You are in the Special Features section - Judy Collins interview

Judy Collins interview

Judy Collins is an American singer/songwriter known for her catholic musical tastes and diverse choice of material, for her passion for music, musicians and songwriters and for her activism and participation in protest and good causes.

Judy is well-known for such hits as Chelsea Morning, Amazing Grace, Send In The Clowns and Both Sides Now. Judy worked with many of the great names in music, including Jacques Brel, Chrissie Hynde, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Stephen Sondheim and she championed the works of Joni Mitchell, Randy Newman and her 'discovery' Leonard Cohen.

A staunch ambassador for UNICEF and a campaigner against landmines, she is currently writing her eleventh book and recording her 44th album in a career spanning 50 years.

A new album, Born To The Breed, features numerous artists' tributes to Judy's work.

We caught-up with Judy and this is the interview she gave to www.retrosellers.com

 

 

Judy Collins

 

---

 

 

 
Digger: Hello.

Judy: Here we are!

Digger: I have this irrational dread of ringing somebody up in the States at 3:30 in the morning or something. 

Judy: (Laughs.)

Digger: Can you imagine how embarrassing that would be?

Judy: Yeah, I know.

Digger: Have you ever done it the other way round?

Judy: Yes, I have.

Digger: Spike Milligan used to ring people up in the UK when he was touring Australia at that time and assume they were wide awake. 

Judy: I've tended to have lucky calls in the middle of the night. I got a call from Al Kooper at three in the morning in 1968 and he was with Joni Mitchell and she sang me Both Sides Now. (Sings first few bars of Both Sides Now) That was a good call and I'm amazed that I woke up. (Laughs)

Digger: I suppose the natural inclination when the 'phone rings in the middle of the night is that it's going to be bad news, isn't it?

Judy: I ALWAYS answer my 'phone in the middle of the night now. 

Digger: If it was these days, you'd just get through to someone's voicemail. While we're sort of on the subject, what do you think of technology today?

Judy: Oh, I love it. I'm a computer addict. I do all my writing on the computer but I also use emails and I have my investments on there and I go shopping there. I do all kinds of things there.

Digger: It's interesting how 'people of a certain age' seem to fall into two categories, the computer lovers and the computer sceptics. One lady I spoke to was very anti the Net, and I explained that it was just like a stroll around the city - there are some bad and dark alleyways to be avoided but also some fantastic spectacles.

Judy: (Laughs) Yes. 

Digger: Tell us about your musical influences Judy.

Judy: Sure. Of course. I was classically-trained as a pianist, but I also had all those other influences in my life because my dad was on the radio. He sang all the songs of Rodgers and Hart, so I was influenced by George Gershwin and all these people that my father knew because he was in Hollywood and they would always come and be on his show. I heard the comics, from Red Skelton and Bob Hope etc. And then when I was in junior High School, I started listening to folk music and I got hooked. I got a guitar and started to play Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie and old traditional songs. I started quickly working in all the clubs, and that meant that I heard everybody. Pete Seeger, Josh White, Odetta - you name them, I heard them and worked with them. And Dylan, I met very early on in 1961 and '62 and I recorded his songs Masters Of War and Tomorrow Is A Long Time on my third album, I believe. And from then I recorded a lot of Dylan and then I met and recorded the songs of many people who didn't have contracts, like Leonard Cohen, who I discovered, and Joni Mitchell. She had been recorded by Tom Rush but still nobody knew who she was. And after I recorded her they did.

 

 

 

   

Pete Seeger and Joni Mitchell

 

Joan Baez and Bob Dylan

 

 

Digger: You're famous for your eclectic tastes.

Judy: I certainly am. I still am.

Digger: I suppose that goes back to what you were saying earlier on, with the music hall influences and your dad?

Judy: I think so, definitely, that that had a big effect on me.

Digger: When you talk about the folk, did you do any 'formal' study of old folk music and the European origins?

