The ’60s Singles

Judy Collins transformed the sound of folk music. With a crystalline voice and a songbook blurring traditional genre lines, the Seattle native came to prominence in the fertile Greenwich Village stomping grounds of New York City. The luminous Collins – a classical piano prodigy, talented guitarist, gifted adapter and later, songwriter, and singer with a three-octave range – signed with Jac Holzman’s Elektra Records in 1961 and remained an Elektra artist for nearly two-and-a-half decades. Now, Real Gone Music and Second Disc Records are revisiting the first decade of the extraordinary career that still flourishes today. The ’60s Singles brings together, for the first time, the remarkable array of 45s on which Collins’ discography was built. With songs by Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, Randy Newman, Sandy Denny, Eric Andersen, and Joni Mitchell – including the international smash “Both Sides Now” – Collins’ early Elektra singles reflected impeccable taste, a vast musical imagination, a hunger to explore material from rock to art songs, and a powerful social conscience. Every one of these fourteen single sides is presented in its original single mix – most of which are unique mixes and edits, with the first ten songs in mono and the final four in stereo. These versions have been out of print and unavailable for over five decades and all have been painstakingly restored for this collection. Highlights include Collins’ first foray into folk-rock, the mono non-LP single of Bob Dylan’s “I’ll Keep It with Mine;” the rare promotional stereo mix of Joni Mitchell’s “Chelsea Morning,” different from the commonly-available stereo version; and two versions of the classic “Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season).” Mike Milchner has remastered every track, The Second Disc’s Joe Marchese has penned the new liner notes diving into the history of each song, and John Sellards has designed the package in the style of the era. Available on CD and a “Judy Blue Eyes” vinyl edition limited to 1000 copies, The ’60s Singles celebrates the elegance, power, and beauty of Judy Collins’ first decade of music.