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Both Sides Now

BOTH SIDES NOW

 
“Both Sides, Now”  is a song by Joni Mitchell.  Her recording first appeared on the album Clouds, released in 1969.  Judy Collins made the first commercially released recording of the song, shortly after Mitchell wrote it, first including it on her 1967 Wildflowers album.  In October 1968 she released it as a single; it reached #8 on the U.S. pop singles charts, and in early 1969 won a Grammy Award for Best Folk Performance.  The record has become one of Collins’ signature songs.  (More from Wikipedia)
 
 
Judy Collins has been recording albums more or less steadily for over 50 years and has scattered several hit songs over this time, including Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now” in 1968. 
 
(May 2012)
 
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In the early years, most women only sang; those who also played a musical instrument tended to be folksingers, like Joan Baez and Judy Collins.  Later on, both Baez and Collins moved more toward rock, and they have each recorded numerous amazing albums.  Joni Mitchell, who wrote Judy Collins’ early hit song “Both Sides Now”, stretched herself even further; one remarkable album that I own is her 1979 album, Mingus that was recorded with jazz legend Charles Mingus shortly before his death. 

 

(October 2013)

 
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In a sense, “Is That All There Is?” is a grimmer retelling of the Joni Mitchell song “Both Sides Now” that Judy Collins released as a Top 10 hit the previous year; it had appeared on Collins’ 1967 album, Wildflowers.  For all I know, that could have been the genesis of the song.  The first recorded version, by New York disc jockey Dan Daniel was released in March 1968.  

 

(January 2014)

 

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Judy Collins heard a demo of the song and decided to include the Sandy Denny song “Who Knows Where the Time Goes” as the B-side of her #8 hit single, “Both Sides, Now” (written by Joni Mitchell). 

 

(July 2014)