Los Angeles, California - Judy Collins, Cleopatra’s First Lady of Folk, releases her latest single today, ahead of the much-anticipated release of her new live album In Concert Wildflowers At The Town Hall NYC.
“Sisters of Mercy” is a Leonard Cohen song, one of several she recorded in the years before Cohen himself even had a record deal - in fact, it was Collins’ s enthusiasm for his songwriting that introduced the Canadian poet to American audiences.
Judy first recorded the song in 1967 for her Wildflowers masterpiece, and it has been a staple of her live repertoire ever since. This version, however, is unique in that she performed accompanied not by a traditional band, but a full chamber orchestra, the Harlem Chamber Players.
SINGLE: https://orcd.co/judycollins_sistersofmercy
Recorded last year, it is a gorgeous setting that drew entire new shades and shadows not only from “Sisters of Mercy,” but from the remainder of Wildflowers too.
Judy’s highest charting album (it reached #5 on the Billboard chart) and first gold record, Wildflowers is performed in its entirety, alongside a clutch of other Collins classics - including “Send in the Clowns” and “Spellbound.”
The entire concert can be seen on the accompanying DVD. For the CD, however, the songs fall in precisely the same order as they did on the original album, opening with “Michael from Mountains”; peaking with her groundbreaking hit covers of the also unknown Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now” (a #8 hit in 1967), and Jacques Brel’s “Las Chanson des Vieux Amants”; and closing with another Cohen classic, “Hey, That’s No Way To Say Goodbye.”
A third Cohen song, “Priests,” is also included, and remains remarkable in that Cohen himself never recorded a version of his own.
Judy was introduced to Cohen by her friend Mary. “She always used to talk about him; she and I had talked about him a lot as a poet, and she said he writes these wonderful books, and then she called me one day and said he’s decided he wants to come to New York and meet you, and he wants to play you these songs, his new creations, and you can tell him whether you think they’re songs.
“I’m sure he had no idea that I’d turn out to be a Leonard Cohen girl for a long time, I’ve recorded pretty much everything he’s written…. and I’ve always just been wild about him.”
Wildflowers is also a reminder of just how hard Judy once had to fight for singer-songwriters to even be accepted within the American folk scene. “I was on the board of the Newport Folk Festival, for all that that was worth, and I told the other people I wanted to have a singer-songwriter workshop in the afternoon.
“I wanted to put it together especially for Joni and Leonard, but Janis Ian was involved as well, and I think Tom Paxton came. But I met a huge amount of resistance from the others. It was sort of the guys against the girl, the traditionalists against the populist,., I had a very hard time pushing that through. Eventually I did, and it was a huge success… but it was a struggle.”
That was then, this is now. Recorded on both HD video and crystal clear audio, this stunning multi-media set, also available on vinyl, is sure to be treasured by fans of Collins all over the world for years to come!
DIGITAL: https://orcd.co/judycollins_inconcertwildflowers
CD/DVD & VINYL: https://cleorecs.com/search?q=judy+collins+in+concert+wildflowers
Track List:
CD
1. Michael From Mountains
2. Since You Asked
3. Sisters Of Mercy
4. Priests
5. Lassoi Di Donna
6. Both Sides Now
7. La Chanson Des Vieux Amants
8. Sky Fell
9. Albatross
10. Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye
DVD
1. Mountain Girl
2. Michael From Mountains
3. Since You Asked
4. Sisters Of Mercy
5. Priests
6. Kerry Dancers
7. Lassoi Di Donna
8. Both Sides Now
9. La Chanson Des Vieux Amants
10. Sky Fell
11. Albatross
12. Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye
13. Spellbound
14. Send In The Clowns
