JUDY COLLINS

"My recording career began on an overcast, chilly Sunday afternoon in Greenwich Village in the winter of 1961..."  So begins, in Judy Collins' own words, the fascinating liner notes for Forever, The Judy Collins Anthology, which brilliantly chronicles the singer, songwriter, human rights activist's legendary career.

The collection, a winding musical map of Ms. Collins' most treasured hits as well as rarer nuggets, also sheds light on America's most socially active musical era, of which Ms. Collins became an integral force in the 60s and 70s.

Her voice has carried us through many times, yet remains timeless - "a voice of liquid silver." Ms. Collins' old friend, poet and songwriter Richard Farina, once described Judy's voice this way: "If amethysts could sing ... they would sound like Judy Collins."

Forever, The Judy Collins Anthology is the culmination of a musical legacy that has seen her release 19 albums with Elektra, several of which have achieved gold or platinum status. Included among the 35 songs are folk standards and hits such as, "Someday Soon," "Both Sides Now," "Masters Of War", and a new recording of her early folk classic, "Chelsea Morning", as well as the 70's classics "Amazing Grace" and "Send In The Clowns", and 4 new songs, including a memorable collaboration with The Gin Blossoms' Jesse Valenzuela, "Nothing Lasts Forever". 

Ms. Collins annual Christmas shows have become legendary during the holiday season. The Biltmore album features the Charlotte Children's Choir and includes classics such as "Joy to The World," "O Come, All Ye Faithful," and "The Twelve Days Of Christmas," as well as an original song written by Ms. Collins, the lovely "Come Rejoice." Ms. Collins also performs her own adaptation of the Clement Moore Christmas favorite, "The Night Before Christmas." These two collections celebrate one of the most important musical voices of the pop era.

Ms. Collins has become part of the fabric of our nation's social conscience by not only performing socially relevant material, but by remaining a proactive, passionate player in the politics and social forces that shape our country. Judy's music always seemed to mirror the cause. From her participation in the 1964 Freedom marches in Mississippi ("Hey Nellie Nellie") to her political activism during the Vietnam War (Dylan's Masters Of War"), to the leadership role she has played on the forefront of women's issues ("Bread And Roses"), to her role as UNICEF Special Representative for the Arts, Ms. Collins has always fought the good fight.

In choosing material for her comprehensive Anthology, Ms. Collins strove to find a balance between her politically aware material and, of course, all the hits that fans have adored for years. "I chose themes that I love," says Ms. Collins. "I also looked for the unusual."

A legendary performer, Ms. Collins' career has taken her around the world many times, so it was obviously no easy task to gather songs that have influenced so many lives. President and Mrs. Clinton named their daughter Chelsea after the classic "Chelsea Morning." "I decided to record a new version of "Chelsea Morning," says Ms. Collins. "I wanted to marry old and new, to build a bridge between past and present."

Ms. Collins early musical background was classical piano. Her father, Chuck Collins was a singer, composer, philosopher and broadcaster during the golden age of radio. By the age of 10 Ms. Collins was studying with mentor Antonia Brico, the famed orchestral conductor who had made a name for herself conducting major symphony orchestras in the United States and Europe. In 1974 Ms. Collins produced and co-directed (with Jill Godmilow) a prize winning documentary about the conductor, Antonia: A portrait Of The Woman. The film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary, as well as being named one of the top ten films of the year by Time Magazine.

Ms. Collins has recorded an incredible 29 albums in her career, including classics such as her 1965 solo concert New York At The Town Hall, 1966's In My Life, the above-mentioned Wildflowers, (the first album to include her own material) featuring the first song she ever wrote, "Since You Asked". Other memorable albums followed, including Who Knows Where The Time Goes, featuring Stephen Stills playing on "My Father", "Who Knows Where The Time Goes" and "Some Day Soon".

Stills' and Collins' relationship would eventually lead to Stills penning the classic "Suite Judy Blue Eyes," which he wrote about Ms. Collins.

In 1972, Ms. Collins released the classic Colors Of The Day. To this day the album remains one of WEA's Top 50 catalogue albums, year in, year out, for the past 26 years. In 1977 Elektra put out a fifteen year collection of songs celebrating Ms. Collins' amazing career as a vocalist, So Early In The Spring. More albums followed. Her last Elektra album (before the Anthology) would be the David Gruzin produced Home Again.

Ms. Collins kicked off the '90's with the inspired Fires Of Eden, a collection mostly of her own song-writing, and soon after recorded Judy Collins Sings Dylan Just Like A Woman, which garnered rave reviews. In 1994 she became a UNICEF spokesperson. The decade also saw her continue to perform a rigorous touring schedule of more than 70 concerts a year worldwide.

Ms. Collins has also done her share of acting beginning in 1969 at New York's Shakespeare Festival when she played Solveig in Peer Gynt opposite Stacy Keach. She also appeared in the Arnold Schwarzenegger film Junior, the CBS series Christy, among other roles and cameo appearances.

Her entire list of accomplishments  would take an endless amount of pages to relate. Through it all, she has always remained the optimist, spreading the same joy she finds in her music to the rest of the world. Her most important creative years are still ahead.

Itineraries Book Judy Collins