Laura Tindall, musician, music teacher and Radio Tyneside host, shares the music closest to her heart…
Throughout my adult life, I’ve had a great interest in folk singer-songwriters from the height of the 1960s and 1970s protest song and social activism era. Perhaps I should have been born in a different decade?
We had songs by the likes of Joan Baez, Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell playing in the car when I was little, back in the eighties when it was a tape player. Songs like The Wild Mountain Thyme (1965), Blowin’ in the Wind (1963), and Both Sides Now (1969) are amongst the defining sound of these artists, as well as a generation, and the lyrics are as relevant today as any day.
My first encounter with the music of Judy Collins was around my late teens/early twenties, when my best friend and I would perform as a duo at various North East venues, and we included Who Knows Where the Time Goes? into our live performance repertoire, taking inspiration from the Judy Collins version. The song was written by Sandy Denny in 1967, and originally recorded as a demo. Judy Collins heard the demo tape in 1968 and decided to cover the song. It became the B-side to her version of Both Sides Now.
My friend and I preferred the Judy Collins version due to her treatment of the song’s metre, and to this day it’s one of our favourite songs to perform.
In October, Judy Collins came to The Sage, Gateshead, and there was no way I would miss the chance to hear this folk legend live.
A piano, an empty stage, and a pretty full audience were what awaited Judy in Hall 2 of The Sage, a great, intimate venue. Just as I had my own story surrounding why I wanted to see this artist live, I wondered what others’ stories were. Most of the audience were close in age to Collins, if my perceptions served me correctly. Some, like me, were alone, while others were in pairs or small groups. It’s the ones who are alone that intrigue me most, as I wonder about their story, their personal music experience, and the lives they’ve lived.
Judy Collins opened with a beautiful performance of Open The Door, on which she played guitar while musical director Russell Walden accompanied on piano. She moved into her second song without saying a word. As soon as I heard the opening few bars and lyrics, I knew I’d be watching the rest of it through misty eyes. Both Sides Now sounds just as wonderful today as it does on any of her recordings. A truly emotional experience as I watched this silver-locked folk legend, 56 years into the business, perform such an iconic song.
“I’ve looked at love from both sides now, from up and down, and still somehow, it’s clouds’ illusions I recall, I really don’t know life at all.”
Throughout the evening, Judy’s new and old material was interspersed with stories of friendships, with the likes of Leonard Cohen, Joan Baez, Joan Rivers, and others who are true friends and icons of the music and entertainment industries.
Another emotional moment was her song In The Twilight, about her mother. It clearly touched many, many people in the audience.
“She’s a lady and she’s going home, she tells me as her eyes close in the twilight. I ask her where and she smiles and she tells me ‘it’s a secret’. And then she’s gone, just like the flowers in her garden.”
Judy Collins’ support act for the evening was Ari Hest, a singer-songwriter from New York. He’s one to watch, with a rounded, slightly husky voice and a penchant for Brazilian-style guitar playing. To me, he’s cut from the same cloth as Collins, with songs celebrating the simple things in life, as well as giving hope for the future. Check out songs After The Thunder and Harvest from his new album, Shouts and Whispers.
The years have been kind to Judy Collins, her voice as soaring and beautiful as ever. Whether you listen to Both Sides Now today or yesterday, in 1968, 2015, or somewhere in between, you have your own story. Live it and remember it.
