Customer Reviews

Whales & Nightingales

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4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
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I remember seeing Judy in concert in the quite informal setting of Avaloch, a wonderful sylvan natural amphitheater that all the folk stars from Collins to Joan Baez to Joni Mitchell to Kris Kristoferson to Tom Rush to James Taylor performed at along the back roads of Lenox, Massachusetts in the summer of 1969 or 1970. Sadly, it is now the site of a ritzy set of exclusive summer condominiums for the New York summertime Berkshires crowd. Yet I can still recall hearing Judy with that magical soaring voice of hers warming up on stage with "Amazing Grace" as we filed onto the grass, and the song so echoed and reverberated over the warm humid airwaves that he older folks at Tanglewood, some six or seven miles way, complained about the noisome interruption. It became an inside joke that Collins, Baez and others would playfully aggravate when performing for the very very mellow crowd of counterculture fans. I recall a certain sweet aroma wafting through the air, too, and it wasn't the smell of cotton candy. Of course, it probably goes without saying that I love most of the songs on this album, from the opening cover of Joan Baez's "Song for David" to Jacques Brel's magical "Sons Of" to the wry and cautionary Irish folk tale of "The Patriot's Game". It is hard to pick a personal favorite from this list of absolutely terrific songs, but since I named my daughter after one the songs (Jacques Brel's "Marieke"), I guess I will single that one out for special consideration. This is a snapshot of a one of the titans of modern American folk music, taken at the peak of her awesome vocal and collaborative talents. It is one sure to please the most discriminating of well-trained folk ears, and one I am sure you will come to treasure as much as I do. Enjoy.

When you listen to "Whales & Nightingales" the big question is which song do you find more haunting, her crystal clear version of "Amazing Grace" or "Farewell to Tarwathie," which is sung over the accompaniment of Humpback Whales. This 1971 album made it all the way to #17 on the pop charts, which makes it her second most successful album after her 1968 "Wildflowers" album. The glorious soprano voice is always there and the quality of a Judy Collins album always comes down to the songs. This time around we have Bob Dylan's "Time Passes Slowly" and songs by Jacques Brel ("Marieke") and Pete Seeger ("Oh Had I a Golden Thread"), as well a nice little original composition ("Sons of"). Consequently, while you can get the two "hits" from this album on her hits collection, there are several other songs well worth having in your music library, making "Whales & Nightingales" a Judy Collins album well worth having.

The song "Farewell to Tarwathie" is what brought me to buy this album, but there is so much more to this album!

"Farewell to Tarwathie" is Collins' reworking of a traditional song about a Greenland whaler's journey into the hinterland, but the song is brought to life by the songs of Humback Whales which accompany her acopella performance. I don't think there is another moment in modern music quite like this recording, it is too beautiful for my paltry words...

Another highlight is Collins' version of Jacques Brell's "Marieke," a hauntingly beautiful song about a man's love for a woman and his homeland. Any Jacques Brell song is a reason to purchase an album and when it is Judy Collins covering it, there is little to separate me from taking the plunge and buying it up!

Every song is exquisitely arranged, from the Dylan tune "Time Passes Slowly" to the instrumental "Nightingale II," each is different, with its own signature, making this an ecelectic and unusual album. There is no one quite like Collins, her voice alone is astounding and unique, a type of beauty so rare it appears once in a lifetime, or not at all...

I recommend this album to anyone looking to try something new and expand their horizons, it did just that for me.

Although somewhat musically related to "Wildflowers" in it's orchestral stylings, Judy Collins' "Whales And Nightingales" has a slighter folk-rock tinge to it and is a more scenic, if you will, view of the world - encapsulating political, social, spiritual, ecological, and romantic concerns into its captivating musical panorama.

"Whales And Nightingales" opens with her compeer Joan Baez's "Song For David", her then-husband who was arrested and jailed for resisting the draft into Vietnam while she waited with their new-born son for his release. It is a powerful song; its power belied by its beauty, as it actually sounds apolitical. It is followed by Jacque Brel's "Sons Of", a solo-piano accompanied lullaby, of sorts, reminding us of the diversity of human life and how all, created equal, can come to so many different paths in life. On this album, Judy has also included Brel's wonderful "Marieke", sung in French and Flemish.

Dylan's "Time Passes Slowly" is one of my favorite tracks here and is a lush, folk-rocking love song; Judy's voice soars on this number, once again showing how well she interprets Dylan. She also does a spectacular job of Pete Seeger's "Oh, Had I A Golden Thread".

