When I screw up, I try to confess and atone for my errors.
Just about exactly a year ago, I posted a list of the 25 most beautiful folk songs ever recorded. How on earth did I manage to overlook Judy Collins’s stunning cover of Leonard Cohen/Jennifer Warnes’s heart-wrenching “Song of Bernadette”?
I’m afraid this egregious oversight has deprived you all of a year of sublime listening pleasure. My apologies to Miss Collins and to all of my readers.
Though YouTube says this is from a 1991 Collins concert in California, she performed a nearly identical rendition at Wolf Trap in 2000. The Live at Wolf Trap CD is well worth its exorbitant price; every track is stunning.
Click here to comment or read others’ comments.
Apple will sell you a digital copy of Judy Collins Live at Wolftrap for about 1/3 of that exorbitant price. Act quickly, before the US government puts an end to Apple’s monopolistic practices.
William:
Act quickly, before the US government puts an end to Apple’s monopolistic practices.
I think you win Comment of the Month.
Weird. Amazon also has a $15 Live at Wolf Trap album, but the track listing is a quite a bit different, and it doesn’t have “Song of Bernadette” on it. On the other hand, they do have “Judy Collins Sings Leonard Cohen” on MP3, and that’s got “Song Of Bernadette (Live At Wolf Trap)” on it. That single track is available for 69 cents, so it doesn’t seem like Apple has much of a monopoly on the song… ;)
More seriously, I need to sit down and listen to more Leonard Cohen. I keep on hearing covers, and even the worst of them was pretty great. (Not counting the occasional nasty version of “Hallelujah” on American Idol.)
What — no Donna Summer? She was the Queen of Disco.
Math equations or it doesn’t exist.
…sorry, that Song-of-Bernadette isn’t even in the top 1000 folk songs.
A dreary, pedestrian melody & silly lyrics.
Judy Collins had a couple of great hits, but she seemed to favor mawkish poetry rather than solid folk ‘music’.
Steve —
If you enjoy folk, check out John Prine.
She has a very pretty voice, although that synth is very 80s, in a bad way. I imagine it would sound a lot better on a grand piano.
You asked if you were missing anything on your previous post, what about Dick Gaughan? Sol Invictus? Or the obvious Johnny Cash?