Amanpour and Company

>>> NOW TO A SINGER SONGWRITER CONTINUES TO FLOURISH AT 83 SHE'S UP FOR A GRAMMY AWARD FOR THE LATEST ALBUM SPELL BOUND. THE FIRST RECORD THAT IS MADE UP ENTIRELY OF ALL HER OWN MATERIAL FROM WORKING TO SINGING FOR PRESIDENT KENNEDY. SHE TELLS WALTER ISAACSON ABOUT THE PERSONAL AND MUSICAL JOURNEY THAT GOT HER TO THIS MOMENT. >> THANK YOU SO MUCH. THANKS FOR HAVING ME. >> A STORIED CAREER 29 ALBUMS THIS YEAR SPELL BOUND CAME OUT. YOUR NEW ALBUM AND YET, AT AGE 83 YOU'RE FOREVER YOUNG. TELL ME HOW IT FEELS TO HAVE SUCH SUCCESS AFTER ALL SIX DECADES. >> IT AN AMAZING THING. I'M SURE YOU'LL IDENTIFY WITH THIS. TODAY IS AS GOOD AS IT GETS. AND I WOKE UP TODAY AND I WAS ACTUALLY ALIVE AND READY TO ROLL AND SO THAT'S REALLY THE PRIZE I GUESS YOU WOULD SAY BECAUSE THERE HAVE MANY TIMES DURING MY CAREER THAT WASN'T TRUE AND SO I GOT MY HEALTH, MY HOME, MY HUSBAND, MY CAREER. MY ADVENTURES, THINGS I WANT TO DO NEXT AND SO IT FEELS LIKE THE ROAD IS CLEAR AND I'M ON IT. >> YOU TALK ABOUT THE TIMES WHEN THAT WASN'T THE CASE AND THAT'S REFLECTED IN THIS NEW ALBUM. TELL ME ABOUT SOME OF THOSE TIMES. >> WELL, I'VE WRITTEN ABOUT -- OH, FOR INSTANCE, ARIZONA, ONE OF THE SONGS ON THE ALBUM IS REALLY A KIND OF A MEDITATION ON BEING IN LOCKDOWN IN TUCSON, ARIZONA WHEN I WAS DIAGNOSED WITH TUBERCULOSIS. I WAS -- IT WAS 1962 AND I WAS IN BIG TROUBLE. I WAS HAVING TERRIBLY GUR GLE IN MY LUNGS AND I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT WAS WRONG AND I WOULDN'T GO TO A DOCTOR BECAUSE I DIDN'T WANT TO SLOW DOWN THE TRAIN, YOU KNOW, I HAD JUST COME BACK FROM DOING CARNEGIE HALL OPENING FOR MY FRIEND THEODORE. IT'S UP AND DOWN AND YOU GET ON A PLANE AND GO TO TUCSON TO THE ASH ALLY AND THERE WAS TWO KIDS THAT RAN THAT ASH ALLY AND WHEN I SANG THAT NIGHT, THEY SAID TO ME, I THINK WE'RE GOING TO TAKE YOU OVER TO THE DOCTOR. SO FROM MY WILD RIDE ACROSS THE COUNTRY AND INTO WHAT I WAS LOOKING AT WAS 50 MORE SHOWS. I WAS IN LONG WING AT THE END OF THIS HOSPITAL LOOKING OUT AT THE HILLS AND THE BEAUTIFUL COLORS OF ARIZONA AND THAT'S WHERE I WROTE THIS SONG. >> LET ME QUOTE A LYRIC FROM THAT SONG, ARIZONA. YOU TALK ABOUT YOU HEALED ALL THE WOUNDS THAT WERE HIDDEN AND LEFT THEM FOR ALL TO BE SEEN. I THINK YOU WERE FIGHTING TUBERCULOSIS AND ALCOHOLISM AND FAMILY ISSUES. TELL ME HOW THAT SONG NOW, THIS SONG NOW HELPS YOU PROCESS ALL THAT AND HOW DID YOU PROCESS IT BACK THEN? >> I WAS LITERALLY IN LOCKDOWN AND HAD MY JOURNAL I KEPT REGULARLY FOR THESE DECADES AND SO I WAS ABLE TO WRITE AND BE BY MYSELF AND BE FOCUSED ON THIS GLORIOUS OUTDOOR GOLD AND RED AND BLUE AND THE BIRDS AND IT WAS SPECTACULAR. IT WAS VERY HEALING TO ME. EVERY TIME I SANG IT, I SAID, YOU KNOW, THAT WAS THE LUCKY BREAK THAT I GOT. I GOT IT EXACTLY AT THE TIME I NEEDED IT AND THAT'S ALWAYS TRUE WHEN I SING IT AS WELL. IT GIVES ME THE BREAK I