Judy Collins on Working with Stephen Stills
The reunited duo of Stephen Stills and Judy Collins — a romantic couple during the 60s and lifelong friends thereafter — released their first duo album, Everybody Knows, today (September 22.)
The set includes a variety of covers — of each others’ material (Stills’ “Questions” and “So Begins The Task,” Collins’ “Houses” and “Who Knows Where The Time Goes”) as well as songs by Bob Dylan (“Girl From The North Country”), Leonard Cohen (“Everybody Knows”) and the Traveling Wilburys (“Handle With Care”) — along with a new Collins composition, “River Of Gold.”
Some might view it odd for two exes to be making music together, but Collins — who was the inspiration for Stills’ “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” with Crosby, Stills & Nash — tells us that working together feels natural for she and Stills:
“No, no, we didn’t ever hate each other. We had a kind of, I would say dramatic love affair, lots of positive and then a lot of upset because it wasn’t working out. And then of course ‘Suite: Judy Blue Eyes’ came along, and…I mean, how can you resist when you hear that song all over the country?…It’s a long relationship. He always says we probably are still friends because we married other people, and that was helpful and then also we’ve also had a lot to say to each other.”
Collins and Stills have been touring together since late July and have dates booked into early November.
Gary Graff is an award-winning music journalist who not only covers music but has written books on Bob Seger, Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen.
