This weekend Molly Dog Productions presents Judy Collins at the TCA in Taos.
“What a great combination for what we are sure will be a special evening, plus this promises to be a fantastic ski season, so the timing is perfect for a recreation/entertainment weekend.” Says Mary Domito, the Executive Producer of Molly Dog Productions in her press release regarding the show.
Ms. Collins will perform at the intimate Taos Community Auditorium with doors opening at 6:30pm and the performance beginning at 7:30pm on Saturday February 20, 2016.
Sure to be a sold out show, the lucky few who will be in attendance are in for a rare treat.
Collins was born in Seattle where she spent the first ten years of her life before her family moved to Denver, Colorado where Collins studied classical piano, making her public debut at age 13, performing Mozart’s Concerto for Two Pianos.
Around this time Collins found herself drawn to folk music, inspired by the songs of Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger along with the traditional songs of the folk revival of the late ’50’s and early ’60’s. Three years after her debut as a piano prodigy, she was playing guitar in folk clubs in Denver and Boulder, where the young Bobby Zimmerman (soon to be Dylan) also occasionally appeared on forays down from the North Country.
She eventually made her way to Greenwich Village where she became a regular at Gerde’s Folk City before signing with Electra Records. Her first album “A Maid Of Constant Sorrow”, was released in 1961. She was 22 years old.
During her early years on the folk circuit, she mostly covered the songs of other folkies, from Tom Paxton and Phil Ochs to Bob Dylan. She recorded her own versions of these songs and was instrumental in bringing little-known musicians to a wider audience, including Leonard Cohen. She also recorded songs written by Joni Mitchell, Randy Newman and Richard Farina long before they achieved national acclaim.
Her 1968 album, “Who Knows Where The Time Goes”, featured back-up guitar by Stephen Stills, with whom she was romantically involved at the time. (She was the inspiration for Stills’ CS&N classic “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes”). The album was an important milestone for Collins and a departure from her purist Folk Roots. With its Country sound it included songs by Sandy Denny and Ian Tyson. It featured one of the first covers of Cohen’s “Bird on the Wire”.
Collins has received four Grammy Award nominations for Best Folk Performance or Folk Recording. In 1969 she won the Award for her classic recording of Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now”.
By the ’70’s Collins had carved out a solid niche for herself as a singer-songwriter and would go on to make many more records, appear on Television, write books and find time for Political Activism.
She appeared at President Clinton’s first inauguration in 1993, singing “Amazing Grace” and “Chelsea Morning”.
Bill and Hillary Clinton have said that they named their daughter for that song.
This is her first time performing in Taos, thanks to Mary Domito.
For more information about this Concert and Molly Dog Productions, please visit the site linked below this post.
Photo of Ms. Collins care of Molly Dog Productions
