Tuesday March 15, 2022 “Both Sides Now” Judy Collins
“Both Sides Now” was written by then unknown singer/songwriter Joni Mitchell and in addition to the Judy Collins hit it is Mitchell’s most-covered song with over 1000 versions recorded,so many that it could be considered a standard. Some of the unlikely artists who recorded it include Dave Von Ronk, Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby and Dolly Parton.
Judy Collins has told the story that she was asleep in her New York apartment when her friend Al Kooper called. He had met Joni Mitchell in a bar, and when he found out she was a songwriter, he went to her home and called Collins from her place. Mitchell sang her "Both Sides Now," and Collins knew right away that it was something special. "I had never heard a song that I felt was so beautiful," she said.
Judy Collins was born in Seattle, Washington and began as a classical pianist, with her first performance at the age of 13. Soon after that, however, she discovered the work of Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, and other folk singers, and fell in love with traditional and contemporary topical music and the guitar. She would also introduce a broad audience tothe works of contemporary songwriters such as Leonard Cohen, Phil Ochs, Gordon Ligfhtfoot and Jacques Brel.
She has recorded twenty four studio albums, and an additional twenty four compilations and live albums. She has ten top forty hits of which five were Top 10 songs.
Stay safe and well…and enjoy this lovely 1968 number three charting song.