Sometimes my boyfriend would write the lyrics and I would write the melody, and other times I would start from scratch. Or sometimes I would take a local poem and put that to music...I always sang standards because the songs I wrote for myself weren't as easy to sing.

It didn't matter as much because I'm a singer, not an actress, but my face is more acceptable in a way now than when I first came on the scene, because I'm part black.

Then I went through a big Peggy Lee stage, then I became Annie Ross, then Judy Collins.

Undoubtedly, Patsy Cline was a trailblazer and in that respect, all women who are singular in a man's field have a special power.

You know, when I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1997 I realized I had spent too long arranging my attitude.

I grew up not understanding what was true and what was not true. It gave me a sense of unreality. I was told that this man [mom's lover] was not my mother's lover - when he was. I was told he was there as a male babysitter for my brother so that he would learn sports and other manly things.

So many artists who came out during that time, including myself, were able to get on radio. New forms of singer-songwriters developed out of that.