NEED TO REFLECT. >> AS YOU SAY, YOU DIDN'T WRITE SONGS AT FIRST AND YOU'RE WELL-KNOWN OF COURSE FOR COVERING SONGS BY EVERYBODY FROM BOB DYLAN TO LEONARD CONE. THIS ALBUM IS THE FIRST ONE, RIGHT, THAT IS ALL ORIGINAL SONGS YOU WROTE. WHY DID YOU MAKE THAT PIVOT? >> I STARTED RECORDING IN '61 AND THEN IN 1966 AND I HAD MADE FIVE ALBUMS OF OTHER PEOPLE'S SONGS AND A LOT OF TRADITIONAL THINGS AND THEN I MET UP WITH LEONARD COHEN AND HE SAID I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY YOU'RE NOT WRITING YOUR OWN SONGS. EVERYBODY ELSE IS. WHY AREN'T YOU? I RACED HOME AND WROTE A SONG CALLED SINCE YOU'VE ASKED WHAT I GIVE YOU SINCE YOU'VE ASKED IS ALL MY TIME TOGETHER. AND THAT WAS MY FIRST SONG. AND I'VE WRITTEN IN THESE PAST 60 YEARS, I'VE WRITTEN ABOUT 60 SONGS. I'VE RECORDED THEM ON ALBUMS WITH SONGS FROM OTHER ARTISTS, OF COURSE. EVERYTHING FROM BOTH SIDES NOW TO THE NORTHWEST PASSAGE. IN 2016 I STARTED WRITING A LOT OF POETRY TO BE THE THEATER OF THE SONGS AND I SAID TO MY HUSBAND I'LL DO POEMS. HE SAID DO 36 FIVE DAYS AND THEN BY THE END OF THE YEAR, YOU'LL HAVE A YEAR'S WORTH OF POETRY AND SOME SONGS. I DID THAT AND HARVESTED OUT OF THAT 36 FIVE DAYS A LOT OF SONGS AND WHEN I CAME TO THE END OF THE YEAR, I THOUGHT YOU'RE RIGHT. I GOT A TON OF SONGS THAT I WENT ON WRITING AND BY THE TIME THE COVID LOCKED US DOWN, I SAID OH, THIS IS LIFE CHANGING AFTER THE PLAGUE CAME THE RENAISSANCE. >> WHEN YOU JUMPED ON THAT FOLK MUSIC TRAIN AND IT COMES OUT IN THE '60 POLITICS? >> IT'S A NATURAL FIT BECAUSE PREVIOUS TO THAT IN THE '50s YOU NEEDED A BIG BAND AND A BIG DRESS. YOU NEEDED A BIG NAME. YOU NEEDED A LOT OF NOISE. YOU NEEDED TO BE VERY EXPENSIVE AND HOT AND GET IT DONE BUT IT WAS HARD. AND SO THERE WAS A KIND OF A GROWING UNDERGROUND WITH ONE SONG AND WITH A MESSAGE WHICH WAS QUITE OFTEN BEAUTIFUL -- I AM MADE OF CONSTANT SORROW THAT WAS MY FIRST SONG AND ALBUM AND PERHAPS THE IRISH SONGS ABOUT TELL ME WHY YOU HURRY SO >> THERE WAS A MIXTURE OF POLITICAL MUSIC, TRADITIONAL MUSIC, OLD, OLD, OLD SONGS, BRAND-NEW SONGS, DILLON WAS STARTING TO WRITE AND WRITING THINGS LIKE "TAMBOURINE MAN" AND "MASTERS OF WAR." SO IT WAS A COMBINATION OF EXOTIC BEAUTY AND, YOU KNOW, GET DOWN, GET TO IT PROTEST MUSIC. >> BUT YOU AND PETE SEEGER IN THE 1960s COULD TURN THINGS THAT YOU WOULDN'T NORMALLY THINK OF AS A PROTEST SONG AND JUST BY THE WAY YOU DID IT IT WOULD FEEL THAT WAY AND IN PARTICULAR I REMEMBER "TURN, TURN, TURN TO EVERYTHING THERE IS A SEASON." TELL ME ABOUT THAT ONE. YOU DID IT WITH HIM, RIGHT? >> SO TRUE. IT COMES FROM THE BIBLE. HE WROTE IT. WROTE IT OUT OF ONE OF THE VERSES IN ONE OF THE BIBLE CHAPTERS AND IT HAS -- >> GIVE ME A FEW LINES OF IT. THERE IS A SEASON, TURN, TURN, TURN SO I GUESS IT GIVES A FEELING OF SURRENDERER AND ACCEPTANCE. TOMORROW WILL COME AND YOU'LL HAVE TO DO IT AGAIN. >> THE SOUND