Using the format of a journal, the popular folk singer/songwriter candidly discusses her childhood, her training as a classical pianist, marriage and motherhood, her folk music career, political activism and 1960s protests, and other personal topics
Collins reached prominence as a folk singer in the early 1960s. She went on to international fame, writing and interpreting songs that crossed musical genres. In this literate, gracefully written, and painfully honest memoir, she draws us into a world that is at times nightmarish and at times wonderfully fulfilling. She explores her relationship with her blind father; her wrenching shift from classical music to folk; and her troubled career, plagued with physical illness, alcohol, and family problems. At times, only the hours on stage kept her spirit intact. One of the best written and wisest portraits of the 1960s music scene. Highly recommended. Daniel J. Lombardo, Jones Lib., Amherst, Mass. Copyright 1987 Cahners Business Information.
The life of singer Judy Collins, in the vanguard of the folk movement of the '60s and still active as songwriter and performer, is, in her view, professionally successful but privately, personally, a dark journey toward light and serenity. Traumas such as early bouts of polio and tuberculosis, periods of drug abuse and a nasty custody fight for her son, now an adult, are among the emotional crises she recalls in a journal that she begins with an appreciation of her blind songwriter father, a radio performer in the state of Washington and her ``greatest inspiration.'' Throughout a career that includes the recording of 22 albums that have placed her stamp on popular music (``Both Sides Now,'' ``Send in the Clowns''), Collins participated vigorously in many civil-rights campaigns. She speaks circumspectly of the men in her life, less reticently of the several therapeutic programs through which she sought inner peace. This intimate glimpse of a multi-talented woman in the stifling world of the performer is lightened by Collins's portrayal of her affectionate family. Photos not seen by PW. (November 16) Copyright 1987 Cahners Business Information.