Collins, herself, composed for this album: her contributions being "Nightingale I", a romantic song in which she is the nightingale hunted but not struck by the arrow aimed at her by her potential suitor. She accompanies herself on piano, once again showing her classically trained musicianship, which fully blossums on the following "Nightingale II", an ambitious, completely orchestrated classical sounding instrumental piece.

"Whales And Nightingales" also includes traditional songs, supremely arranged and adapted by Collins: "Prothalamium", a song of rejuvination; "Farewell To Tarwathie", a centuries-old Scottish whaling song performed over a backdrop of the songs humpback whales sing to each other, reminding us of the beauty of the natural world and, conversely, how it is NOT to be squandered and depleted; and the closing spiritual cuts "Simple Gifts", about the simple recognition of the essence of being and the gratitude for life; and her colossal hit, "Amazing Grace".

Judy Collins' "Whales And Nightingales" covers a broad spectrum of the issues of life and living. When time is spent with it, lights shine, revealing its messages of hope and faith and peace and love.

When Whales and Nightingales first came out I was thirteen years old. I fell in love with it then, and continue to love it now. This says a lot for its staying power, since I am a very different person now than I was then, and my musical tastes have changed drastically! Judy Collins' voice is haunting and lovely, and each song is perfect in its own way. Farewell To Tarwaithe, Simple Gifts, and Amazing Grace are my favorites, but there's not a bad song in the bunch. This is a great sing-along album for wanna-be sopranos, or you can listen and marvel at the crystal clarity of her voice. I wish she was doing albums like this now!

Judy Collins' Whales and Nightingales was the type of music that reached beyond all the specialized niches of the seventies and presented an eclectic mix of Pop, Folk, World Music before there was anything by that title, gospel, and then her work of mourning over the loss of her relationship with Stephen Stills: Nightingale I. It is a story about the loss of faith. It is Nightingale II that moves me emotially. Basically an instrumental rendition of Nightingale I, the orchestrated song take us to another plane.

Amazing Grace, Simple Gifts,and all the others. I belive this is a perfect Judy Collins Album.

One of JC's very best, along with "Fifth" and "Maidens/Golden Apples of the Sun" and the not-yet-transferred to CD "Judy Collins/3". Everybody I knew bought this one when it came out. "Simple Gifts" and "Amazing Grace" and "Farewell to Tarwathie" and "Oh, Had I a Golden Thread" are all great.

Decades of indifferent pop craft and a pandering sentimentality have led many to forget that, during the Sixties, Judy Collins was a major player. This 1970 album was eagerly anticipated across American campuses and easily met everyone's high expectations. If Collins could be compared to Paul Simon (another intelligent and tasteful perfectionist), Whales & Nightingales straddles a halfway mark between the eccentrities of Bookends and the sensuality of Bridge Over Troubled Water. Big statements ("Amazing Grace" and "Golden Thread" ) are tempered by quick-witted vignettes ("Sons Of" and "Prothalamium") and, displaying her keen ear for musicianship, delivers the quintessential version of Joan Baez's intensely personal "Song For David." "Farewell To Tarwathie," the 'whale duet,' is the centerpiece and stands as the 'first New Age' recording. Better yet are the two versions of the brooding "Nightingale" - a convincing argument for Collins' ability as a composer. A song cycle in the grand manner of 1970, the album is probably Collins' final masterpiece.

Primarily a traditional folk artist early in her career, Judy Collins began expanding her choice of material in 1966 with her classic lp IN MY LIFE, covering such gifted songwriters as Leonard Cohen and Randy Newman, and followed in 1967 with WILDFLOWERS, which brought her a hit single in Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now". Along with 1968's WHO KNOWS WHERE THE TIME GOES, Judy created some of the most beautiful music of the late 60's. 1970's WHALES & NIGHTINGALES continued her streak of beautiful albums. While not quite as good as the previous three, it none the less offers many pleasures, from the opening "Song for David", written by fellow folkie Joan Baez, through Pete Seegers "Oh, Had I a Golden Thread"; the traditional whaling song "Fairwell to Tarwaithe", sung with the mournfal cries of the whales in the background; to Bob Dylan's "Time Passes Slowly"; to Judy's own "Nightingale I", written about her then-relationship with Stephen Stills; and closing with her beautiful rendition of the hymn "Amazing Grace". Judy was still in peak form for this lp, and wouldn't create an album as good again until 1975's JUDITH. Recommended.

Judy Collins was at her finest on this c.d. From her cover of Joan Baez's Song for David to Amazing Grace. No one has equaled her recording of that glorious hymn. I also like Simple Gifts which is also well produced. God bless Judy Collins.