“I’m sorry she didn’t have the hit”: The spat Judy Collins and Joni Mitchell had over a 1967 cover hit
Judy Collins was ahead of the curve. Her first album was released in 1961 before the Greenwich Village Folk movement had even approached its basement-bound apex.
Thus, when the likes of Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen were emerging as hopeful starlets, Collins was the stalwart they turned to in order to take their prodigious songwriting, deliver a stirring cover, and make them into hitmakers.
However, it wasn’t just her platform that they were hoping to capitalise on. Collins had a voice like honey and spring sunshine that people never got tired of, and she had a keen eye for a hit too. As she sternly proclaimed regarding her song choices: “I either fall in love with it after I hear it, or I never want to hear it again.”
So, if you got the seal of approval from Collins, then you could guarantee your song was in good hands, and she wouldn’t perform any sort of mutilation. As an occasional songwriter herself, she was precious about the songs she fell in love with. That’s why the beauteous ‘Both Sides Now’ became an instant hit. She prided herself on taking Mitchell’s lovelorn masterpiece and delivering it with the dutiful care of a midwife. However, Mitchell might not have seen it that way.
“I remember hearing something about Joni not liking my version of the song, but I couldn’t care less,” she humorously told Vulture. “I’m sure she feels that way about a lot of people who sing her songs. I’m sorry she didn’t have the hit, but I’m sure glad I did!”
While Mitchell has rightfully been credited as penning one of the most poetically beautiful songs ever written with ‘Both Sides Now’, Collins’ initial effort hit number three in the US charts and eclipsed Mitchell’s own eventual release. Many casual onlookers even figured it was Collins’ song all along.
While her hearty cover helped to bring Mitchell’s young name closer to the mainstream, it would seem that the disparate commercial success of their respective versions has caused somewhat of a rift. “I think she’s a little jealous, but with her history of being this brilliant songwriter, she has no right to actually feel that way,” Collins said.
Renowned for her sunny disposition, the Seattle-born cover star took a more sanguine approach. “She should just be saying, ‘Thank you, thank you, God. Thank you for my talent with writing all these other songs. I so appreciate everybody who records my songs because look how rich they’ve made me! And actually, Judy didn’t make a cent off this song,’ which is true,” Collins added.
That much is true in a sense. In America, which is where the license for the track is held, there is no performance royalty, so all commercial gains from the song itself go to the songwriter. Nevertheless, this never stopped Collins from recording it. After all, she knew it was going to be a hit all along.
“After hearing Joni Mitchell sing ‘Both Sides Now’, over the phone, of course, I was just blown away. It was the middle of the night when she called. I was probably drunk. I was definitely passed out. I woke up to the phone ringing, and when I heard her sing it, I just thought, This is it,” she said.
Therein lies the brilliance of her distinctive ear and how she was, and indeed still is, always on the lookout for magic. “I have inspiration and feelings of being alive most every day I live,” she recently proclaimed. When it came to ‘Both Sides Now’, it just hit her right from the very start, and the rest is ancient history. “It’s that simple. That happens with everything that I choose to sing,” she says. “It’s instinctive, which is very lucky.”
