Judy Collins provided
Stephen Stills with the inspiration for "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes," a song he composed in 1969 as their relationship was coming to an end. Lovers no more, the two remained friends over the years and decided to strike up a musical partnership nearly 50 years later, releasing
Everybody Knows in September of 2017. The album deliberately plays off their past, with the duo reviving songs from their individual albums -- "Who Knows Where the Time Goes" from
Collins; "So Begins the Task" from
Stills -- and selecting covers from their peers, including
the Traveling Wilburys' "Handle with Care,"
Tim Hardin's "Reason to Believe,"
Bob Dylan's "Girl from the North Country," and
Leonard Cohen's "Everybody Knows," which also lends its name to the album title. It's a clean and crisp production, so much so that its transparency reveals the disparity between
Collins' sweet voice and
Stills' scraggly singing, a pairing that can sound as smooth as sandpaper. Nevertheless, there's an inherent warmth to
Everybody Knows.
Stills and
Collins have a gentle, easy chemistry and the studio-slick supporting performances provide a nice bed for a project that is less nostalgia than a reassuring reminder of the comfort of growing old together. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
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