Judy: Well, I certainly paid allegiance to it. I listened to a lot of Topic albums and I listened to sea shanties and ballads and I got the books and studied them. I listened to the things that Alan Lomax was collecting - I even went to the Library of Congress to pick up songs. Ralph Rinzler took me over there very early on in 1964, I think. And then I listened to a lot of traditional things - Ewan MacColl, Peggy Seeger, Louis Killen...

Digger: You're great at remembering names!

Judy: I remember names and where I heard the songs and why I learned them. I always remember the first time I hear a song.

Digger: Did you bump into Ewan MacColl? He was supposed to be very tough.
 
Judy: You know, I don’t think that I ever met him. I might have met Peggy once, I’m not sure. I was only in Scotland a couple of times and in those early days I don’t think I was there. I was in Ireland. Belfast and Dublin but not very much further – I was looking for my ancestors over there... (Talks away from ‘phone. “I’m just doing an interview with a fellow from England.” ) That was my husband.
 
Digger: Hello! I’m waving. (Both laugh) So you’ve got Irish roots then?
 
Judy: Yes, some Irish, some English.
 
Digger: You share something in common with Mr. Obama.
 
Judy: That’s true.
 
Digger: Whenever an American President is elected the Irish always claim him as their own.
 
Judy: (Laughs)
 
Digger: What did you think of the speeches at the UN by Gaddafi and Obama? It was weird.
 
Judy: It was weird. Obama is wonderful.
 
Digger: He is. And Gaddafi – talk about outstaying your welcome.
 
Judy: And ruining lunch. So he could go sit in his tent in Westchester because he couldn’t find any suitable housing. He has an aversion to elevators and would prefer to be in a tent in an area owned by Donald Trump, which is a scream.
 
Digger: Can you tell us about the Born To The Breed album?
 
Judy: Oh, well it was a great, exciting album to make because other people who like my songs and have admired them decided to sing them. It actually started out when I ran into Chrissie Hynde at a big folk event – I guess it was South By Southwest a few years ago. And someone said “Chrissie has this list – she keeps a list of the top ten songs ever written and you’re on it.”
 
Digger: Wow.
 
Judy: So I said to Chrissie “Why don’t you sing that song?” - My Father. And so she did and that was the starting point. And then a lot of other people decided they would like to sing a song on it, so it’s a great tribute to hear other people singing my songs. And I’ve had other recordings of songs – Nina Simone recorded My Father and so did Luther Vandross…. And people perform my songs a lot. But it was great to have people sing them fresh. I loved it.

 

 

   

Amy Speace and Judy

 

 

Digger: We’re seeing you in the UK next year aren't we?
 
Judy: Yes, I’m coming in January actually. I’m there for a couple of weeks but I have concerts all over the place. England and Ireland, I’m not sure about Scotland.
 
Digger: And Wales?
 
Judy: Absolutely. I had a GREAT time in Llandudno.
 
Digger: (Laughs) You handled the pronunciation really well. I was sharing a joke with my girlfriend about that last night because most places in Wales seem to start with double 'L'.

Judy: Yes, they do!

Digger: And you have to do that guttural 'Ll' which is almost Dutch. But you did it very well... So who do you think is flying the flag for protest today?

Judy: Well, I believe that songs about life in general are characterised as songs that you might have heard during the sixties. Of course, country songs are in their own genre although I think that probably Alan Jackson wrote one of the strongest protest songs ever after 9/11 as a country song - Where Were You. There's always a lot of music that's about being against the war. Yesterday we were on the street near the U.N, coming back from a party and there was a little car that drove by with no top on it and some people waving a sign about stopping the war. The best song I've heard recently against the war is a song called Weight Of The World which is a song I'm about to record. It's by Amy Speace who's coming over to England to sing it, if she hasn't already been there. It's a new album out. She records on my label.

Digger: She's great. I had a listen to her on your website.

Judy: She's very good. Weight Of The World is a really fine song and one of the best things I've heard. But I was never a protest singer per se. My material always moved among many different types of song. I would say there were always certainly love songs, there were always songs about faith, whether it be Amazing Grace or The Circle Game or Turn, Turn, Turn. There was always that muddle; eclectic kind of songs.

Digger: It was just a convenient label for the press to give you.

