Born to the Breed : A Tribute to Judy Collins

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Customer reviews

review by: Pete the music fan date: 2009-04-12 rating:
Tribute to Judy the songwriter
I have plenty of Judy's music and I know that she has written some great songs, but many of her most successful and famous recordings have been with oldies that she revived or songs that other people wrote for her. For that reason, I would have preferred a tribute to Judy the singer, which would have allowed some of those songs to be included. Not that I needed yet another version of Amazing grace, Both sides now, Send in the clowns or Someday soon, but that quartet of songs define Judy's career with most people more than her own songs do. Nevertheless, this album was recorded on Judy's own label and it may have been a deliberate policy to focus on songs that Judy wrote or (in the case of Easy times and Fortune of soldiers) co-wrote. To that extent, the album succeeds because Judy clearly wrote some wonderful songs. br / br /The singers featured include several contemporary folk singers, but also include Bernadette Peters (jazz/cabaret), Dolly Parton (country) and Chrissie Hynde (rock) to emphasise that Judy's music appeals far beyond her main base. Among the folk singers, it's great to find Joan Baez here but sad that Joni Mitchell is missing, especially as Judy gave Joni`s career - as well as her own - a massive boost when recording Both sides now. br / br /Most of the songs here are ballads, so the one exception (Fisherman's song, performed by Dolly Parton) stands out. Actually, it stands out in other ways too, as Dolly's infectious personality shines; she clearly had a lot of fun with this song. Elsewhere, there is plenty of great music. Shawn Colvin opens proceedings with an excellent version of Secret gardens. Jim Lauderdale is in top form on Easy time, as is Rufus Wainwright on Albatross. br / br /The Webb sisters sound great on Fortune of soldiers, a song about peace. When Judy wrote the song, she clearly believed that world peace is attainable, but subsequent events as well as previous history suggest that, like John Lennon, she's one of the dreamers. I wish for world peace too, but it won't ever happen. Song for Sarajevo, sung by Ali Eskandrian, tends to confirm this. Although written specifically about a conflict that is now resolved, it doesn't mention Sarajevo in the lyrics and could equally apply to Iraq, Afghanistan or any other conflict zone that you nominate. br / br /I don't know why both Joan Baez and Leonard Cohen recorded the same song, Since you've asked. Were there no more of Judy's own songs worth singing? Or was there some misunderstanding? If the former, perhaps one of them could have recorded one of the four songs I mentioned at the top of the review. I considered dropping a star for this duplication but decided not to as there is plenty of great music. Leonard's version of the song is the final track, so if you don't want to hear the same song twice, you always stop the album after the penultimate track. br / br /Yes, there's a lot of great music here, which makes a suitable tribute to Judy Collins the songwriter. If it helps people to identify Judy's own songs as well as the four classic songs mentioned earlier, it will have achieved its purpose. Then again, maybe some people will look at the track listing and not bother with the album because all four are missing, which would be a pity.

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