Judy

It was nice to meet this Treecreeper in the park over lunch time. There were a few Speckled Wood butterflies about too.

Later, I paid my first visit to the famous City Varieties Music Hall for a Judy Collins concert. It seemed a good opportunity to see a music legend in a relatively intimate venue. Having somehow got myself a seat in the third row of the stalls I found myself in among true Judy fanatics, which made me feel a bit of a sham. The man next to me had been going to her concerts since the 60s and still travels the world following her. He had already been to four other shows on this UK tour, of which this was the last.

In truth, Judy’s peak fame was a bit before my time. She was releasing albums before I was born and she is not one of the artists that I had gone back and got to know. I have picked up a few records in the months since I got a ticket though, and she certainly has a pure, folk quality to her voice which is peerless. The fact that she is better known as an interpreter of other’s songs rather than a songwriter, although she does write, is perhaps why she isn’t held up alongside the likes of Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen who’s careers she helped build by showcasing their songs. Still, it was fascinating to hear her tales of the 60s-70s Greenwich Village and LA singer-songwriter scenes. She played several of her own songs from her latest album Spellbound, as well as songs written by others that she is well known for: Joni Mitchell’s Both Sides Now, Sondheim’s Send in the Clowns, Leonard Cohen’s Famous Blue Raincoat, Jimmy Webb’s Highwayman, John Denver’s Country Roads and so on. 

Apart from that it was really astonishing that at 84 her voice is strong and clear, and that she can stand on stage with her guitar for 90 minutes and continue a demanding schedule of shows around the world. Truly an inspirational figure.