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f olk Phenom Collins clings to her positive attitude

April 20, 2006 12:50 am

By MICHAEL ZITZ

Judy Collins doesn't want to talk about protest music. She doesn't want to talk about parallels between Vietnam and Iraq or about President Bush's role in the war. And she certainly doesn't want to talk about folk music contemporary Joan Baez's loss of faith in the concept of changing the world through political action.

Collins--who appears in concert at the University of Mary Washington on Saturday night--wants to stay positive.

She wants to talk about her friend Bill Clinton and all the things she says he's been doing to make the world a better place since he left the White House.

Collins says she's all about positivity, about spirituality, about making people feel hopeful and empowered through her music and her own record label.

She says the best way to effect positive change in the world is one person--or perhaps one concert hall--at a time, adding a bounce to each listener's step and a sense that they can do something as individuals to make things better.

All the woman who was reprimanded by the judge for singing on the witness stand at the Chicago Seven trial will say about Iraq is that Americans don't seem to pay much attention to history.

"Why don't we learn from the past?" Collins said this week in a telephone interview with The Free Lance-Star. "Why is the world in such a terrible place?"

Answering her own question, she said: "Some people are less bright than others. Some people don't learn the lessons of the past."

Is that a slam at President Bush?

She wouldn't say.

Instead she praised President Clinton's "sterling" work in private life.

She sang at the former president's first inauguration. And Chelsea Clinton is said to be named for her cover of the Joni Mitchell song "Chelsea Morning," a favorite of Bill and Hillary Clinton.

Collins has a perspective on music, politics and history few can match.

The woman who began her career in 1961 with the album "Maid of Constant Sorrow" is still going strong 45 years later, releasing "Portrait of an American Girl," and she still deals with important issues in her songs.

But Collins said she sees no need for an outpouring of protest songs aimed at the war in Iraq like the one that folk singers such as Bob Dylan and Baez contributed to during the Vietnam War.

Even though she is often lumped in with Dylan and Baez, and despite the fact that she was supposedly deemed a political enemy by Chicago Mayor Richard Daley during the 1968 protests, Collins said she has never thought of herself as a "protest singer."

During the famous Chicago Seven trial--in which protesters faced conspiracy and other charges at the time of the '68 Democratic National Convention--defense lawyer William Kunstler called Collins as a witness.

She had attended a press conference with anti-Vietnam war protest leaders Jerry Rubin, Abbie Hoffman and Allen Ginsberg.

On the witness stand, Kunstler asked Collins what she did at the event. She testified that she "sang a mantra."

Then, on the stand, she began singing, "Where have all the flowers gone?"

"Just a minute, young lady," the judge said.

But Collins continued to sing.

"We don't allow singing in this court," the judge said sharply.

"That's what I do," Collins told him.

"This song is not entertainment, your honor," Kunstler said. "This is a song of peace, and [of] what happens to young men and women during wartime."

"I forbid her from singing during the trial," the judge said.

Collins then testified that she said at the Yippie press conference, "I want to see a celebration of life, not of destruction."

She then spoke the lyrics of "Where Have All the Flowers Gone," which say in part: "Where have all the young men gone? Gone for soldiers, every one. Gone to graveyards, every one When will they ever learn?"

Whether or not she was a "protest singer" in the '60s, Collins seems to be a bit more mellow now, at age 66.

"You keep looking for the positive as an artist or you should pack up your easel and go home," she said.

She said she's always done that by recording songs like "Amazing Grace," which she said she will perform at UMW along with other hits like "Both Sides Now" and "Send in the Clowns."

Collins said she's proud of a song titled "Saints and Angels in New Orleans," which she wrote as a tribute to victims of Hurricane Katrina. It's available on the Internet via iTunes with profits going to hurricane victims.

Early in her career she performed songs like "Chelsea Morning" that were written by others. Her covers helped make Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen stars.

In addition to Saturday's 7:30 p.m. concert at Dodd Auditorium, Collins will give a free master class Saturday from 3 to 4 p.m. at Dodd. It's open to the public, and no tickets or reservations are required. She will give an inspirational talk about her life and career, and may do some a cappella singing.

"This is a rare opportunity to hear the artist speak candidly and answer questions from the audience," said Kevin Bartram, UMW assistant professor of music and director of the UMW-Community Symphony Orchestra.

Collins said that because she came late to songwriting, tracks like "Saints and Angels," and "Kingdom Come," written about the Sept. 11 attacks, have great personal meaning to her.

In a recent appearance on ABC's "Good Morning America," Collins sang "Wings of Angels," a ballad she wrote about the loss of her 33-year-old son, Clark Taylor, who committed suicide in 1992. She also is the author of the 2003 book "Sanity and Grace: A Journey of Suicide, Survival and Strength," which she wrote about families coping with depression and suicide. And she's become a suicide prevention advocate.

But she knows it's the classics that are causing her to see more and more young people at her shows today, perhaps partly because of the impact of iTunes in teaching young fans about '60s music--and perhaps because there seems to be no end in sight to the war in Iraq.

As the song says: "When will they ever learn? Oh, when will they ever learn?"

To reach MICHAEL ZITZ: 540/374-5408
Email: mikez@freelancestar.com