Judy Collins – A Maid of Constant Sorrow Elektra EKL-209 (1961)
A nice debut from the sadly neglected Judy Collins. At this time, she sang with a slightly husky tone as if honed performing belting her vocals at a near shout, without amplification, at some Greenwich Village coffee house. Comparisons to folk stars of the previous decade like Pete Seeger are àpropos. As Collins evolved, she incorporated elements of Broadway theatrics, with a lighter touch and more legato phrasing. But those techniques lay in the future back in ’61. Yet even from the beginning she clearly had quite a voice. Enjoy.