Wildflowers

Judy Collins | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Elektra / Wea
• ASIN: B000002I26
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #36,577 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

No Description Available
No Track Information Available
Media Type: CD
Artist: COLLINS,JUDY
Title: WILDFLOWERS
Street Release Date: 11/17/1987
Domestic
Genre: VOCAL

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars AN Amazing Album By The Rising Judy Collins!, August 25, 2000

By 

Barron Laycock "Labradorman" (Temple, New Hampshire United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Wildflowers (Audio CD)

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 Kris Kristoferson to Tom Rush to James Taylor performed at in Lenox Massachusetts in the summers of 1970. Sadly, it is now the site of a ritzy set of 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 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 "Michael From Mountains" to her own beautifully and lyric "Since You've Asked" to two back to back Leonard Cohen classics, "Sisters Of Mercy and "Priests". Cohen's haunting and evocative lyrics are masterfully interpreted by Collins, an early champion of his amazingly poetic folk songs. Of course, the song propelling the sales of the album was her number one hit song, "Both Sides Now", a song that literally dominated the charts for months. I love her amazing vocal work in "Albatross", and one can almost feel the rush of emotion in the song as she advances through it. Finally, I still think her interpretation of Cohen's "Hey, That's No Way To Say Good-bye" is one of the best songs she ever recorded. This is an early snapshot of a one of the titans of modern American folk music, taken just as she reached 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.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential Judy Collins, August 27, 2001

By 

klavierspiel "klavierspiel" (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Wildflowers (Audio CD)

Judy Collins is by now one of America's most enduring popular singers. "Wildflowers," along with "In My Life," "Whales and Nightingales" and one or two other albums, represents her particular sensibility in its best light. She started as a strong-voiced folk performer of a distinctly challenging bent. By "Wildflowers" her voice had become higher and lighter in timbre, and her repertory had broadened to include songwriters as diverse as Brel, Mitchell, Cohen and herself. One appreciates after thirty-plus years the quality of the material she chose, and the intricacy and intelligence of the lyrics, even if at times they seem somewhat precious. The beautiful orchestrations by Joshua Rifkin also still give much pleasure. In general the songs on this album do not cover as wide an emotional range as on some of her other discs, tending uniformly toward the gentle and contemplative. On the other hand, they play better to her particular vocal and interpretive strengths. For me, this remains my favorite Collins album.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Judy Collins becomes more of a vocal artist, emphasis on art, March 31, 2003

By 

Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Wildflowers (Audio CD)

For starters, the shot of Judy Collins on "Wildflowers" is probably my favorite album cover and the music inside matches the tranquil field of yellow flowers it displays. Collins started out as one of the premier interpretive folksingers of her generation, along with Joan Baez, but by the time this 1967 album was released she was becoming much more of a vocal artist. Given her gloriously pure soprano voice, this certainly made sense. There are still traditional folk songs, although "A Ballata of Francesco Landini Lasso!" presents the broadest definition of traditional possible, but there are more contemporary songs as well. Listen to Collins' soaring voice on a pair of Joni Mitchell songs, "Michael From Mountains" and "Both Sides Now." There are also a trio of songs by Leonard Cohen along with an equal number of original compositions by Collins. The latter evince a sense of meditation and spirituality that defined her music during this period of her career. The only substantial complaint against "Wildflowers" is that the album is just a little more than a half-hour long, which means you could have combined it with either the album that came before it, "In My Life," or after it, "Who Knows Where the Time Goes," to come up a more substantial CD. But that is a minor complaint all things considered.