JUDY COLLINGS MEMOIR FRANK ABOUT FAMILIAL ALCOHOLISM and DEPRESSION

SWEET JUDY BLUE EYES
MY LIFE IN MUSIC - Judy Collins

I listened to Judy Collin's e-book because she reads it herself: I love hearing the author read their own words and in this case, as in Carly Simon's e-book, previously reviewed here at Mistress Manifesto when I featured James Taylor's Mistress Evie as Mistress of the Month, also sing some songs. In Judy's book she reveals her relationships with Stephen Stills, who wrote the song Sweet Judy Blue Eyes for her during their relationship.  He was several years younger and eventually that was a problem.  More so, she hated LA and went to live in New York City.  They managed to stay friends for four decades and in 2007 a tape of unreleased music from their 1968 affair was discovered and released as "Just Roll Tape."  She's still confused about why Joni Mitchell rebuffed her friendship but is thankful to her for the international hit she had with Joni's song Both Sides Now. She was the first person in popular music to include the song of whales (1962).  As she says she was considered an "overnight success" after many years of showing up.

Judy Collin's life also intersected with Joan and Mimi Baez, Bob Dylan, Lucy and Carly Simon, Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, Phil Ochs, Janis Joplin, and Stacey Keach - who she had a long relationship with, and many others in the music business. A youthful pregnancy resulted in a beloved son who followed in the footsteps of his mother and mother's father into alcoholism and depression and suicidal thoughts.  In his case he did suicide.  The marriage didn't last.  Years later after finally coming to terms with her alcoholism, Judy Collins did marry again and that marriage has lasted.  She says she had an attraction for the "dangerous ones" who "slipped in and out of other women's lives.

As she came to adulthood and the folk music scene in the 1960's, and to folk music she has been true though she considers her song choices and writing to be eclectic, and was once a member of a group in favor of open relationships and partner sharing as well as a Yippie (like the Chicago Seven), it should perhaps come as no surprise that Collins was a sexual explorer. She had some one night stands when married and touring and fell in love repeatedly.  Her story of driving 16 hours alone in a borrowed car to have an illegal abortion and then breaking down on a moonlit road reminds us that abortion must remain legal.  Another time she was in the car and began confessing to her husband that she was having an affair with another man after they hit a rabbit on the road.

I found her frankness refreshing.  Though no intimate details are given, Collins was no stranger to the Story of O, group sex, sex with women, and a "sexually hip" lifestyle.  (All of which makes me feel downright conservative these days.)  She was ill at times; TB, hepatitis, and voice endangering alcoholism.

So if you love her voice, are a fan of music memoirs, or are battling some demons yourself, you may find this memoir well worth the read.


Missy

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