Feb 11 2010
by Matt Thomas
One of the key figures of the protest folk movement, Judy Collins, is
back on the road. She tells Matt Thomas why she hasn't mellowed and
thinks the current generation of singer songwriters will do all right
in the end
THESE days it seems like you don't need to have done much to deserve
the accolade "Sixties Legend".
Having been in a reincarnated Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich
with just a couple of the original members is enough to secure you a
place on the solid-silver '60s Pantheon of fame.
But when it comes to Judy Collins, playing in Cardiff tomorrow,
there's no doubt about having earned her spot.
Steeped in the Greenwich Village folk activist scene, fired up by the
songs of Pete Seeger and Bob Dylan, she has forged a career out of
defiantly doing her own thing, capturing the spirit of the age in her
actions, as well as song.
But the septuagenarian, who's faced her own demons in the shape of
her battle with alcoholism and the suicide of her only son, refuses
to put on her rose-tinted glasses when considering the era.
"I don't ever think it has been what you might call a nurturing
business, even back then," she muses.
"Although thinking back to my youth at Elektra (record label), I was
protected and supported and encouraged to a large extent.
"But it is a two-way street and always has been.
"You have got to be prepared to do things like promo work and get out
there and put yourself in positions with which you might not
necessarily be comfortable.
"If you don't think that's an important part of the business, then
you've got another think coming."
Aside from music, her other great passion has been activism.
She has lent her voice to causes like the Youth International Party
and is currently a UNICEF ambassador and campaigns on behalf of the
abolition of landmines.
"In my case, I never really think of my activism as a parallel
activity to my music," she explains.
"I'm involved with so many things on and off, but one of my main
concerns at the moment is the suicide awareness charity of course.
"But no, I don't think it's something that is necessarily missing
from the music business these days.
"Look at Bono, Chris Martin, all these people who try to make a
difference in the world.
"Maybe activism has withered away in the wider community, but I think
there will always be a certain number of people committed to it."
It's perhaps significant that her upcoming album, released later this
year, features some of the fiercely independent singer's only recorded duets.
"Well, I don't really do duets normally," she says. "That's why this
new record is so special to me.
"Stephen (Stills), I've known forever of course (the pair were lovers
at one time, inspiring Stills' track Suite: Judy Blue Eyes from the
first Crosby, Stills and Nash album) and Joanie (Baez), we've been
friends for about 40 years or more.
"I found it very easy working with them, I mean I was quite surprised
in a way that it came together so easily."
Despite her determination to plough her own furrow, her engagement
with the contemporary folk scene can't be questioned.
Singer-songwriter Stephen Merritt, best known for his Magnetic Fields
alter ego, has referenced his latest work as sounding like her key
mid-60s release, Wildflowers.
She has even been invited to address delegates at the South By South
West music conference on the topic "Where Goes English Folk Music?"
quite an achievement for a Seattle-born New Yorker.
"In recent years, I've been more engaged with the English folk scene
than ever before, perhaps," says Collins, whose wide-ranging hits
include Both Sides Now, Amazing Grace and Send In The Clowns.
"Although I learned a lot from my trips to England in the '60s in
terms of songs and the history of songs, now I've been back
performing at a lot of folk festivals here, such as Cambridge.
"So, I suppose they must have decided that I had something of an
opinion on it and invited me to deliver it.
"But I am very enthusiastic about music as a whole at the moment.
"There are still some fabulous songs being written, and by people who
have been around a long time as well as new artists.
"I mean, look at (country band) The Flatlanders. They appeared back
in the '70s the first time round, for a couple of years, and then
popped up again 10 years or so ago.
"There's no particular model or form for your career to fit into now,
compared to the very regulated way people were managed back in the '60s.
"And I think that's heartening. I've no worries about the future of music.
"As long as the people starting out today realise just how much hard
work it's always going to be."
Judy Collins appears at The Globe, Cardiff, tomorrow. Call 07786
421860 for more information.
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