Video: Judy Collins sings ‘Amazing Grace’ at Falcon Ridge
By Kevin Coughlin
Judy Collins’ gig last Sunday at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival was a first — though not the kind she was hoping for.
The 76-year-old folk icon, who is scheduled to perform on Saturday at the Sanctuary series in Chatham, had to leave the stage during her headliner set, apparently overcome by the late-afternoon heat.
Collins was the closer for the three-day event, making her first appearance in the 27-year history of the festival in the foothills of the Berkshires.
The sun was beaming directly at the stage, prompting piano accompanist Russell Walden to don a baseball cap, not a normal part of his stage attire.
At one point, Collins poured water on her pant leg to cool off (“I never drink it!” she deadpanned), which brought stagehands racing out with electric cooling fans.
Lyrics proved a bit slippery, but she soldiered on, getting through Chelsea Morning sans guitar.
Then, with a wave to the crowd, she disappeared backstage.
As EMTs attended to Collins, an emcee riffed for several minutes about her storied career, while reminding everyone of the heat and cautioning that the singer might not be back.
But the show must go on, and it did.
“Well, that’s never, never happened to me before,” Collins said when she returned, “so you can say you saw an interesting sidelight to my… sidelight.”
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She then told the back-story of her famous recording of Amazing Grace, and sang the hymn, to enthusiastic applause, closing the festival.
The Sanctuary series says Collins is fine and will perform as scheduled at the Presbyterian Church in Chatham at 8 pm on Aug. 8, 2015. Tickets are $45–and they are sold out.
So here are the next best things. The first video is Judy’s Falcon Ridge performance of Amazing Grace. The second is her rendition of When I Go, by the late Dave Carter, a favorite at Falcon Ridge.
Collins has recorded the song with Willie Nelson for an upcoming album; she explained that the words still are rather new to her, hence the lyric sheet seen during this live performance.
MORE ABOUT JUDY COLLINS:
Both sides now: Judy Collins and Don McLean, at the Mayo in Morristown
Video: Judy Collins sings ‘When I Go’ at Falcon Ridge
