Judy Collins is a legend in American folk music.
She began her recording career in 1961 after getting a start in New York City's folk scene by playing and singing in Greenwich Village coffeehouses. It took her awhile to get noticed outside the confines of audiences from Gerde's Folk City, but when she released a cover of a song written by a contemporary of hers, Joni Mitchell (speaking of which, watch this space) - "Both Sides Now" - it spurred her career, not to mention Joni Mitchell's career as well.
Since then, Ms. Collins has done numerous classic covers of well-known songs as well as her own compositions, such as "Born to the Breed" and "My Father." Definitive covers she's recorded include Sandy Denny's "Who Knows Where The Time Goes," Lennon and McCartney's "In My Life," Randy Newman's" I Think It's Going To Rain Today," and, of course, Stephen Sondheim's "Send In the Clowns." That song, from Sondheim's musical A Little Night Music, earned Ms. Collins a Grammy Award nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. The song was a hit single for her, peaking at number 36 on the Billboard singles chart in 1975 and reaching number 19 two years later.
Ms. Collins' cover of "Send In the Clowns" was the sixth track on her 1975 LP Judith, her most successful album ever. The seventh track was a cover of the Rolling Stones song "Salt Of the Earth." Figure that one out!
One of Judy Collins' biggest claims to fame was having dated Stephen Stills and inspired his epic ballad "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes," which became the signature song from Crosby, Stills and Nash. She went on a concert tour with Stills in 2018.
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