksingers as Joan Baez and Peter, Paul and Mary for the wares of contemporary singer/songwriters, especially since she often came in second. (PP&M, for example, had managed to get their version of Gordon Lightfoot's "Early Morning Rain" out just before hers.) This meant not only seeking out new sources for material to cover, but also, in the wake of the folk-rock fad of 1965, employing more elaborate arrangements. So, on "In My Life", she drew from the off-Broadway musical theater for such songs as "Pirate Jenny," from The Threepenny Opera, and a suite assembled from Marat/Sade; she also looked internationally, to France for Jacques Brel's "La Colombe" and to Canada for the first songs by poet/novelist Leonard Cohen, "Suzanne" and "Dress Rehearsal Rag." Then, she decamped to England with arranger/conductor Joshua Rifkin, who orchestrated the tracks in imaginative chamber pop settings. The result might have been pretentious or silly, but thankfully Collins, who had classical music training, knew what she was doing. The material was well chosen; the arrangements showed it off to perfection; and Collins' vocals were alternately soothing and stirring, but always clear and well articulated, as well as carefully pitched to the tone of the material. All of this made "In My Life" a breakthrough, artistically and commercially (the album eventually went gold). It also helped launch Cohen, who had never recorded or performed his music publicly at the time of its release, as a musical artist. (William Ruhlmann in AllMusic)

JUDY COLLINS: "Fifth Album"

Original released on LP Elektra EKL 300

(US, November 1965)

Judy Collins' last straight, folk-based album of the 1960s, "Fifth Album" marks her transition from a "maid of constant sorrow" to a bona fide artist. With its covers ranging from Lennon and McCartney to adaptations from The Threepenny Opera, 1966's "In My Life" would readily attest to this. But "Fifth Album", cut in late 1964, may very well be her definitive folk statement. A trio of Bob Dylan songs act as the album's centerpiece, clearly showing Collins' growth into more progressive songs. In addition to these, Gordon Lightfoot's "Early Morning Rain" is given its classic reading, with Collins' voice echoing the song's melancholy and eerie but mellifluent precision and emotion. Aside from these recordings - which would have been the highlights on any other record - the album opens with perhaps its finest moment, Richard Farina's "Pack Up Your Sorrows." Led by Farina's sprightly dulcimer runs, Collins renders the song her own, with a unifying, karmic message and a vocal performance that is irresistible. The musical politics of the day, particularly concerning the entire West Coast/Byrds/folk-rock phenomenon, must have tempted Collins to approach this from a neo-folk-rock standpoint, and it fits the vibe and milieu perfectly. In the end, while not her farewell to folk music, this album is a graceful wave and a smile from Collins as she was about to conquer a new, more baroque direction in a matter of months. (Matthew Greenwald in AllMusic)