Judy Collins: Both sides of a ’60s Folk Icon

Judy Collins: Both Sides of a ’60s Folk Icon
By James Reed (edited by Gina McNeil)
(source: Boston Globe)

Legendary Folk Singer-songwriter Judy Collins won a Grammy Award, Best Folk Performance or Folk Recording,
"Both Sides, Now" in 1968. She is world renowned for her social activism. 

Judy Collins, singer-songwriter

Q. What did you learn about yourself from writing this memoir?

A. That I could, that I could see it through. It’s much easier to write the book than
to have it published. I’ll tell you a secret: I wanted to call the book “Sweet Judy
Blue Eyes: Sex, Drugs, Rock ’n’ Roll, and the Music that Changed a Generation.’’ It
got shot down, and I couldn’t fight it. They wanted “Sweet Judy Blue Eyes: My Life in
Music.’’ When I finally directly asked my editor about it, he said, “I didn’t tell you
this, but when we proposed to the salespeople what this book was going to be, they did
not like that title.’’ And I said, “Why?’’ And he said, “They don’t see you that way.’’
Well, I guess I blew their illusions! (Laughs.) That was my point.

Q. Do you think people have the wrong idea about you?

A. I said it in one of the opening scenes where Janis Joplin and I were sitting together. People expected her to
crash and burn; they expected something totally different from me. So I think [my editor] is probably right. I
do want to get it in that my vote was for “Sex, Drugs, Rock ’n’ Roll, and the Music That Changed a Generation.’’

Q. Did you ever struggle with not romanticizing the ’60s?

A. No, because the specifics were so interesting, but the harrowing life I led as an active alcoholic kept that
in perspective. Although the title may be misleading to some people, the facts are that that was a very rough
time for me. I don’t think there’s any way to romanticize it, nor do I think there’s any way to separate it
from the social upheaval that was going on around us. Whether or not we remember well enough - and we obviously
don’t - what the Vietnam War was about, I remember it and so does everybody that lived through it.

 Q. Do you see the spirit of the ’60s in the Occupy Wall Street protests?

A. You bet. And if I wasn’t on the road all the time, I’d be down there with them. Everywhere I go there are these
wonderful protests going on. I think it’s just phenomenal. It’s exactly what was intended. I thought people had
forgotten what kind of power they have. And I see now that we have that power.

 Q. At more than 300 pages, it has a nice heft, but what did you leave out of the book?

A. I think it came down to about 95,000 words, but it went out at 120,000. (Laughs) There were a lot of things
I didn’t get to keep in that book. I did not talk much about anything post-1978.

 Q. For a Boston readership, you have some great passages about New England. Do you have a lingering relationship with this part of the country?

A. Oh, absolutely. You’ve been one of the foundations of my fan base. The East Coast, I could
probably spend my life touring here and never have to go to Paris and London, which I did last week.

(source: Boston Globe)

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