These are tunes from a time in which lyrics mattered. In addition to their own respective songbooks, the pair performed songs from friends and contemporaries, such as Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Jimmy Webb, Tom Petty, and the Traveling Wilburys. We learned about New York in the ’60s, Los Angeles in the ’70s, recording studios and concert halls, peers and collaborators, friends, lovers, and the common enemy of seemingly everyone in the auditorium, Donald Trump. Both she and Stills spoke frequently to the audience not the typical stage patter, but rather more of an oral history of the times that inspired the songs they were performing. They were instantly smitten with each other and, though their romance didn’t last, each served as a songwriting muse for the other (most notably Stills’ “Bluebird” with Buffalo Springfield and “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” with Crosby, Stills and Nash). This is a reunion of lovers (for the stage only) and the evident affection with which they continue to hold each other – and, even more significantly, for the music of their era – made for one very enchanted evening.Īs Collins explained, the pair met 50 years ago, at a session for her eighth album (the title track of which was Denny’s aforementioned song). No, because Stills and Collins were never bandmates they were bedmates. After all, this was no typical reunion tour, the likes of which fill venues of all sizes these days (often with little more than one original member). Sandy Denny’s “Who Knows Where the Time Goes,” a haunting reverie about change (and one of Judy Collins’ most beloved recordings) raised and answered the elemental question regarding the historical and musical significance of pairing Stephen Stills and Judy Collins.

The song was performed about three-quarters into the show, but it asserted the evening’s raison d’être. Stephen Stills and Judy Collins at Lynn Auditorium, Lynn, MA on June 21. So who knows where the time goes? Sadly, it only goes in one direction.

Stephen stills and judy collins