Judy: They called me a folk singer. I don't know who a protest singer would be - even Pete Seeger doesn't fit that category. Then there's the union songs like Woody Guthrie wrote and This Land Is Your Land which is kind of a patriotic song if anything at all. I was doing a big event the other night, sponsored by the U.N. and in fact Mary Robinson was there and invited me to come. Every union, the city workers, the hospital workers, the musicians union, my own union - I have three actually - S.A.G, A.F.T.R.A. and the A.F of M. So many people were there for this. I pulled out a whole load of Woody Guthrie songs about the union. Roll On Columbia, Roll On and Union Maid. And just had a wonderful time with that and with This Land Is Your Land, which, as I said, is not a protest song. 

Digger: Can you tell us about your involvement with UNICEF and the landmines?

Judy: I have been a representative of UNICEF and I was asked to do that in 1994. I have travelled to a number of countries and gone to a number of facilities and schools and efforts that UNICEF makes on behalf of children. And they were some of the first to have any kind of landmine education programme going on for children. Particularly in Bosnia and the former Yugolsavia and Croatia. Because children are so apt to pick them up and there was, and still, is this horror of a business model where the landmines are made to look like candy wrappers and coke bottles...

Digger: That's amazing.

Judy: ... So that a child will reach for them. The idea is for them to disrupt society, but the problem is that they don't have any allegiance to one enemy or the other - they'll just blow up in anybody's hand. I think that the only thing that I have ever held against President Clinton is that he did not sign the landmine bill that Jody Williams finally had to take to Canada and get signed by all the countries. We certainly should have sponsored that. We were involved and should have been the first on the block to join, which we didn't and which is heartbreaking. But I do seminars speaking about it but I haven't done as much for UNICEF as I would like to lately, primarily because the NGO's have a problem sending anybody out in this climate to do anything. Where people are arrested, kidnapped, sentence to twelve years hard labour when they cross a boundary as in China and North Korea where Bill Clinton went to get them out. He's my hero, as Obama is and as our Secretary of State is. But everybody is not perfect and we're marching towards the goal. Obama is a brilliant man and he's comfortable...

Digger: Within his own skin?

Judy: Yes, within his own skin as you said. You know (Laughs) the other night they were talking about the racial issue and Obama said "You know I was black before I was elected." He's just amazing and so is Michelle. I just admire them so much and am grateful that they are there and that Hillary Clinton is Secretary of State and former President Clinton is out there literally changing the world. Doing absolutely extraordinary things.

 

 

   

Bill and Hillary Clinton

 

President Obama

 

 

Digger: What do you think is the legacy of the sixties?

Judy: The legacy of the sixties? Probably, a successful anti-war movement although we didn't manage to stop that war until 1975. But it did come to an end and we did it, I believe that with all my heart. It just took us longer than we thought it would. But that was a major, major, MAJOR victory. As Dillinger used to say "God bless those who fought in the Vietnam war and God bless those who fought against it." 

Digger: In the sixties, in the UK, things on the whole were rather idyllic - it was our time again as it were. And from the American perspective, what with assassinations, riots and the Vietnam war, it was something very different. We were very aware of the Vietnam war in the UK but we can't imagine what it must have been like to have had that experience. A very different experience for you in the States.

Judy: It wasn't idyllic, it was a great struggle and the music, of course, was wonderful and there was so much of it going on. And I was lucky to be right smack-dab in the middle of it. From 1959 where I started singing professionally. And was involved with all of these people and all of these actions. Many marches and everything from the peace marches to the Chicago Seven trial and the events around very interesting political movements and effort. And a lot of peace activism.

Digger: And sewing the seeds for what is happening now.

Judy: (Sighs) Well, it's been a terribly difficult time. Again. You know, from this (Sighs) I hate to even look back and review how we got to where we are now but it was a not a choice of the American people, that's the truth. And the truth of the beginnings of this war have been covered up and lied about and we all know that. But getting through it and getting out of it is not going to be an easy trick.

Digger: They didn't have an exit strategy. They thought they'd won when they planted an American flag in Baghdad.

