Customer Reviews

Living

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

 

 

Judy Collins recorded this spell-binding live album while on tour one particularly hot and humid summer in the early 1970s, and I had the extreme good fortune to witness one of the performances on that tour, the tickets a gift from a special friend. While I was in the audience close to the stage at Saratoga's Performing Arts Center, I happened to notice Wally Heider's sound truck outside situated near the concession stands. Later, when the album was released the next year I was astounded at just how good the recreation of the live sounds were. This is an unusually clear and creative recording of what was, for me at least, another of several magical evenings listening to my favorite voice in the world.

Judy is in top form here, singing her own interpretation of Leonard Cohen's lyrical "Joan of Arc". I had to laugh at the suggestion by another reviewer that Judy's version "pales" in comparison to a later singer's own recording. Not in my opinion! But then again, I admit to my own prejudice in Judy's favor. No one other than Cohen himself is as masterful at bringing the mystical and sensual content of the lyrics to life as Judy does here. Next is my own personal favorite, "Four Strong Winds', and once again her interpretation of Ian Tyson's (of the fabled Canadian folk duo "Ian and Sylvia") sad and haunting song about a lover about to move on is superior. This is easily the best version I have ever heard, and a lot of folk singers and others like Neil young and even John Denver have done very good version of this timeless modern classic.

All of the songs included here are well done, from Joni Mitchell's "Chelsea Morning" to Judy's own lovely "Easy Times" (a touching song about the personal heartache and emotional wreckage a career criminal leaves in his trail) to another singular Leonard Cohen classic, "Famous Blue Raincoat", the song cycle offered here will leave you spellbound by this wonderful opportunity to experience Judy Collins at her very best, live. This is a CD that I have used to prove just how durable the new format is, for I have played this one hundreds and hundreds of times over the last decade. This is one I highly recommend. Enjoy.

Receiving my first copy of this album on vinyl in high school, towards the end of Vietnam, it's depth of feeling elluded this 'Wonder Years' kid. Rediscovering this CD issue, with the background coughing from the original live tunes edited out, has been a move of my heart and memory back into our innocence. This is not Collins of 'Send in the Clowns'. This is a sophisticated singer and musician, a woman deeply understanding, interpreting the music and lyrics, playing, singing with incredible clarity. To listen to this woman, Judy Collins, who you may have identified only with the easy listening section of the record store, on 'Living', is to hear moments in time when the country was a some of it's worst, she at some of her very very best.

25 years after wearing out a vinyl version of this recording, I got this CD and discovered, surprisingly, that its quality has not diminished. Ms. Collins' voice is youthful and crystal-clear, the recording standards and balance amazing for the time-- and the songs still hold-up. Despite what another reviewer says, I still find Collins' covers of Leonard Cohen's "Famous Blue Raincoat" and "Joan of Arc" near-perfect. And the haunting "All Things Are Quite Silent," a Vietnam draft-inspired revival seems uncomfortably new again, as we seem to be preparing for war. I probably hadn't listened to this "album" for a decade, and rediscovering it on CD was like renewing an old friendship.

This distills the essence of early 70's Judy Collins, with fine covers of Dylan, Cohen and Mitchell, plus the surprising "Easy Times" which Collins co-wrote with none other than actor Stacy Keach.

Unfortunately, the CD version is not only cleaned up, it's cleaned out of the original "Chelsea Morning" included on the LP. Why I don't know, and the substitute "single version" pales in comparison.

Other than that, this is one of my favorite records - Ry Cooder's sizzling guitar work on "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" is alone worth the price of the disc.

Excellent -- got this 20 years ago as an album. Best song, in my opinion, is the one Judy wrote herself: "Song for Judith (Open the Door)". But "Joan of Arc" (the opening track) is also superb.

I also caught this show live. I saw it in the University of Connecticut theater. I knew these songs at the time. In my head, I typically "play along". This was one of the few concerts that shut that internal voice down totally. I didn't want to miss an inflection. My live favorites at the time (Bonnie Raitt, Hot Tuna, Tom Rush) were nothing like this. It was an epiphany.

Vietnam Love Song, Joan of Arc, Four Strong Winds, Torn Blue Raincoat. I heard them all anew. Don't expect Rock n' Roll. Expect songs intended for emotional impact.

This is a pretty good recording. It's nice not hearing my LP's scratches & pops 8-). The range and timbre of Judy's voice are well captured and call for a sound system upgrade - don't get/make a 128 kbps recording. My system could do better on moment's like the chorus on Song for Judith. But then, I'm biased by that memory.

Enjoy.

Judy Collins' "Living" is not a bad album. But it's a far cry from such classic Judy Collins albums like "In My Life" and "Who Knows Where the Time Goes". On those albums, as well as "Wildflowers", Judy was an early champion of Leonard Cohen and his songs, and one of his best interpreters. She continued covering his songs on this album, recording both "Joan of Arc" and "Blue Raincoat", and they're the best tracks here. But both songs were later covered by Jennifer Warnes on her superlative "Famous Blue Raincoat" Cohen cover album, and Judy's versions and now obsolete and pale in comparison. Judy was also an early champion of Joni Mitchell, and her version of Joni's "Both Sides Now" from "Wildflowers" was better then Joni's own. The same can't be said here of "Chelsea Morning", which drags in comparisons to Mitchell's more upbeat version. And the cover of Dylan's "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" here can't touch the version Judy herself did several years earlier on "In My Life". With the exception of the lovely "Song for Judith", there's nothing else on this album to recommend it, and you're better off with Judy's earlier albums, which she's yet to surpass.