Joan Baez | ||
| Allmusic Biography : The most accomplished interpretive folksinger of the 1960s, Joan Baez has influenced nearly every aspect of popular music in a career still going strong. Baez is possessed of a once-in-a-lifetime soprano, which, since the late 50s, she has put in the service of folk and pop music as well as a variety of political causes. Starting out in Boston, Baez first gained recognition at the 1959 Newport Folk Festival, then cut her debut album, Joan Baez (October 1960), for Vanguard Records. It was made up of 13 traditional songs given near-definitive treatment. A moderate success on release, the album took off after the breakthrough of Joan Baez, Vol. 2 (September 1961), and both albums became huge hits, as did Baezs third album, Joan Baez in Concert, Pt. 1 (September 1962). Each album went gold and stayed in the best-seller charts more than two years. From 1962 to 1964, Baez was the popular face of folk music, headlining festivals and concert tours and singing at political events, including the August 1963 March on Washington. During this period, she began to champion the work of folk songwriter Bob Dylan, and gradually her repertoire moved from traditional material toward the socially conscious work of the emerging generation of 60s artists like him. Her albums of this period were Joan Baez in Concert, Pt. 2 (November 1963) and Joan Baez 5 (October 1964), which contained her cover of Phil Ochs "There But for Fortune," a Top Ten hit in the U.K. Like other popular folk performers, Baez was affected by the changes in popular music wrought by the appearance of the Beatles in the U.S. in 1964, and Dylans introduction of folk-rock in 1965, and she began to augment her simple acoustic guitar backing with other instruments, initially on Farewell, Angelina (October 1965). It was followed by a Christmas album, Noël (October 1966), and Joan (August 1967), albums on which she was accompanied by an orchestra conducted by Peter Schickele. Baez continued to experiment in the late 60s, releasing Baptism (June 1968), in which she recited poetry, and Any Day Now (December 1968), a double album of Dylan songs done with country backing, which went gold. In March 1968, Baez had married antiwar protest leader David Harris, who was imprisoned as a draft evader. Harris was a country music fan, and Baezs turn toward country, which continued on Davids Album (June 1969) and One Day at a Time (March 1970), reflected his taste. Blessed Are... (August 1971) was a gold-selling double album that spawned a gold Top Ten hit in Baezs cover of the Bands "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down." It was followed by Carry It On (December 1971), the soundtrack to a documentary about Baez and Harris. Baez switched record label affiliation to A&M; Records with Come from the Shadows (May 1972), which moved her in a more pop direction. Where Are You Now, My Son? (May 1973) included sounds taped during Baezs visit to Hanoi in December 1972. In the late 60s and early 70s, Baez moved toward pop/rock music and also began to write her own songs, culminating in the gold-selling Diamonds & Rust (April 1975), which was followed by the entirely self-written Gulf Winds (October 1976). Baez moved to the Portrait label of CBS Records with Blowin Away (June 1977), but she left the label after Honest Lullaby (May 1979), and her next album, European Tour (1980), was released only outside the U.S. It was another seven years before she found an American record label, Gold Castle, for Recently (1987), which was followed by the live album Diamonds & Rust in the Bullring (January 1989) and Speaking of Dreams (October 1989). Baez moved to Virgin Records for Play Me Backwards (August 1992). In 1993, Vanguard released Rare, Live & Classic, a three-CD box-set retrospective. Ring Them Bells, a live album on which Baez was joined by musical descendants like Mary Chapin Carpenter and Indigo Girls, came out on Guardian Records in 1995. Gone from Danger, her first studio album in five years, followed in 1997, and it was another six years before the release of Dark Chords on a Big Guitar in 2003. A November 2004 concert in New York was documented on the 2005 release Bowery Songs. Baezs 24th studio album, Day After Tomorrow, produced by Steve Earle, was released on September 9, 2008 by Bobolink/Razor & Tie, followed by Sing Me Home almost exactly a year later in 2009. In 2016, Baez celebrated her 75th birthday with a special concert at the Beacon Theatre in New York. Joined by an all-star cast of musicians, including Judy Collins, Emmylou Harris, Richard Thompson, and Jackson Browne, the show was captured for posterity and issued as an official release a few months later. Baez was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2017, and she went into the studio with producer Joe Henry to begin work on an album that same year. Whistle Down the Wind was released in March 2018, and was followed by a concert tour that Baez declared would be her last. | ||