TRACK OF MYERLY YEARS AS A WHISTLE, IT WAS CAPTURED, YOUNG TOGETHER ONCE UPON A LONG, LOST TIME. TELL ME ABOUT THOSE TWO SONGS AND WHISTLENESS AND SEEING LIFE FROM BOTH SIDES NOW. >> MY SISTER CALLED ME AFTER SHE HEARD "SO ALIVE" AND SAID WHO IS THAT ABOUT? BECAUSE THERE IS A LINE IN THERE ABOUT YOU ALWAYS LEFT BY DAWN. WE SLEPT IN A SINGLE BED AND YOU ALWAYS LEFT BY DAWN. AND I SAID I THINK IT'S ABOUT A YOUNG SINGER THAT'S UNFORTUNATELY GONE AT AN EARLY AGE. HIS NAME WAS DAVID AND HE HAD A SINGLE BED AND HE ALWAYS LEFT BY DAWN. THAT WAS -- THOSE WERE THE DAYS. WHEN I MOVED TO NEW YORK IN 1963, I WAS DIVORCED AND I HAD COME STRAIGHT FROM THE HOSPITAL IN DENVER. AT FIRST, I WAS IN TUCSON FOR A COUPLE OF MONTHS AND THEN I MOVED TO THE NATIONAL JEWISH HOSPITAL IN DENVER, MY HOMETOWN SO TO SPEAK. THE FIRST THING I DID OUT OF THE HOSPITAL BED FROM DENVER WAS TO GO TO WASHINGTON AND TO SING FOR PRESIDENT KENNEDY AT THE DINNER FOR THE PRESIDENT WHICH WAS AN EVENT WHICH THEY HAVE. I THINK THEY HAVE IT ON A REGULAR BASIS AND I WAS LUCKY ENOUGH TO BE INVITED TO THE 1963 EVENT. >> YOU WROTE AND RECORDED MOST OF THE SONGS DURING THE PANDEMIC. I THINK YOU DID IT IN PERSON, RIGHT? TELL ME ABOUT THAT EXPERIENCE. >> WELL, WE HAD -- THE FIRST, THE FIRST RECORDING SESSION WE HAD WAS IN 2019 BEFORE THIS ALL BROKE OUT AND I DID RECORD A COUPLE SONGS, THE ARIZONA SONG ON THE ALBUM AND GRAND CANYON AND PERHAPS ONE OTHER SONG, GIRL FROM COLORADO PROBABLY THEN WE MOVED INTO THE PANDEMIC BUT WE FOUND THE STUDIO IN ESTORIA, SOMETIME IN MARCH OR APRIL WE WENT OFF AND DID A RECORDING SESSION THERE AND WE GOT, YOU KNOW, WE ALL WORE MASKS EXCEPT WHEN SINGING SO TO SPEAK. IT WORKED OUT FINE. THERE WAS A LOT OF HELL DURING THE PANDEMIC, ENOUGH FOR ME TO GET MY WORK DONE THANK GOODNESS. >> TELL ME ABOUT YOUR WRITING PROCESS AND HOW YOU DECIDE ON THEMES. >> MY FIRST WAY OF LEARNING SONGS IS TO MAKE A TAPE. LEONARD WOULD SEND ME SONGS EVERY 18 MONTHS. HE WOULD SEND ME ANOTHER TAPE WITH A BUNCH OF SONGS AND SAY FIGURE OUT WHAT YOU WANT TO SEE. I WOULD PLAY THEM. I WOULD PLAY A BUNCH OF SONGS AND THEN WHEN ONE STUCK IN MY MIND AND I HEARD IT IN REALTIME I'D KNOW IT WAS FOR ME. NOW THE FINDING OF SONGS WAS WHEN I HEAR IT, I KNOW IT. I'VE HAD A LOT OF MAGICAL SITUATIONS COME INTO MY LIFE. FOR INSTANCE, ONE NIGHT I WAS SOUND ASLEEP. I WAS ACTUALLY PROBABLY PASSED OUT. IT WAS 1967 SO THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN --

LAUGHTER

THAT WAS THE LIFE THEN. AND I WAS STILL DRINKING. BY THE WAY, I'M 45 YEARS SOBER, WHICH IS A MIRACLE AND I THANK YOU AND EVERYBODY IN THE WORLD WHO HELPS ME TO STAY SOBER AND I

