JUDY COLLINS … Chat with a Music Diamond!

It was a sunny June hot day in 2022, when I first heard some songs, by JUDY COLLINS and her brand new album SPELLBOUND!

Yes it was a big surprise in 2022, when she released her first album of all original material, entitled Spellbound, it was and it is… an amazing album with 12 songs (standard edition) or the CD edition with the bonus track song ¨ The Blizzard ¨ , also the fantastic LP edition with the bonus tracks ¨ The Blizzard ¨,¨ Slow Burn ¨, ¨ In the Twilight ¨ and ¨ Mountain girl ¨.

A special notice about the album ¨ Spellbound¨ is the vinyl companion to the deeply introspective, lovingly crafted 29th studio album from folk icon and cultural treasure Judy Collins!

This very special song cycle is a first in Collins’ long career – it’s her first collection of all original material written by entirely by her – and it unfolds as a curated exhibition of her remarkable life!

Co-produced with longtime collaborator Alan Silverman as well as singer-songwriter Ari Hest, whose album with Judy (Silver Skies Blue) was nominated for a Grammy in 2016, along with multi-instrumentalist Thad DeBrock (Duncan Sheik, Nelly, Jonas Brothers), bassist Zev Katz (Marc Anthony, Elton John, Billy Joel), and drummer Doug Yowell (Suzanne Vega, Joe Jackson, Duncan Sheik)!

Special 2LP set featuring 4 special bonus tracks and a gorgeous 16-page 11″x11″ booklet all housed in a gatefold jacket!

If you are interested available in PURPLE and TRANSLUCENT BLUE vinyl.

Judith Marjorie Collins (born May 1, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and musician with a career spanning seven decades. An Academy Award-nominated documentary director and a Grammy Award-winning recording artist, she is known for her eclectic tastes in the material she records (which has included folk music, country, show tunes, pop music, rock and roll and standards), for her social activism, and for the clarity of her voice. Her discography consists of 36 studio albums, nine live albums, numerous compilation albums, four holiday albums, and 21 singles….

Living in the past … I think that it was 1966 and many times from my youth less … I like to remember, one of my best songs… ¨Turn! Turn! Turn! With JUDY COLLINS and PETE SEEGER .

CHATTING WITH JUDY COLLINS!

A November day, listening again and again the songs of the album ¨ Spellbound¨, we had a very interesting chat with A Woman Living Legend of Music… with JUDY COLLINS.

Athenscalling.gr: We are thrilled to be interviewing you our Magazine, Ms. Collins, you are a living legend and this is an honor we are extremely grateful for!

JUDY COLLINS: Thank you, Thank you!

Athenscalling.gr: Your album ¨Spellbound¨ is one of the gold’s pages of the music history. How was it created, or during what time?

JUDY COLLINS: I was in lockdown in NY, starting in March of 2020, and I had been working on a number of poems, starting in 2016. A couple of the songs were done, “Arizona” was done and I think, “Spellbound,” I also had finished– it’s the lead song on the Album, Spellbound. So, I had a lot of things in motion, and for the duration of the pandemic, I kept working on that album, finishing the songs until I got the 12, which is the magic number, when you’re dealing with, with people like me who started out doing 12 songs per album, and that was what was required. Nowadays I think it doesn’t really matter, you can put anything out, but I wanted 12.

Athenscalling.gr: How do you feel? Are you satisfied with ¨Spellbound¨ reviews?

JUDY COLLINS: I love it. I think it works well. I think that the production is wonderful, with so many wonderful artists that I was able to work with, and having Ari Hest do the harmony on a number of those songs, was kind of the final touch, the finishing touch.

Athenscalling.gr: Do you have any favorite song from the album?

JUDY COLLINS: Well, I love a lot of them, you know, it’s like naming your children. I think Spellbound is turning out to be a very, very strong song in concerts, which i hadn’t actually expected, and a couple of the others have come out of the closet, so to speak. I think that Thomas Merton is a very strong song, and Girl from Colorado I think maybe is the strongest of them.

Athenscalling.gr: If you could please tell us–the story of the song “When I Was a Girl in Colorado” … it is a song which is in the center of my heart!

JUDY COLLINS: Well, it’s the center of my heart, too. It came late in the process, and it just kind of jumped out at me, and all those things are things that I thought about … and there was water in the river, …( sigh) what a time.

Athenscalling.gr: Over 63 years you have been active musician.How do you feel?

JUDY COLLINS: Very happy and continuing to do so is the best news of all! Because it keeps me happy, it keeps me healthy, it keeps me optimistic about the world, in spite of what’s going on, and I think it helps other people. I like to think that, anyway.

Athenscalling.gr: Do you remember your best time in your life?

JUDY COLLINS: It’s now! The best time is always– this morning I woke up on this side of the moon! ( Laughs )….

Athenscalling.gr: And your first album was? And what year?

JUDY COLLINS: It was 1961, it was called Maid of Constant Sorrow and I signed a contract with Elektra records on a handshake with Jac Holzman. Ever since then I’ve been working on trying to get albums out that make me happy.

Athenscalling.gr: How about your touring now, how do you feel about it?

JUDY COLLINS: It’s harder work, but it was always hard work, so in a way, it’s slightly different? Sometimes the kitchens aren’t open for lunch, but otherwise, it’s pretty much the same “de rigueur”.

Athenscalling.gr: Any plans for a concert in Greece?

JC: Oh, I’d love to be in Greece, I was there in Patmos there, for an artist workshop with Shawn Colvin, maybe 2016 or 2017, after Ari and I were nominated for a Grammy for Silver Skies Blue. He and I were invited to Patmos but he couldn’t come, so we got to have some time with Shawn Colvin so that was fabulous. But otherwise I’ve never been to Greece, even when Cohen was there I didn’t visit him.

Athenscalling.gr: Or somewhere else in your exciting future?

JC: Oh boy, I want to get back to Japan.

Athenscalling.gr: Before the end of our chat, I want ask you about all These crazy days that the whole world lives in… economic crises, the war in Ukraine, Immigration…what are your thoughts?

JUDY COLLINS: The world is a terrifying place, and it’s not going to end, that way– I don’t think it’s going to end anytime soon. I think the trick is to try to live within your sphere, be kind and courteous, just and loving – and try to live a life of dignity amidst whatever’s going on.

Athenscalling.gr: … Thank you and all the best to you!

JC: Thank you!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8La-2mjQFY