 | Album: 1 of 43 Title: Folksingers Round Harvard Square Released: 1959 Tracks: 18 Duration: 45:28 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Banks of the Ohio (02:33) 2 O What a Beautiful City (03:15) 3 Sail Away Ladies (02:41) 4 Black Is the Color (02:37) 5 Lowlands (02:43) 6 What You Gonna Call Your Pretty Little Baby (02:25) 7 Kitty (01:56) 8 So Soon in the Morning (02:05) 9 Careless Love (02:07) 10 Le Cheval Dans la Baignoire (Horse in the Bathtub) (02:13) 11 John Henry (03:21) 12 Travelin Shoes (02:17) 13 Bold Soldier (01:57) 14 Walie Walie (02:01) 15 Rejected Lover (03:35) 16 Astrapsen (The Sun Is Risen) (01:44) 17 Lass From the Low Country (03:09) 18 Dont Weep After Me (02:44) |
| Folksingers 'Round Harvard Square : Allmusic album Review : In the late 50s, prior to signing with Vanguard, Joan Baez recorded this album in a basement, sometimes performing with Bill Wood and Ted Alevizos. It wasnt wholly Baez album, as only six of the 13 tracks were Baez solo performances. On two she performed with Wood, and on one she performed with Wood and Alevizos; two of the tracks featured Wood solo, and two Alevizos solo. Baez was already handling traditional material such as "Black Is the Color," and her voice was a little less strident than it would become when she rose to national visibility. Its a basic recording that is primarily of historical interest, although -- as those things go -- it has definite value. In 1963, it was issued by Squire Records as The Best of Joan Baez, but was withdrawn after it had made the Top 50, when Baez took legal action against it. | ||
 | Album: 2 of 43 Title: Joan Baez Released: 1960-10 Tracks: 13 Duration: 45:31 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Silver Dagger (02:32) 2 East Virginia (03:43) 3 Fare Thee Well (10,000 Miles) (03:21) 4 House of the Rising Sun (02:56) 5 All My Trials (04:40) 6 Wildwood Flower (02:37) 7 Donna Donna (03:14) 8 John Riley (03:53) 9 Rake & Rambling Boy (01:59) 10 Little Moses (03:31) 11 Mary Hamilton (05:57) 12 Henry Martin (04:15) 13 El preso número nueve (02:48) |
| Joan Baez : Allmusic album Review : At the time of its release, Joan Baezs debut album was something of a revelation. The folk music revival was beginning to gather steam, stoked on the popular side by artists such as the Kingston Trio and the Easy Riders, as well as up-and-coming ensembles such as the Highwaymen, and on the more intense and serious side by the Weavers. The female singers on the scene were mostly old-time veteran activist types like Ronnie Gilbert and Malvina Reynolds, who was in her sixties. And then along comes this album, by a 19-year-old who looked more like the kind of co-ed every mother dreamt her son would come home with, displaying a voice from heaven, a soprano so pure and beguiling that the mere act of listening to her -- forget what she was singing -- was a pleasure. Baezs first album, made up primarily of traditional songs (including a startling version of "House of the Rising Sun"), was beguiling enough to woo even conservative-leaning listeners. Accompanied by the Weavers Fred Hellerman and a pair of session singers, Baez gives a fine account of the most reserved and least confrontational aspects of the folk revival, presenting a brace of traditional songs (most notably "East Virginia" and "Mary Hamilton") with an urgency and sincerity that makes the listener feel as though they were being sung for the first time, and opening with a song that was to become her signature piece for many years, "Silver Dagger." The recording was notable for its purity of sound. | ||
 | Album: 3 of 43 Title: Joan Baez, Volume 2 Released: 1961-09 Tracks: 17 Duration: 52:19 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Wagoner’s Lad (02:14) 2 The Trees They Do Grow High (02:59) 3 The Lily of the West (03:20) 4 Silkie (04:00) 5 Engine 143 (03:32) 6 Once I Knew a Pretty Girl (02:55) 7 Lonesome Road (02:23) 8 Banks of the Ohio (03:09) 9 Pal of Mine (02:50) 10 Barbara Allen (04:16) 11 The Cherry Tree Carol (03:29) 12 Old Blue (02:36) 13 Railroad Boy (02:31) 14 Plaisir dAmour (03:10) 15 I Once Loved a Boy (02:39) 16 Poor Boy (02:54) 17 Longest Train I Ever Saw (03:15) |
 | Album: 4 of 43 Title: Joan Baez in San Francisco Released: 1964-05 Tracks: 12 Duration: 30:20 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Island in the Sun (02:25) 2 Water Boy (02:49) 3 Annie Had a Baby (01:20) 4 Oh Freedom (04:15) 5 Man Smart, Woman Smarter (03:10) 6 Scarlet Ribbons (02:48) 7 Dark as a Dungeon (02:20) 8 Told My Captain (02:49) 9 Young Blood (02:00) 10 I Gave My Love a Cherry (03:17) 11 La Bamba (01:00) 12 Every Night (02:07) |
