Judy Collins was 14 and studying classical piano when she happened to turn on the radio and hear a song that changed her life.
It was the folk song "Barbara Allen," sung by Jo Stafford. Before long, young Collins put classical music aside and decided to learn the guitar and play folk music.
"It wasn't the folk revival when I got involved," said Collins, who performs Wednesday with opening act Amy Speace at the Gallo Center for the Arts in Modesto. "It was 1954-1955. Things hadn't come together yet. I didn't know people made a living at this. I didn't know they played concerts."
But she eventually figured it out and got gigs playing folk clubs first in Colorado, where she grew up, and then in New York. By 1967, she was famous because of her hit Grammy-winning rendition of Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now."
Collins, now 72, wrote about the early days of her folk career in her new memoir, "Sweet Judy Blue Eyes: My Life in Music," a title that references a song written by her former boyfriend Stephen Stills of Crosby, Stills and Nash, "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes."
To go along with the book, she recorded the CD "Bohemian," which includes her interpretations of such folk songs as Woody Guthrie's "Pastures of Plenty" and Mitchell's "Cactus Tree," which she sings with Shawn Colvin.
Collins has a lot of stories to share and doesn't skimp on details in her book. "I have had an extremely interesting life," she said. "I talk about music. I talk about sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll. I talk about alcoholism. I talk about recovery. I talk about being a working alcoholic, which is a hard thing to do ... It's very inspirational because it has a happy ending through all that chaos, all that drama."
The song "Both Sides Now" came into her life through her friend Al Kooper, known for organizing the band Blood, Sweat and Tears. Mitchell invited him and others over one night to hear her songs, and though he didn't know anything about her music, he went because she was good looking, Collins said.
"I was sound asleep and I got a phone call from him at 3 in the morning," Collins said. "When he heard the song, he called me. He said, 'You've got to hear this.' "
Collins went right over and was blown away. The next day, she took it to her record label and soon recorded it. But it wasn't until nine months later that it became a hit. One of the people at her label decided to remix it so it was more radio friendly, and then it quickly took off. Collins said commercial success was never her top concern anyway.
"We hadn't made records to make hits," she said. "I never did, anyway. I was looking for a great song."
The other big highlight of her career came in 1975 when her rendition of Stephen Sondheim's "Send in the Clowns" from the musical "A Little Night Music" won the Grammy Award for song of the year. Once more, it was a friend who brought the song to her attention. She called Collins in 1972 and asked her to listen to a great song on a soundtrack from a new musical. Collins tried to brush her off, saying she wasn't interested in theater, but the friend persisted. When Collins finally listened, she thought it was incredible. She got on the phone to Hal Prince, the musical's producer.
"I said, 'Hal, you know, I hope that you can tell me about this song,' " Collins said. "It's a beautiful song. He said, 'Yes it's a beautiful song. Two hundred people have already recorded it.' I said, 'I don't care who's recorded it, I have to record it.' It became a huge hit."
Collins said her recording's success was in some ways a matter of luck. Her label, Elektra Records, was hot at the time and had a great marketing team. It was at the beginning of her career. "It was the right song for me," she said. "It was the right song for the times. It was a breakthrough for me."
While Collins never again hit such heights, she didn't stop performing and making music. She has recorded songs in every decade since the 1960s.
She also has written several books, including "Sanity and Grace," about the suicide of her only son. Her website says she strives "to create music of hope and healing that lights up the world and speaks to the heart."
She said music has kept her going through life's challenges, including her own suicide attempt as a teenager.
"Without the music, I would not be here, for sure," she said. "The first person that it heals and gives hope to is me. The next people who it gives hope to are my audiences. They've stuck around for 50 years."
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