Judy Collins - Forever Green

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 53:04
Size: 121.5 MB
Styles: Folk, Pop, Jazz
Year: 2015
Art: Front

[4:08] 1. Send In The Clowns
[5:03] 2. Don't Cry For Me Argentina
[4:45] 3. Plaisir D'amour
[3:38] 4. Bewitched, Bothered And Bewildered
[3:18] 5. My Heart Stood Still
[3:08] 6. Embraceable You
[3:41] 7. How Are Things In Glocca Morra
[2:59] 8. Younger Than Springtime
[3:42] 9. They Say It's Wonderful
[4:37] 10. I Can't Get Started
[2:51] 11. Till There Was You
[2:25] 12. I've Grown Accustomed To His Face
[4:28] 13. My Funny Valentine
[4:16] 14. Let It Be

Singer Judy Collins was, along with Joan Baez, one of the two major interpretive singers to emerge from the folk revival of the late '50s and early '60s. Like Baez, she began singing traditional folk songs, then moved on to popularize the work of contemporary singer/songwriters, even writing her own songs occasionally. Unlike Baez, she used her classical music training to evolve into being a singer of art songs and show tunes, sometimes employing semi-classical arrangements. In a career that began at the end of the 1950s and was still going strong more than 50 years later, she consistently performed 50-80 concerts a year, and she recorded extensively, her commercial success reaching its apex from the late '60s to the mid-'70s, as six of her albums from the period achieved gold or platinum sales. Although she was primarily an albums artist, she also enjoyed a few hit singles, notably her Top Ten, Grammy-winning cover of Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now," which helped establish Mitchell as a songwriter; an a cappella version of the hymn "Amazing Grace"; and the show tune "Send in the Clowns," which led to a Song of the Year Grammy for its composer, Stephen Sondheim.

Forever Green mc
Forever Green zippy

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Judy Collins - A Love Letter To Stephen Sondheim

Size: 98,7 MB
Time: 35:39
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2017
Styles: Jazz/Pop Vocals
Art: Front

01. No One Is Alone (3:07)
02. Finishing The Hat (2:55)
03. Not While I'm Around (2:52)
04. Take Me To The World (2:54)
05. Liasons (4:58)
06. Move On (3:56)
07. Send In The Clowns (3:58)
08. Not A Day Goes By (3:26)
09. I'm Still Here (4:48)
10. Anyone Can Whistle (2:40)

Is it possible to have a more sublime combination than the erudite music of Stephen Sondheim and the ethereal song stylings of Judy Collins? This filmed concert, originally broadcast on PBS, features the legendary songstress performing the Broadway master’s finest works at Denver’s Boettcher Concert Hall, backed by the Greeley Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Glen Cortese.

Collins has the unique talent for retelling Sondheim’s most biting and acidic works with a distinctive sense of ruefulness – a work of musical magic that gives a new layer of ironic serenity to songs that are too-often plumbed for bitterness. Under Collins’ interpretation, Sondheim classics including “I’m Still Here” and “Send in the Clowns” are presented as introspective last-laughs at an uncaring world, while “Gun Song” provides a disturbing layer of wonderment to a harrowing portrait of a dreadful weapon. Collins’ beautiful phrasing enshrines the genius of Sondheim’s lyrics, and her performances of intellectually intricate songs like “Children & Art” and “Finishing the Hat” offer a magnificent display of the songwriter’s peerless command of language.

Oddly, Collins includes a few non-Sondheim numbers including her Joni Mitchell-penned pop hit “Chelsea Morning” and a pair of John Denver songs – these numbers do not fit the marvelous mood created by the Sondheim canon and would have been best left for the special features section of the DVD that will be available via MVD Visual in February. Nonetheless, this invigorating concert, which is handsomely directed by Pierre Lamoureux, is a treat for the senses. ~by Phil Hall

A Love Letter To Stephen Sondheim

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Judy Collins - Strangers Again (Deluxe Edition)

Size: 138,1 MB
Time: 58:54
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2015
Styles: Folk, Country, Rock
Art: Front

01. Strangers Again (Feat. Ari Hest) (4:38)
02. Miracle River (Feat. Michael Mcdonald) (4:37)
03. Belfast To Boston (Feat. Marc Cohn) (3:42)
04. When I Go (Feat. Willie Nelson) (4:25)
05. Make Our Garden Grow (Feat. Jeff Bridges) (3:26)
06. Feels Like Home (Feat. Jackson Browne) (3:58)
07. From Grace (Feat. Thomas Dybdahl) (3:43)
08. Hallelujah (Feat. Bhi Bhiman) (4:09)
09. Someday Soon (Feat. Jimmy Buffett) (3:18)
10. Stars In My Eyes (Feat. Aled Jones) (3:44)
11. Send In The Clowns (Feat. Don Mclean) (3:50)
12. Races (Feat. Glen Hansard) (4:39)
13. Last Thing On My Mind (Feat. Stephen Stills) (Bonus Track) (2:54)
14. Diamonds And Rust (Feat. Joan Baez) (Bonus Track) (3:32)
15. When Your Eyes Close (Feat. Puressence) (Bonus Track) (4:13)

