Concerts are like huge campfires with people singing along. I am glad many older musicians are still performing. We went to an Eagles tribute band recently and even that was fun. Do you still paint Julie? I liked that part of your essay and wonder how creating oil paintings has influenced you,
I feel bonded to the wonderful artists of my youth, and to all of those artists who have entered my life and enriched it.
I appreciate the writers that I have been moved by too. Thank you for the many thoughts and stories you have shared. You helped me many years ago when you wrote a series on adoption.
Great column Judy! Music brings back so many memories to me as I am sure it does to you as well. Loved the music from the Judy Collin’s era. I can see you going into that college art room with a paint brush..
My wife & I volunteered that night at Hoyt. I think we all cringed as she occasionally lost her thoughts in mid-sentance. Learning she had recently lost her husband made it more understandable. She still sounds brilliant & shared funny stories!
I discovered Judy Collins on my own in 1976 with "Send in the Clowns". I bought the vinyl at a small record store and walked back to my dorm room in the snow, holding the package tight. I put it on the record player and leaned back on my door room bed, closed my eyes, and listened to it over and over and over.
My husband and I have tickets to see her in Boulder in June, and our daughter is going to attend with us. So it warmed my heart to read of her performance in Des Moines.
Thank you for that lovely reminder of the power of music in our lives and the power of the lyrics of Judy Collins to stop us in our tracks and listen to what she is saying. I am so glad you and Thomas had the chance to be at the concert together. What a night that must have been.
Hey Julie. I’m sorry I missed her concert. Always loved her renditions. And I remember you at 18 at Simpson college. We staged a guerilla theatre protest at a football game, burning college handbooks because they had no black students photos in them. I’m still that idealistic hippie I was then. Bless you.
I saw Judy Collins at the Des Moines Civic Center in July 1981. As I started the car to drive down from Ames for the show, I heard on the radio that the much beloved Harry Chapin had been killed that day in a car accident in New York. Somehow it was comforting and reassuring to hear Ms. Collins that night - just like her rendition of “Amazing Grace” is like a voice in the dark, guiding the way to the light in the most desperate of times.
Harry Chaplin is my all-time favorite singer-songwriter. My husband and I traveled from Colorado to Long Island in January 2023 for his family’s concert to honor his 80th birthday. It was thrilling to hear them sing Harry songs.
May I add, please, dear friends, immerse yourself in the song. Take a time out from the firehouse of atrocities told on the news, take a break, and let your emotions connect with art, song, and beauty. Recharge; we need each other at our best, loving selves.
Your description of the “Judy Collins Experience” is one of the compelling reasons I believe in the power of this medium. This past summer was a similar story with Patti Smith in Iowa City. Unforgettable moments linked by time travel past to present tightly threaded. Crowd sing-along to “People Have the Power.” Sublime.
Concerts are like huge campfires with people singing along. I am glad many older musicians are still performing. We went to an Eagles tribute band recently and even that was fun. Do you still paint Julie? I liked that part of your essay and wonder how creating oil paintings has influenced you,
I feel bonded to the wonderful artists of my youth, and to all of those artists who have entered my life and enriched it.
I appreciate the writers that I have been moved by too. Thank you for the many thoughts and stories you have shared. You helped me many years ago when you wrote a series on adoption.
So lovely, Julie.
Great column Judy! Music brings back so many memories to me as I am sure it does to you as well. Loved the music from the Judy Collin’s era. I can see you going into that college art room with a paint brush..
My wife & I volunteered that night at Hoyt. I think we all cringed as she occasionally lost her thoughts in mid-sentance. Learning she had recently lost her husband made it more understandable. She still sounds brilliant & shared funny stories!
Such a lovely trip down memory lane...
I discovered Judy Collins on my own in 1976 with "Send in the Clowns". I bought the vinyl at a small record store and walked back to my dorm room in the snow, holding the package tight. I put it on the record player and leaned back on my door room bed, closed my eyes, and listened to it over and over and over.
My husband and I have tickets to see her in Boulder in June, and our daughter is going to attend with us. So it warmed my heart to read of her performance in Des Moines.
Thank you for that lovely reminder of the power of music in our lives and the power of the lyrics of Judy Collins to stop us in our tracks and listen to what she is saying. I am so glad you and Thomas had the chance to be at the concert together. What a night that must have been.
Hey Julie. I’m sorry I missed her concert. Always loved her renditions. And I remember you at 18 at Simpson college. We staged a guerilla theatre protest at a football game, burning college handbooks because they had no black students photos in them. I’m still that idealistic hippie I was then. Bless you.
"...music is essential to our human experience."
Simple.....she's Judy Collins!
I saw Judy Collins at the Des Moines Civic Center in July 1981. As I started the car to drive down from Ames for the show, I heard on the radio that the much beloved Harry Chapin had been killed that day in a car accident in New York. Somehow it was comforting and reassuring to hear Ms. Collins that night - just like her rendition of “Amazing Grace” is like a voice in the dark, guiding the way to the light in the most desperate of times.
Loved Harry, got to see him & meet him twice. An amazing gift to the world.
Harry Chaplin is my all-time favorite singer-songwriter. My husband and I traveled from Colorado to Long Island in January 2023 for his family’s concert to honor his 80th birthday. It was thrilling to hear them sing Harry songs.
"All my Life's a Circle". I tear up at that one, wondering who will be the next Harry Chapin...
May I add, please, dear friends, immerse yourself in the song. Take a time out from the firehouse of atrocities told on the news, take a break, and let your emotions connect with art, song, and beauty. Recharge; we need each other at our best, loving selves.
Your description of the “Judy Collins Experience” is one of the compelling reasons I believe in the power of this medium. This past summer was a similar story with Patti Smith in Iowa City. Unforgettable moments linked by time travel past to present tightly threaded. Crowd sing-along to “People Have the Power.” Sublime.
Like the birds that sing before the sunrise, having faith that it will. Musicians I believe are born not made.
yes~
We need to lift the musicians and artists in our midst. They are magical beings.
I would have loved to have been there! I still have and play albums and cassettes of her songs. What a gift she is!