Interview: Judy Collins

Judy Collins is a true treasure, a singer whose angelic voice made her a key figure in the Greenwich Village folk music scene and beyond.

She has written her own great songs, but Collins is best known for her interpretations of songs written by others. Notably, she was the first to record songs by Leonard Cohen (including “Suzanne” on her 1966 album In My Life), and amongst the first to cover songs by Joni Mitchell (a 1967 hit version of “Both Sides, Now”) and Bob Dylan (including “Masters of War” in 1963). She also recorded hit versions of “Amazing Grace” and “Send in the Clowns”.

This interview was for a preview article for noozhawk.com for the Judy Collins / Stephen Stills concert at the Arlington Theatre on 10/28/17. (Stills, of course, wrote the song “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” about Collins.) It was done by phone on 10/9/17. (Anna Webber photo)

Interview: Janis Ian

Folk music icon Janis Ian first made her mark with the hit song “Society’s Child” about the challenges facing an interracial couple. Remarkably, this was written when she was only 14 years old, and became a hit in 1967 after it was featured on a TV special hosted by Leonard Bernstein. An even bigger hit for Ian came in 1975 with “At Seventeen”, a song about not fitting in that almost anyone who was a teenager can relate to. Other acclaimed recordings have appeared over the years.

This interview was for a preview article for her concert on 4/29/15 at the Maverick Saloon as part of the Tales From the Tavern concert series. It was done by phone on 4/15/15. (Lloyd Baggs photo)