Second in a three-part series for Women’s History Month spotlighting acclaimed female performers who have also excelled in other fields.
Among Judy Collins’ many accomplishments, she is responsible for the last showtune to win the Grammy Award for Song of the Year. That, of course, was her 1975 rendition of “Send in the Clowns,” which helped establish the Stephen Sondheim song as a standard and made it a pop hit. A folk-music icon, Collins has included showtunes and standards, as well as rock songs, lullabies and hymns, Christmas carols and her own compositions, on the 40-plus albums she’s released since her debut, A Maid of Constant Sorrow, in 1961.
Her latest recording is of an all-time classic, “Over the Rainbow,” written by Harold Arlen and E.Y. “Yip” Harburg for The Wizard of Oz. Collins sings “Over the Rainbow” on a CD that’s included with a beautiful new coffeetable-book-like picture book, Over the Rainbow, featuring the lyrics as text and illustrations by French artist Eric Puybaret. Collins has another CD set for release in May: her latest album, Paradise. That month she will also begin an extended engagement at the Café Carlyle in New York City. This is her fifth straight year performing at the Carlyle, and she’ll be there May 4 to June 12.
Over the Rainbow is one in a series of children’s books illustrating famous songs, each accompanied by a CD of the song (Collins also sings “White Choral Bells” and “I See the Moon” on the book’s CD). The imprint was spearheaded by Collins’ fellow folksinger/humanitarian Peter Yarrow and is published by Imagine Publishing. Collins herself is the author of more than half a dozen books, including three—Sanity & Grace: A Journey of Suicide, Survival, and Strength; The Seven T’s: Finding Hope and Healing in the Wake of Tragedy; and Singing Lessons: A Memoir of Love, Loss, Hope, and Healing—that detail her recovery from the death of her only child, son Clark, who killed himself in 1992 at age 33.
Collins, 70, is also well known for her work as a social activist. She’s participated in numerous events and campaigns for human rights, peace and justice; she testified for the defense at the Chicago Seven trial; and she serves as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. In addition, Judy Collins is an Academy Award-nominated filmmaker. Her movie Antonia: A Portrait of the Woman—about Antonia Brico, the first woman to conduct the New York Philharmonic—was nominated for the Best Documentary Feature Oscar in 1975 and, more recently, was added to the Library of Congress film registry. Collins studied piano with Brico as a child, after her family moved to Denver from Seattle.
Born in Seattle, Collins has lived in Manhattan since the early ’60s and has been married since 1996 to her second husband, creative designer Louis Nelson. I spoke with the singer earlier this week by phone from California, as she was en route from San Juan Capistrano—where she’d performed the night before—to San Diego, where she had a concert that evening. Collins had also spent time over the weekend with her 22-year-old granddaughter, who goes to school in California. In our interview, she talks about singing, writing and advocating for yourself and others.
Has “Over the Rainbow” ever been part of your repertoire?
No, I never sang it. I recorded “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?” for my 1974 album Judith, and after I did that, I got to know Yip Harburg, and he was always pushing that song to me...“Why don’t you sing it?” But I thought: No, it’s too associated with Judy Garland. I sang “When You Wish Upon a Star” a couple of times in concert, but “Over the Rainbow” is a brand-new experience for me. It’s not an easy song, by the way, to get into your voice and to be comfortable with. But the minute I got the request to do this children’s book from Peter Yarrow, I said: That’s absolutely perfect. He wanted young people to get to know a great song. It’s perfect for me, it’s a wonderful thing to do, and I had just seen Wicked for the first time and I thought, Ah! This couldn’t be better.
