boy i sure enjoy reading these lists everyday my 2 cents about a few things:
became a big judy collins fan in 1968 because of the top 10 hit version of "both sides now". bought the album "wildflowers" and also loved "michael from mountains." i thought who is this joni chick? so immediately ran out and purchased "clouds," "ladies" and "song to a seagull." I thought it was interesting how different joni's version of michal was, but i liked it just as well. but the joni version of "bsn" i thought was slow and plodding. almost purposly trying to be as different from judy's as possible. i still think judys version is packed with wonder amd magic, and i belive when joni first wrote it it was supposed to be more uptempo and fluid. this was proved to me when i finally heard joni sing it a couple of times on those bbc radio shows. these versions are much nicer than the "clouds" version. i assume joni was singing them here before she had recorded the "clouds" version, tho i'm not sure. i'll leave it to you experts. but by the way, joni did originally sing it for judy on the phone you know. or so judy says. now of course joni's career moved in leaps and bounds, dwarfing judys every (in comparison) meander. but when i think of "both sides now", i'll think of judy's version. (and she did a great version of it on pbs the other night). and thanks for correcting that ridiculous "rip off" comment concerning judy's interpretations. and judy has written a few decent songs of her own, ya know. as far as the "plain" singers debate, neil young, elvis costello and bob dylan are 3 of my favorite singers. as is joan baez, john lennon and ray davies. I think the way you sing it, and the enthusiasm and joy you put into the song, are more important than the quality of the voice. you can keep celine dion. have you ever heard annie lennox' studio version of "ladies?" it is faboo. "Es ter ail i a..." and those personality statues in parks are ALWAYS HIDEOUS. they should somehow do a collage sculpture of some sort, illustrating her songs. or just make a plaque with the lyrics of "song for sharon" or "hejira," citing them as the best lyrics ever written, and leave it at that. xxxx walt The most personalized portal on the Web!
