The song choices play to that, whether it’s a cover of Tim Hardins’ “Reason to Believe,” or Stills’ “Judy” (a song he demoed in 1968 and finally released in its original raw form in 2007) or Collins’ reprise of “Houses,” written about their liaison and originally recorded in 1975. But even though their vocals aren’t always suited to each other, this set of mostly covers (some previously recorded by the participants), works relatively well, as long as you’re not expecting too much.Ĭlearly, the long extinguished romance of Stills and Collins, both now in their 70s, was a driving force for this re-ignited musical alliance. Stills’ gruff voiced rock, blues and rootsy folk wouldn’t seem to mesh well with Collins’ far more sophisticated, stylish, some might say angelic approach that famously slanted towards a smoother, slicker, more soothing style. It’s hard to imagine anyone was anxiously waiting for an album combining the talents of these two legends since their careers ended up going in different directions. So it’s little surprise that it’s reprised as Collins and Stills attempt an audio closure to the decades old relationship that yielded the latter’s “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes.” That cover of the Sandy Denny classic, helped put her on the map and was also the first song she and Stills worked on together. “Who knows where the time goes,” Judy Collins famously sang in 1968 and those words seem to be the impetus for this collaboration with old lover Stephen Stills.

Stills and judy collins