Paradise

Of all the folksingers of the ‘60s, none could compare to Judy Collins. Her amazing range brought in listeners who might not always be sympathetic to the raw voices of the medium. As a result, Collins often served as an introduction for the day’s most valued songwriters. This 2010 release is another wide-ranging collection where Joan Baez’s song to Bob Dylan, “Diamonds and Rust,” with a special guest vocal from Baez, meets up with Tom Paxton’s “Last Thing On My Mind,” with Stephen Stills singing alongside her. Judy Garland’s “Over the Rainbow” is chilling. Tim Buckley’s “Once I Was” and “Weight of the World” are timely songs, tunes about young soldiers off to war and not always making it back alive. “Ghost Riders In the Sky” remains an ominous, timeless melody that Collins deserves. She enlists a serious core of back-up singers (Tom Paxton, Bob Neuwirth, Joe Hurley). The album finishes with Jimmy Webb’s “Gaugin” where the legendary painter seeks the paradise of the album’s title in the seas of the South Pacific. At 71, and coming up on fifty years of records, Collins is still an amazing singer and interpreter of modern song.