1967 Revisited

At about the same time that Phil was catching the train home from his annual Belgianfest beer-tasting extravaganza in Seattle yesterday, I was parking in downtown Bellingham for a very special concert.

Judy Collins, now 74, maintains a grueling concert schedule, and I was thrilled to be able to see her in the Mount Baker Theatre! The sell-out crowd, nearly all in their 60s and 70s, gave her a warm welcome, and enjoyed a concert that felt more like sitting in Judy's home than in a concert hall.

Judy's voice is as rich, true, and lyrical as it was in 1967, when I first heard her Wildflowers album and fell in love with her music. She sang a wonderful range of old songs and new, including one from her upcoming PBS television special, "Judy Collins Sings the Songs of Ireland."

Judy also recounted stories about her life, her music, her loves, her losses, and more, with the perspective that age brings to the past. I was especially moved to hear about her last visit with her longtime friend Pete Seeger, holding his hand and singing to him, just hours before his death -- and then she segued into "If I Had a Hammer" and invited us to join in, as she did again for the concert's encore, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."

It was Judy's engagement with the audience, and the feeling that she had all the time in the world to spend with us that evening, that made the concert so magical, I think. She wasn't saying "Look at me!" -- she was saying "I have some songs and stories I'd like to share with you," just as a friend would say.

(The photo is of me in summer 1967 with my 89-year-old great uncle. Listening to last night's concert, with my eyes closed, I was that 20-year-old again.)