We went to see all the shows. American musical theater and jazz were very big. |
You're lucky you had that when you were 20. I sure didn't. I was overweight, and I had acne. |
My scar is beautiful. It looks like an arrow. |
I had this terrible stammer, so I couldn't really speak properly until I was 16 or 17. |
As a singer I tried on all these hats, these voices, these clothes, and eventually out came me. |
One of the things that has always motivated me to write is the desire to get it out and look at it in an objective way, so that it doesn't cause me any serious pain by staying inside. |
There was a French singer, Francoise Hardy - I used to look at her pictures and try to dress like her. |
Sometimes my boyfriend would write the lyrics and I would write the melody, and other times I would start from scratch. Or sometimes I would take a local poem and put that to music. |
I always sang standards because the songs I wrote for myself weren't as easy to sing. |
So I suppose this slightly mature fashion sense happened because of what I had. |
Well, I make every song I sing personal. I've never chosen a song that wasn't. |
It didn't matter as much because I'm a singer, not an actress, but my face is more acceptable in a way now than when I first came on the scene, because I'm part black. |
No, because I was always nervous about being onstage. |
Then I went through a big Peggy Lee stage, then I became Annie Ross, then Judy Collins. |
I think that I've got some pretty bad reviews on albums or songs that later proved themselves. |
I try to get to those peculiar and particular things that you never think of to say. |
I had a mastectomy in 1998, and then chemo. |
I just want to show off my scar proudly and not be afraid of it. |
Do you know how many concerts I've done in my whole life, in more than 35 years of performing? Sixty-four. |