I've always liked Judy too, and she is indeed the one who
brought me to know Joni. I saw her a number of times live
in the late 60s; loved "Both Sides Now" on the radio and
when she did "Chelsea Morning" in concert I flipped out, not
realizing at first that they were both written by Joni. I
discovered Judy with the album "Wildflowers" so that's
always been a favorite ("Michael From Mountains" appears on
that one as well), followed by "Who Knows Where The Time
Goes" and "In My Life."
My understanding regarding her voice was that she either had
some throat problems and/or surgery, or something was wrong
with her vocal chords around the time of the albums produced
in the early 80s. I thought she hit some pretty bad notes
on a few of those albums, and I kind of lost her. She has
said that she has battled alcoholism as well, which may have
manifested itself more greatly after the death of her son.
It's possible that the alcohol may have altered her
abilities and vocal quality as well during those years. I
may well have my facts wrong on this, but this is the way I
understood it.
I think her voice has come back beautifully, and I do love
listening especially to those three albums mentioned above.
And she plays a beautiful piano, especially on two
favorites, "My Father" and "Secret Gardens." I once heard a
rumor when I lived in California that Judy took one of
Joni's songs called "Love Song To A Stranger" and wrote the
notes of the song backward to create "Secret Gardens!!"
Rumor only of course, but I found it fascinating at that
time!
Anyway thats my uneducated two cents on Judy! I do love
her, always will.
Best regards,
Gary
np: Norah Jones, "Come Away With Me"
Mark or Travis wrote:
>
> > "I don't think her voice is quite what it used to be, but in her heyday,
> > it was gorgeous." Well, last December, said voice seemed to me all that it
> > used to be ... gorgeous.
