We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago….
There is no mistaking when you are hearing a Judy Collins record. The instrument that is Collins’s voice is an amazing thing. Clear, crisp and precise. And herein lies the problem. Can there be too much of those things when you are talking about a musical performance?
In 1971 Collins released a “live” album of performances from her 1970 tour. I put the “live” in parentheses because the crowd adds little to nothing to this record. They are barely there. Save for a couple of cuts, the band is barely there too. Which leaves us with the voice.
Make no mistake, Collins sings beautifully…and yet for me there is not enough color in her performances. The song selection is strong though featuring three originals by Judy herself and standout tracks from the likes of Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, Ian Tyson and Bob Dylan.
She delivers on the Cohen songs….”Joan of Arc” and “Famous Blue Raincoat”…and her early promotion of Mitchell’s material helped make her a star. Here she gives us an early reading of the outstanding “Chelsea Morning” which is really suited to “the voice”.
The track “Viet Nam Love Song” by Eric Bentley & Arnold Black stands out in it’s starkness and Ry Cooder’s guitar gives “Song For Judith” a little oomph.
She also delivers an acapella version of her own “All Things Are Quite Silent”. The song ‘Easy Times” was co-written by Collins with actor Stacy Keach who she was involved with at the time.
Cooder on guitar and Richard Bell (who played in Janis Joplin’s Full Tilt Boogie Band) give quiet accompaniment for the most part but get to crank it up a bit on the album’s finale.
Her take on Dylan’s “Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues” actually drives Collins to put a little ‘blues” in her voice. Bell’s piano and Cooder’s guitar solo enter that zone as well. I wish more of the LP would have pushed Collins to use her gift more outside her comfort zone.
I’m not sure I would have enjoyed a “live” performance like this…not enough life for me.
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