Customer Reviews

Judy Collins - Wildflower Festival

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This DVD captures a live concert of the Judy Collins Wildflowers Festival recorded in San Diego, June 30, 2002. Judy and her co-stars Arlo Guthrie, Eric Anderson, and Tom Rush shine in this rich performance of folk classics, including City of New Orleans, Amazing Grace, The Circle, In My Life, and Both Sides Now. Each singer performs a solo set, and all four join in a rousing encore. Collins sings her own Home Before Dark and Open the Door, as well as standards such as Send in the Clowns. Each provides a sparkling performance and the four blend voices beautifully in the encores. Production values are terrific. An unforgettable gathering of four of America's best loved folk singers of the past 40 years. Not to be missed.

Amazing grace, indeed! This is an incredible show with stellar performances by some of the finest and, in my opinion, most under-rated singers of the past century. Judy Collins is a wonderful singer and performer and she lends class and grace to every song she sings. The version here of "In My Life," sung with the other guest artists, is incredible. In "City of New Orleans," although Judy had a rousing version on her album entitled "JUDITH" -- this time she lets Arlo take it away and sing his own rendition while offering a beautiful supporting voice -- she doesn't try to one-up him and impose her version on him. Eric Anderson's "Thirsty Boots" brings tears to my eyes, and to hear Judy and Eric sing it together is thrilling. At times, the guest stars' performances get a little draggy, but whenever Judy is on, the stage glows. A magical evening -- and dvd! I highly recommend it!

Nice package. Not as good as Judy Live At Wolf Trap. Judy carries the show. However, at the end of the concert all four sing a few songs together. They blend their voices well and it is a very enjoyable conclusion to the concert.

Live Concert (NetFlx 367/10)

Okay, just when you thought there could not possibly be any more country folk, urban folk, suburban folk, folk rock, rock folk, semi-folk, or quasi-folk music from the folk revival of the early 1960 to review here I am again reviewing some of the stars of that time-in their dotage. Well, maybe not dotage, but we are all, including Judy Collins, Eric Andersen, Tom Rush, and Arlo Guthrie, getting a little long in the tooth, and no one can dispute that hard fact. The real question is whether the artists in this compilation still have it, at least for those of us in that dwindling, graying, arthritic, prescription-needing folk audience that fills the small church basement "coffee houses" on this planet. And they do. Still have it, I mean.

That said, this little Wildflower Festival setting in 2003 provided Judy and her guests with a chance to show their stuff, new and old. Now, for those who have heard Judy Collins sing back in the day the question is why she did not challenge Joan Baez for the "queen" of folk title. She had the voice, the style, and the looks (ya, that WAS important, even then) to do so. I have been running a "Not Joan Baez" series and will deal with that question there at some other time but her work here is pretty good, especially her well-known cover of Ian Tyson's "Someday Soon". Eric Andersen, who I have already looked at in a "Not Bob Dylan" series hold forth on his "Blue River". Tom Rush, ditto, on "The Remember Song". Finally, Arlo, whom I have covered in relation to his father's, Woody Guthrie, music "steals" the show here with his storytelling, notably the kid's story, "Mooses Came Walking".

this concert video shot during collin's last tour provides a nice overview of the legendary's folk/art singer's career. the guests: arlo guthrie, eric anderson and tom rush play pleasant short sets as well as join judy for the encores. it all looks great, the production values are fine. the second dvd of extras is largely extraneous. this dvd gets docked one star as collins has coasted on her history here and the dvd does little in the way of conveying what has made collin's such a trailblazing artist all these years. still, a nice package.