Judy: Oh yes, yes, yes. Mission accomplished, we all said. So I look for ways to be positive and helpful and see what I can do to make things better.

Digger: What do you think of the state of music today?

Judy: Wonderful. I'm having an extraordinary time ... I'm one of the lucky ones quite frankly, David, because I've never stopped. I've always worked and this is my 50th year of doing this. It'll probably be my 43rd or 44th album  that I'm making at the moment. I work steadily. I've always worked hard but now I work pretty much around the year and I'm also working overseas again which I didn't do for a few years. And going all over the map.

Digger: Did you have a sudden renewal of energy and enthusiasm for touring or did you get fed-up with people asking you to come back?

Judy: My agent in England, Robert Patterson, died a few years ago. He was Duke Ellington's agent and Duke died in '72/'73 and for a few years I did big things. I had a big hit with Send In The Clowns and I was doing press for that and in '75/'76 I went back to certain places in the UK and Europe. But I stopped going so very far away. I did more travelling with UNICEF and went to Vietnam and that was wonderful.

Digger: Do you bump into Roger Moore?

Judy: Oh yes, I've done a couple of events with Roger. I was in Toronto with Roger and we were both working and it was about the subject of river blindness and this has particularly come back into the news relating to the problem in Africa. I'm not sure if it's a bacteria or virus in the water. I met Roger and his wife and we had a lovely time in England - he's a divine man, he really is and I'm very fond of him. I'd forgotten about that - thanks for reminding me. (Both laugh)

 

 

Sir Roger Moore

 

 

Digger: I've got one last question, possibly a biggie. What has been your biggest accomplishment?

Judy: My biggest accomplishment was getting up this morning. (Both laugh)

Digger: Yes, sorry about getting you up at 3:30.

Judy: I didn't mind and I don't mind if you do it again (Laughs) Oh please, so many things have happened to me and I'm so blessed because I'm working harder than ever and I can wake up with a smile and that's the greatest accomplishment any of us can have, thanks to God.

Digger: What do you still want to achieve?

Judy: To keep going for the next 45 years and be happy about it. I have lots of things to finish up and do. And start. I'm working on a new book 24/7 which is very exciting. It's called Sweet Judy Blue Eyes - Sex, Drugs, Rock and Roll and the music that changed a generation. It will probably be published in 2011 although if I carry on at the current rate it might actually be published in the fall of 2010.

Digger: Make sure they proof-read it properly, won't you? I see so many books where words and sentence are missed out our repeated or where there are basic spelling errors. I'm a bit of a pedant and it spoils a book for me.

Judy: (Laughs) Yes, I will. I have been very lucky because I work with some great publishing houses. This is my tenth book, believe it or not. And I've worked with great editors and proofers and people who are really up there and this is with a company called Harmony. I also am a stickler, so as far as I am concerned editing, writing and re-writing are all in the same category. And I go from the beginning to the middle and from the end to the middle constantly working as I'm going forward on exactly what you're saying. That's just me and from making so many records, I think. And I'm a great reader and I think reading is the vital centre of one's creative life and I love to read. History, mystery, biography primarily - not a lot of novels apart from the great novels that we all have to read. (Laughs) But I read a lot and write a lot and getting it right in terms of how it reads is incredibly important and how it sounds on a record and whether the editing's right. Similar skills I think and you learn them over the years.

Digger: Judy it's been fantastic talking to you. Hopefully now you can go back to bed and get a good night's sleep.

Judy: Oh no, I'm fine.

Digger: Do you do breakfast?

Judy: I do. I was up at 7 having breakfast, 12 your time. Black cherries and yogurt.

Digger: Bacon and egg ever?

Judy: I do, I do. I love bacon and eggs.

Digger: Me too. Bacon got me back from being a veggie of 15 years.

Judy: Yes, bacon is hard to do without.

Digger: Thanks again for this Judy and good luck with the UK tour in early 2010. We'll post your tour dates up on this interview.

Judy: David thank you.

Digger: See you in January.

Judy: Have a great day. Bye bye.