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00 IN THE MORNING AND AL COOPER WAS ON THE FOUND. A FRIEND OF MINE AND HE SAID I HAVE A SURPRISE FOR YOU. HE HAD BEEN AT A PARTY AT A CLUB WHERE THE BLOOD, SWEAT AND TEARS WAS PLAYING AND RAN INTO THIS GIRL. SHE WAS A GIRL THEN. SHE WAS YOUNG AND SHE SAID I WRITE SONGS AND HE SAID OH, AND ARE THEY ANY GOOD? SHE SAYS YES AND HE SAID CAN I HEAR THEM? SHE SAID WHY DON'T YOU COME HOME WITH ME AND I SAID WELL, SHE WAS GOOD LOOKING SO I WENT HOME WITH HER AND IT WAS JONI MITCHELL AND HE PUT HER ON THE PHONE WITH ME

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00 IN THE MORNING AND SHE SANG ME BOTH SIDES NOW. >> THEN YOU DID THAT GREAT COVER OF BOTH SIDES NOW, SING A LITTLE OF THAT FOR US IF YOU WOULD. >> OH, WELL, IT'S VERY EASY BECAUSE EVERYBODY KNOWS IT BECAUSE IT WAS SUCH A BIG DEAL. YOU'LL HEAR IT AND KNOW IT BECAUSE YOU HEARD IT FOR A CENTURY NOW. >> TELL ME ABOUT THE AUTO ACCIDENT YOU HAD WHEN YOU WERE 17 AND HOW THAT AFFECTED YOU. >> OH, GOD. I FINALLY WROTE ABOUT IT IN THIS ALBUM. I WROTE ABOUT IT FOR YEARS. IT'S CALLED "HELL ON WHEELS." I WAS WORKING AT A MOUNTAIN RESORT IN GRAND LAKE. I WAS WONDERFUL. IT WAS CALLED JENNY LEMONS LODGE AND I WAS THERE THE SUMMERS OF WHEN I WAS 16 AND WHEN I WAS 17. WHEN I WAS 17, I HAD A DRIVER'S LICENSE, A LEARNERS LICENSE BUT I DIDN'T HAVE A CAR BUT I DECIDED I WOULD TRY TO BORROW A CAR AND GO TO THE STANLEY TO VISIT A FRIEND OF MINE WHO WAS WORKING AND LIVING IN ESTES PARK. AND SO I GOT IN THAT CAR, DROVE OVER, HAD LUNCH WITH HER AND WE HAD A COUPLE OF DRINKS. I DON'T KNOW, ENOUGH FOR ME TO BE NOT BEHIND THE WHEEL. BUT I WAS YOUNG. I WAS CRAZY. AND SO I GOT IN THE CAR AND TOOK OFF AND I HIT A DIRT ROAD ON MY WAY BACK TO GRAND LAKE AND FOUND MYSELF STUCK BETWEEN A FENCE AND ROAD AND DOWN ON THE ROAD TO MY LEFT SITTING BY THE ROAD WERE TWO LITTLE BABIES SITTING ON THIS LITTLE BLANKET. THEY WERE FINE. BUT I HAD MISSED THEM BY A MERE FEW FEET. AND THEIR DAD CAME RUNNING OUT OF THE HOUSE SCREAMING SAYING I'LL CALL THE COPS ON YOU AND GET YOU OUT OF HERE. I'LL GET A ROPE AND PULL YOU OUT. HE WENT TO DO THAT AND I ROCKED MY CAR BACK AND FORTH AND GOT OUT OF THE MESS AND SPED AWAY. BUT IT HAS HAUNTED ME EVER SINCE AND SO ONE OF THE SONGS ON THE ALBUM IS CALLED "HELL ON WHEELS" THAT ARI HELPED ME TO FINISH. I FINALLY PULLED IT OUT AFTER YEARS OF MULLING OVER THE LYRIC TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO MAKE IT WORK. SOMETIMES YOU REALIZE YOU'RE HELL ON WHEELS YOU KNOW YOU HAVE TO GO SLOW >> THE FOLK MUSIC IN THE '60s AND '70s WAS DRIVEN BY PROTESTS, POLITICS, AND I GET THE FEELING NOW THAT FOLK MUSIC HAS LOST SOME OF THAT ENERGY OR DRIVE OR URGENCY. IS THAT RIGHT? >> NOT IN ME. NOT IN MY LIFE. NOT IN MY WRITING. NOT IN WHAT I WANT TO HEAR AND HOW I CAN SEE THROUGH THE MIST OF THE DUST COMING UP AROUND US, HOW I CAN SEE THE CLARITY OF WHAT WE SAW AND DID IS APPROPRIATE TODAY AND STILL MUST BE PAID ATTENTION TO. >> JUDY COLLINS, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING WITH US. >> GOD BLESS YOU. THANK YOU SO MUCH.