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<p>Judy Collins&#8217; ephemeral relationship with Stephen Stills in the late 1960s was famously turbulent and is forever etched in the canon of American music in the lyrics of the 1969 Crosby, Stills &amp; Nash hit &#8220;Suite: Judy Blue Eyes,&#8221; but 50 years after their breakup, the lasting bond between the celebrated songwriters has brought them back together.</p><p>Stills &amp; Collins will take the stage at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the F.M. Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre. The pair will play songs from their recently released collaborative album as well as their cherished catalogues, and they will share intimate stories from their lives and careers.</p><p>How does a reunion between such iconic artists and noted exes come to pass?</p><p>&#8220;First of all, we&#8217;ve always remained friends, which helps,&#8221; Collins said with a laugh during a recent interview. &#8220;We&#8217;ve talked over the years and muddled through conversations about if we did make a record together and decided to tour and what we would sing.&#8221;</p><p>Some of what Stills, 72, and Collins, 78, will sing will come from their new 12-song LP, &#8220;Everybody Knows,&#8221; which features reimaginings of songs from both artists, a new song by Collins, and some choice covers including the Leonard Cohen tune that acts as the title track.</p><p>Collins and the late Cohen were close and had a significant impact on each other&#8217;s careers.</p><p>&#8220;He inspired me to write songs, and I inspired him to perform,&#8221; Collins said. &#8220;He brought me his first songs in 1966, songs like &#8216;Suzanne&#8217; and &#8216;Dress Rehearsal Rag&#8217; and &#8216;The Stranger Song.&#8217; I was blown away by his writing, and I decided to record two of his songs. He used to say I made him famous.&#8221;</p><p>Collins would go on to record Cohen&#8217;s songs throughout her career, and, in the wake of Cohen&#8217;s death, a day before the 2016 presidential election, Collins decided to honor her friend by performing &#8220;Everybody Knows.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;I started singing it in concert in November, both to remember him and to remind people of things he had always said, because he always told the truth,&#8221; Collins said.</p><p>Cohen&#8217;s words, applicable to political or social injustice in any era, can be perceived as particularly poignant considering the current climate in the U.S.:</p><p>&#8220;Everybody knows that the boat is leaking/Everybody knows that the captain lied/Everybody got this broken feeling/Like their father or their dog just died.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;I think it&#8217;s a very powerful song and people relate to it in a very strong way,&#8221; Collins said.</p><p>Two of the other songs on the album, &#8220;Judy&#8221; and &#8220;Houses,&#8221; are a direct reference to &#8212; and a product of &#8212; the relationship between Collins and Stills.</p><p>&#8220;Judy,&#8221; Collins said, was recorded by Stills during a middle-of-the-night solo studio session. At the time &#8212; and Collins admits Stills remembers the details differently &#8212; the two were working on one of her albums, but Stills found moments to record a demo for &#8220;Judy&#8221; along with early versions of &#8220;Wooden Ships,&#8221; &#8220;Helplessly Hoping&#8221; and &#8220;Suite: Judy Blue Eyes.&#8221;</p><p>Collins never heard &#8220;Judy&#8221; until Stills was convinced to release the archival tape in 2007.</p><p>&#8220;When we sing it, he says, &#8216;This was a predecessor to &#8216;Suite: Judy Blue Eyes,&#8221;&#8221; Collins said. &#8220;It bowls me over. It&#8217;s really amazing.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;Houses,&#8221; a song Collins wrote about Stills for her 1975 album &#8220;Judith&#8221; is recorded with a fuller piano sound than is featured on the original and is punctuated by Stills&#8217; artful guitar fills.</p><p>&#8220;I played it for him, and he said, &#8216;We have to do it, but we have to do it differently,&#8217;&#8221; Collins said.</p><p>The new Collins original, &#8220;River of Gold&#8221; was a piece Collins played for Stills with no expectations, just an excitement to share for the first time in a long time.</p><p>&#8220;He liked &#8216;River of Gold,&#8217; and he said, &#8216;Oh my God, I want to sing that,&#8217;&#8221; Collins said. &#8220;I was thrilled that Stephen Stills wanted to record a song I wrote.&#8221;</p><p>Collins said the entire concept of the album and tour is an answer and response to &#8220;Suite: Judy Blue Eyes&#8221; and brings to light the internal conversation between the duo about their relationship, and she credits the &#8220;incredible&#8221; band that plays on the record and in the live setting for making the project a success.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m having such a ball being a singer and guitar player in a rock &#8216;n&#8217; roll band with Stephen Stills,&#8221; she said. &#8220;It&#8217;s a good treatment for depression.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s highly unlikely that this would have come to pass this way, because life gets in the way. People stop touring; they die. It&#8217;s the unexpected and the impossible.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Judy Collins said she&#8217;s having a blast singing and performing in a rock &#8216;n&#8217; roll band with Stephen Stills. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/web1_AP_17118277476094-3.jpg</photo0><caption0>Judy Collins said she&#8217;s having a blast singing and performing in a rock &#8216;n&#8217; roll band with Stephen Stills. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/web1_AP_091029063558-3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Stephen Stills and Judy Collins are sharing years worth of internal conversation concerning their relationship by performing songs like &#8216;Judy,&#8217; a precursor to &#8216;Suite: Judy Blue Eyes&#8217; and &#8216;Houses,&#8217; a song Collins wrote about Stills. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/web1_AP_091029063558-3.jpg</photo1><caption1>Stephen Stills and Judy Collins are sharing years worth of internal conversation concerning their relationship by performing songs like &#8216;Judy,&#8217; a precursor to &#8216;Suite: Judy Blue Eyes&#8217; and &#8216;Houses,&#8217; a song Collins wrote about Stills. </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/web1_StillsCollins-PRESS-3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">The tumultuous relationship between Stephen Stills and Judy Collins prompted Stills to write the iconic song &#8216;Suite: Judy Blue Eyes.&#8217; The pair will perform Wednesday at the F.M. Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/web1_StillsCollins-PRESS-3.jpg</photo2><caption2>The tumultuous relationship between Stephen Stills and Judy Collins prompted Stills to write the iconic song &#8216;Suite: Judy Blue Eyes.&#8217; The pair will perform Wednesday at the F.M. Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre. </caption2><photoCredit2></photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta></subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Matt Mattei</p><p>mmattei@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>IF YOU GO</strong></p><p><strong>What: </strong>Stills &amp; Collins with special guest Kreg Viesselman</p><p><strong>When: </strong>7:30 p.m. Wednesday</p><p><strong>Where: </strong>F.M. Kirby Center, 71 Public Square, Wilkes-Barre</p><p><strong>Additional information: </strong>Tickets range from $48 to $78 and are available at the Kirby Center box office, online at kirbycenter.org and by phone at 570-826-1100. </p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Matt Mattei at 570-991-6651 or on Twitter @TimesLeaderMatt. </p></shirttailMeta></div>

Stephen Stills, Judy Collins to bring 50-year relationship to Kirby Center