Judy Collins

Judy Collins
Judith Marjorie Collins is an American folk and standards singer and songwriter, known for the stunning purity of her soprano; for her eclectic tastes in the material she records; and for her social activism.

Biography
As a child Collins studied classical piano, making her public debut at age 13 performing Mozart's Concerto for Two Pianos.However, it was the music of Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger, and the traditional songs of the folk revival of the early 1960s, that annoyed Collins' interest and awoke in her a love of lyrics. Three years later she was playing guitar. She eventually made her way to Greenwich Village, New York City, where she signed with Elektra Records. Collins released her first album, A Maid of Constant Sorrow, at the age of 22 in 1961.

At first, she sang traditional folk songs, or songs written by others, in particular the social poets of the time. She recorded her own versions of seminal songs of the period, such as Dylan's Mr. Tambourine Man and Pete Seeger's Turn, Turn, Turn. Collins was also instrumental in bringing little known musicians to a wider public. She would also go on to record songs by singer-songwriters like Joni Mitchell, Randy Newman, and Richard Farina.

While Collins' first few albums comprised straightforward guitar-based folk songs, she began branching out and including work from such diverse sources. Joshua Rifkin produced and arranged the album. With her 1967 album Wildflowers, Collins began to record her own compositions. The album also provided Collins with a major hit, and a Grammy award, in Mitchell's Both Sides Now, which reached #8 on the Billboard Hot 100.Collins' 1968 album, Who Knows Where the Time Goes, was produced by David Anderle and featured back-up guitar by Steven Stills. Time Goes had a mellow country sound, and included Ian Tyson's Someday Soon and the title track, a Sandy Denny song. The album also featured Collins' composition, My Father, and one of the first covers of Leonard Cohen's Bird on a Wire.

Collins had a solid reputation as an art song singer and folksinger by the 1970s. She was also known for her broad range of material, a recording of Joan Baez' and her own compositions.Collins later admitted suffering from the eating disorder bulimia after she quit smoking in the 1970s.In more recent years Collins has taken to writing, producing a memoir, Trust Your Heart in 1987, as well as a novel, Shameless. A more recent memoir, Sanity and Grace tells the story of her son, Clark, and his death from suicide in January 1992. Though her record sales are not what they once were, she still records and tours in the U.S., Europe, Australia and New Zealand. She performed at US President Bill Clinton's first inauguration in 1993, singing Amazing Grace and Chelsea Morning.

Activism
Collins was drawn to social activism. She is a representative for UNICEF and campaigns on behalf of the abolition of landmines. After the 1992 death of her son, she has also become a strong advocate of suicide prevention. Her 2003 book, Sanity & Grace, chronicles her recovery from her son's suicide and attempts to provide some comfort and guidance to other families dealing with the loss of a loved one to suicide. She describes the Seven T's as a means for going through this process of recovery: Truth, Therapy, Trust, Try, Treat, Treasure, and Thrive.

Awards and recognition
Grammy Award, Best Folk Performance or Folk Recording, Both Sides Now, 1968 Grammy Award, Song of the Year, Send in the Clowns, 1975 Nominated with Jill Godmillow for an Academy Award for the documentary Antonia: A Portrait of the Woman.