Judy Collins and Friends – 85 Years of Music and Protest

Saturday, March 8, was both National Women’s Day and Judy Collins’s 85^th birthday.  A classical piano prodigy, Collins went off-road to become one of the major voices of our time, both literally and politically. She popularized the work of Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen, wrote both deeply personal and protest songs, crossed over from folk music, and showed up on the front lines of change. Many of us consider Collins integral to the soundtrack of our youth.

The artist reads lyrics these days. Her shimmering soprano doesn’t go quite so high, but can still thrill.
The brunette mane is now white and pixie cut. Fifty-five albums and six decades of performing attests
to significance. Some of the stories are familiar – accidentally hearing Robert Zimmerman (Bob Dylan) compose “Mr. Tambourine Man” – “He was dressed badly even for back then” –  Mae West jokes from her father’s radio show…

Judy Collins 1963 (Public Domain)

Some are “new.” At 19, when she was starting professionally, Peter Yarrow (Peter, Paul and Mary) commented, “You know, if it doesn’t work out with Mary…” She’s sardonic about challenges with alcohol – “I didn’t do many drugs, I was afraid they’d interfere with my drinking” – and grows girlish alluding to an affair with guest Stephen Sills. There’s no pretense, nothing showy. Collins waits in the wings to hug and thank every participant.

Those on tonight’s bill credit her with influencing their own oeuvres (and lives) as well as that of a generation. Musical theater avatar Stephen Schwartz emphasizes his debt to this “national treasure” in a duet of “Over the Rainbow,” a somewhat odd choice. The young, folksy, Norwegian duo Oakland Rain who currently open for her (pretty sound), might’ve remained for some time without mainstream notice.

An evocative “Mountain Girl” is followed by the first of too few protest songs, “Masters of War” (Bob Dylan). The latter arrives a slow march with somber, undulating piano. Vocal slices the air. “John Riley,, a traditional English folk song, is unembellished and affecting, exemplary of her initial attraction to the genre.

Martha Redbone

After the first Trump election, Collins wrote the unfortunately still relevant “Dreamers.” Martha Redbone performs the song a capella with dignity, pith and grace. Collins’s own storytelling “Blizzard,” at the piano, is enthralling. “Send in the Clowns” (Stephen Sondheim), the always marvelous Russell Walden accompanying, is part spoken, part sung. Our audience holds its collective breath.

“Both Sides Now,” the first Joni Mitchell song Collins recorded, sends me back to sitting on the ground outside Wollman Rink in Central Park unable to afford concert tickets; looking down from a balcony in Portland Oregon during college. (Alas, we don’t receive the lyrics to “Amazing Grace” for the traditional end of show sing-along tonight.) I’m sure many in the audience have similar memories.

Judy Collins, Richard Thompson

A duet with Ari Hest, with whom she both toured and recorded the splendid CD Silver Skies Blue, seamlessly blends two generations of talent, stripping away years to showcase music imbued with respect and affection. Richard Thompson, whom the celebrant has long admired, also duets symbiotically. Sandy Denny’s “Who Knows Where the Time Goes?” emerges unforced, with depth of feeling.

Justin Vivian Bond launches a timely, anarchic “Marat”: We’ve got new generals, our leaders are new/They sit and they argue and all that they do/Is sell their own colleagues/ And ride upon their backs/Or jail them/Or break them/Or give them all the axe… Vocal is serious, but insufficiently biting. Read the lyric again in light of today’s news. Beth Nielson Chapman’s rendition of “Since You Asked” finds her heart in her voice.

Left: 1978 by Mitchell Weinstock. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license. Right: Judy Collins, 1968. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.

Veteran, serial rock innovator Stephen Stills follows a story of their meeting with “You married the right man.” The musician and Collins’s recently deceased husband, artist Louis Nelson, were like brothers. She appreciates the call out. The duet of Stills’s “Helplessly Hoping” feels like a warm bath. Remember crunchy granola, The Whole Earth Catalog, The Fillmore East (and West)?

Stephen Stills, Judy Collins

Seemingly spontaneous, Collins begins to sing “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” (Pete Seeger) encouraging us to join. We do. She closes with Cosby, Stills and Nash’s “Marrakesh Express,” its introductory doo doos, not the lyrics. Everyone gathers onstage. Town Hall stands to sing “Happy Birthday.” No cake?

Caveats: Interpretations by Rickie Lee Jones and Paula Cole make beloved songs unrecognizable and almost tuneless. I have no idea why writer Molly Jong-Fast was onstage. This evening’s host, Sophie B. Hawkins, is cloying and excessive with lengthy introductions and gushing reactions. When was the last time you saw a host skip onstage and read, “It says pause for applause?”

Judy Collins will always be a part of our lives.

Production Photos by Sachyn Mital

Judy Collins and Friends – 85 Years of Music and Protest
Host – Sophie B. Hawkins
Musical Directors – Russ Titelman and Russell Walden
The Band – Thad DeBrock, Zev Katz, Doug Yowell

The Town Hall 
123 West 43^rd Street