In the four years since her previous studio LP, 2011's Bohemian, vocal icon Judy Collins added a spate of live releases and another holiday album to her prolific late-career catalog. Well into her sixth decade as a recording artist, she has little left to prove and yet she shows no signs of slowing her pace as she delivers Strangers Again, a 12-song collection of duets, all with men. The format was casual with each of her chosen counterparts given the option to either sing a song of Collins' choosing or bring his own selection to the table. While much of the material here falls pretty squarely in each vocalist's wheelhouse, there are a few surprises. With his pleasantly rough-hewn voice, actor Jeff Bridges has tended to skew toward country and roots songs in his music career, but his choice of the Leonard Bernstein-penned "Make Our Garden Grow" from the musical Candide puts both singers on common ground as they step out beyond their expected repertoire. Other tracks make perfect sense, like her duet with veteran songwriter Marc Cohn on James Taylor's poignant "Belfast to Boston" or on Randy Newman's lovely "Feels Like Home" which apparently was given to Jackson Browne when Newman politely refused to pair his limited vocal chops with Collins' still-fluid soprano. Among her well-established gentlemen peers, there are also some younger foils holding their own, with New York singer/songwriter Ari Hest offering up his own song for the title track and Norwegian indie folk crooner Thomas Dybdahl doing the same on "From Grace." Still, one the album's strongest cuts features another prolific icon whose strange, sandy tenor has dueted with the best of them. When Willie Nelson's timeless cracked tenor interweaves with Collins' dreamy musings on the moody, banjo-led "When I Go," it's the sound of two interpretive masters doing what they do best.

Strangers Again

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Judy Collins - Wild Flowers

Styles: Folk
Year: 1967
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 36:07
Size: 83,6 MB
Art: Front + Back

(3:11)  1. Michael From Mountains
(2:35)  2. Since You Asked
(2:33)  3. Sisters of Mercy
(4:57)  4. Priests
(4:37)  5. Lasso! Di Donna
(3:16)  6. Both Sides Now
(4:40)  7. La Chanson Des Vieux Amants
(1:49)  8. Sky Fell
(4:52)  9. Albatross
(3:32) 10. Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye

Soothing. Unique. Natural. These are clear adjectives used best when describing the style and grace of Judy Collins and her album Wildflowers. Her blend of folk and meditative music paints a tapestry of soft, nurturing colors that transcends the mind of the listener and seeks one's soul. Much of the material feels uplifting and full of spirit, or even spiritual to some degree. Yet other parts of the record can be viewed and felt as sad and morose, which gives the record some dexterity and variety among its ability to appeal toward contrasting moods. Collins makes a well-earned statement in her original tunes "Since You Asked," "Sky Fell," and "Albatross," that deep, meditative, and subtle can be effective within the realms of music as an art form. She is certainly artistic with her approach, staying away from the clichéd folk and pop music that flooded much of the '60s radio-friendly airwaves. Collins also includes her favorite melodies from the songbooks of Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen. This can benefit one as a pleasant listen, easy to sooth the mind and body, and release the burdens of everyday stress in society. ~ Shawn M.Haney  http://www.allmusic.com/album/wildflowers-mw0000651146

Wild Flowers

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Judy Collins - Hard Time For Lovers

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 37:18
Size: 85.4 MB
Styles: Folk, Easy Listening
Year: 1979/2013
Art: Front

[3:52] 1. Hard Times For Lovers
[3:10] 2. Marie
[3:08] 3. Happy End
[3:29] 4. Desperado
[3:56] 5. I Remember Sky
[4:26] 6. Starmaker
[4:33] 7. Dorothy
[3:37] 8. Theme From The Universal Picture The Promise (I'll Never Say Goodbye )
[3:25] 9. Theme From Ice Castles (Through The Eyes Of Love) - From The Columbia Motion Picture
[3:38] 10. Where Or When

After scoring an unexpected chart hit with her rendition of Stephen Sondheim's "Send in the Clowns" and the accompanying Judith album in 1975, Judy Collins seemed to lose career and musical momentum on her follow-up, Bread and Roses. Hard Times for Lovers was an attempt to recapture the momentum of the Judith album and also to update her image. The latter mostly took the form of a striking front-and-back nude photo of Collins (discreetly cropped and framed) on the album's cover; the design boosted her already high stock among adherents of the woman's movement, but engendered some controversy in more politically conservative circles. The musical content, however, was about half of what it should have been -- the title track (authored by Hugh Prestwood) was moderately catchy and memorable, and Collins also covered material by Randy Newman, Carole Bayer Sager, the Eagles, and Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, but there was little excitement or tension to any of the material here, and her voice sounded thin and strained at times. The track that should have elicited the greatest interest, Stephen Sondheim's "I Remember Sky" -- from a lost ABC television-spawned musical called Evening Primrose -- was strangely under-recorded which, coupled with a lack of richness in Collins' singing, left it intrinsically haunting (a fundamental attribute of the composition itself) but pale and inaccessible. "Starmaker" was another good tune that Collins simply failed to carry all the way in the manner that she had with "Send in the Clowns." "Dorothy," by Hugh Prestwood, is a beautiful and fascinating piece of Oz-ephemera inspired by L. Frank Baum's books and the MGM movie, with a gorgeous chorus, and is arguably -- along with the title cut -- the most successful song on the album. Perhaps the strangest part of the album was its second side, which offered a pair of film-related songs associated with a pair of affliction-based romances, Gilbert Cates' disastrous The Promise and Donald Wrye's more successful Ice Castles. Unfortunately, neither was a terribly inspiring recording. Only on the final track, Collins' rendition of Rodgers & Hart's "Where or When," does she really hint at what could have been for this album, her singing and the arrangement evoking depth, power, and beauty somewhat reminiscent but still short of the Judith LP. [Note: This was the only original '70s-era Collins album that wasn't remastered by WEA during the mid-'90s.] ~Bruce Eder

Hard Time For Lovers

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