In My Life (Judy Collins album)

In My Life
Studio album by Judy Collins
Released	November 1966
Studio	Sound Techniques, London
Genre	Baroque folk [1] folk rock [1]
Length	43:29
Label	Elektra
Producer	Mark Abramson
Judy Collins chronology
Fifth Album (1965) In My Life (1966) Wildflowers (1967)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[3]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[4]

In My Life is the fifth studio album by the American singer and songwriter Judy Collins, released by Elektra Records in 1966. It peaked at No. 46 on the Billboard Pop Albums charts in 1967. ^[5]

Working with arranger Joshua Rifkin, many of the songs on the album feature orchestral arrangements, a departure from Collins' previous albums, which consist of more straightforward folk music. ^[2] The album includes work by Leonard Cohen, the Beatles, Bob Dylan and Richard Fariña. Collins' version of the song "Suzanne" is considered to be the recording that introduced Cohen's music to a wide audience. ^[6]

In a retrospective review for AllMusic, William Ruhlmann stated, "Judy Collins was already an accomplished interpretive singer before recording this album, but In My Life found her widening her horizons and revealing an even greater gift than one might have imagined; for the most part, it's a superb album and still one of her best." ^[2]

In 1970, the album was certified Gold by the RIAA for sales of over 500,000 copies in the US. ^[7]

Track listing

Side one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Tom Thumb's Blues"	Bob Dylan	5:03
2.	"Hard Lovin' Loser"	Richard Fariña	2:37
3.	"Pirate Jenny"	Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill, Marc Blitzstein	4:02
4.	"Suzanne"	Leonard Cohen	4:21
5.	"La Colombe"	Jacques Brel, Alasdair Clayre	5:03

Side two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Marat/Sade"	Richard Peaslee	5:33
2.	"I Think It's Going to Rain Today"	Randy Newman	2:46
3.	"Sunny Goodge Street"	Donovan	2:55
4.	"Liverpool Lullaby"	Stan Kelly [8]	2:57
5.	"Dress Rehearsal Rag"	Leonard Cohen	5:19
6.	"In My Life"	Lennon–McCartney	2:53

Personnel

• Judy Collins – guitar, keyboards, vocals

Technical

• Joshua Rifkin – arranger, conductor (tracks 1–3, 6–8, 10)
• Mark Abramson – producer
• Jac Holzman – production supervisor
• William S. Harvey – front cover photo, design
• Joel Brodsky – back cover photo

Charts

Chart performance for In My Life

Chart (1965)	Peak position
US Top LP's ( Billboard ) [9]	46
US Top 100 Albums ( Cash Box ) [10]	50

Certifications and sales

Certifications for In My Life

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA) [7]	Gold	500,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. Unterberger, Richie (2002). Turn! Turn! Turn!: The '60s Folk-Rock Revolution . San Francisco: Backbeat Books. p. 274. ISBN   0-87930-703-X. The album that brought Collins into folk-rock was also the flagship of the folk-rock sub-genre baroque folk ...
2. Ruhlmann, William. "In My Life Review". AllMusic . Retrieved December 1, 2024.
3. Larkin, Colin (2007). "Collins, Judy". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th Concise ed.). New York: Muze UK Ltd. pp. 338–339. ISBN   978-1-84609-856-7.
4. Evans, Paul (1992). "Judy Collins". In DeCurtis, Anthony; Henke, James; George-Warren, Holly (eds.). The Rolling Stone Album Guide: Completely New Reviews: Every Essential Album, Every Essential Artist (3rd ed.). New York: Random House. p. 154. ISBN   0-679-73729-4.
5. "US Albums and Singles Charts > Judy Collins". Billboard . Retrieved February 28, 2022.
6. Kennedy, Paul (February 3, 2006). ""And she feeds you tea and oranges..." The Story of Suzanne". CBC/Radio-Canada . Archived from the original on August 21, 2009. Retrieved January 9, 2023.
7. "American album certifications – Judy Collins – In My Life". Recording Industry Association of America . Retrieved December 1, 2024.
8. Judy Collins (1988). In My Life (CD liner notes). New York: Elektra Records. 74027-2.
9. "Billboard Top LP's" (PDF). Billboard . Vol. 79, no. 14. New York: Billboard Publications Inc. April 8, 1967. p. 44. ISSN   0006-2510.
10. "Cash Box Top 100 Albums" (PDF). Cash Box . Vol. XXVIII, no. 33. New York: The Cash Box Publishing Co. Inc. February 18, 1967. p. 63. ISSN   0008-7289.

External links

• In My Life at Discogs (list of releases)