TO hear Judy Collins sing “Amazing Grace” is to know why this 62-year-old singer is a national treasure.Her unaccompanied, crystalline soprano never fails to raise goose bumps.
Throughout her long and successful professional career – she was 13 when she made her debut with the Denver Symphony Orchestra – her timeless voice has transcended style, allowing her to segue from folk to folk rock, pop and cabaret.
Recently, Collins – who appears Thursday at Westbury Music Fair and July 14 at the Mohegan Sun’s Wolf Den – spoke with The Post about her 40 years in music.
Post: How do you know when a song is great?
Collins: It pulls me, from my toes to my eyebrows. It doesn’t have to be a certain kind of song . . . It’s like Duke Ellington said: There’s two kinds of songs, good ones and bad ones. So I don’t limit myself to any one kind of music.
I just heard a new Jimmy Webb song that I’m going to record. This song is so mine. I love it. I can’t tell you why, I just know it’s for me.
I’m always looking and listening to new artists and trying out new material. I heard a song the other day by a group called Train that I just love. I am also a great fan of Sting, although I’ve never recorded anything by him, but I’m thinking about it.
Post: What Sting song are you considering?
Collins: “Every Breath You Take” has always been on my list.
Post: From your own experiences and what you’ve seen, do women have a harder time making it in music?
Collins: I’m the swan floating on top of water who looks serene, and under the water, my legs are paddling fast. I’ve managed myself since 1972, so I’ve had to learn things about the business that other artists might not know. There was also a lot of sexism in the music business in the ’60s. Artists in general – men or women – in traditional music business terms are treated as if they’re children.
Post: When you started your record company, Wildflower, was it because you were tired of being treated like a child?
Collins: I’ve written novels, I’ve made movies, I done some acting. I’ve had a very well-rounded career, but my main thrust is as a singer. I want to be heard. So starting my own record label was the way I could ensure that.
Gosh, it’s so nice to have a record company that supported me so much to make a PBS special. You can do that kind of thing when you are a board of directors of one.
Sweet Judy’s song
OF the many songs that Judy Collins made famous is one she didn’t write or perform: “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes,” by Stephen Stills.
“Stephen and I had this very rocky affair,” Collins recalls. “He was just starting Crosby Stills & Nash and he just finished playing on my ‘Who Knows Where the Time Goes’ album [1968]. We had a wild, woolly and wonderful affair, but it was starting to fall apart. He came to my hotel room in California . . . and sang me ‘Suite: Judy Blue Eyes.’ I flipped out, it was so beautiful.”
Although they never did get back together as a couple, Stills’ tribute to Collins was a giant hit for his fledgling group. “It always gives me a chill when I hear it,” Collins admits. “Stephen was able to capture the conflict as well as the romance in our lives. That’s quite a feat in any song.”