 | Album: 5 of 43 Title: Joan Baez/5 Released: 1964-10 Tracks: 12 Duration: 41:29 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 There but for Fortune (03:14) 2 Stewball (03:00) 3 It Aint Me Babe (03:20) 4 The Death of Queen Jane (Child No. 170) (03:52) 5 Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5: Aria (06:18) 6 Go Way From My Window (02:14) 7 I Still Miss Someone (03:14) 8 When You Hear Them Cuckoos Hollerin (02:48) 9 Birmingham Sunday (04:03) 10 So Well Go No More A-Roving (01:44) 11 OCangaceiro (02:22) 12 The Unquiet Grave (Child No. 78) (05:20) |
| Joan Baez/5 : Allmusic album Review : Joan Baez 5 was where the singers music experienced its first major blossoming. Having exhausted most of the best traditional songs in her repertory on her four prior LPs, Baez had to broaden the range of her music, and she opened up some promising new territory in the process. Baez and Vanguard Records must also have recognized by 1964 that the folk audience was changing and, in fact, was no longer just the "folk" audience -- they were expecting current compositions in a folk vein, especially topical material, and also a certain degree of eclecticism, and Joan Baez 5 runs the gamut from classical to country. The album opens with a rendition of Phil Ochs "There but for Fortune" that was so alluring that Vanguard released it as a single, and it actually saw some modest chart action; Baez nearly pulled off a Peter, Paul & Mary, masking the songs piercing, topical lyrics (which addressed more hot-button issues in three minutes than most radio stations preferred to acknowledge in a weeks worth of editorials) in a falsetto so lovely that they simply eased past most of the censors, right-wingers, and anyone else who mightve objected. Her recording of Dylans "It Aint Me Babe" was the latest in a small but growing list of her excellent covers of his songs, culminating with the release of the two-LP Any Day Now later in the 1960s. Even the Dylan cover pales, however, next to her rendition of Richard Farinas "Birmingham Sunday," a recollection of the school bombing thats still a raw nerve in the state of Alabama, four decades later -- her performance is as beautiful as the song itself is quietly dark and ominous. She still found room for material drawn from traditional English folk songs and settings by Richard Dyer-Bennett and John Jacob Niles, and Baezs version of "Stewball" was perhaps the prettiest of a brace of covers of the song (there was even one by the Hollies) from around this period; her performance of "When You Hear Them Cuckoos Hollerin," accompanied by Gino Foreman on guitar, was one of the most haunting recordings in her output. Her attempt at Heitor Villa-Lobos "Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 -- Aria," accompanied by an ensemble of eight cellos led by Utah Symphony Orchestra conductor Maurice Abravanel (who was also on Vanguard), was a valiant effort that doesnt really come off. Equally unexpected but far more successful is her version of Johnny Cashs "I Still Miss Someone," which was probably the prettiest cover any of the country giants songs had been treated to up to that time (and if Baezs version was noticed by too many people in Nashville, it only bore out the suspicions in some circles that Cash was part of a commie conspiracy). It was Baezs first brush up against country music, which would prove a rich and vital vein for her in the decades to come. Its sign of just how seriously and important Baezs music was considered at that time that the album contained an essay in tribute to Baez by no less a figure than Langston Hughes -- its a sign of the difference in our times that its difficult (indeed, well nigh impossible) to imagine a recording by a white artist in 2002 that would command that kind of attention from a black literary figure, or a record company that would make use of such as essay if it were offered. | ||
 | Album: 6 of 43 Title: Noël Released: 1966-11 Tracks: 23 Duration: 53:54 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 O Come, O Come, Emmanuel (03:01) 2 Coventry Carol (01:59) 3 Good King Wenceslas (instrumental) (00:26) 4 The Little Drummer Boy (03:08) 5 I Wonder as I Wander (03:52) 6 Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella (instrumental) (00:38) 7 Down in Yon Forrest (01:40) 8 The Carol of the Birds (03:31) 9 Angels We Have Heard on High (instrumental) (01:20) 10 Ave Maria (04:05) 11 Marys Wandering (03:17) 12 Deck the Halls (instrumental) (00:20) 13 Away in a Manger (01:54) 14 Adeste Fidelis (instrumental) (00:49) 15 Cantique de Noel (O Holy Night) (03:48) 16 What Child Is This (02:29) 17 Silent Night (02:30) 18 The First Noël (02:31) 19 We Three Kings (01:51) 20 Virgin Mary (03:04) 21 Good Christian Kings (instrumental) (00:56) 22 Burgundian Carol (04:37) 23 Away in a Manger (instrumental) (01:56) |
| Noël : Allmusic album Review : When Joan Baez began recording and performing during the late 50s and early 60s, she carved out a niche for herself as a remarkable singer of traditional music. In 1966 she released Noël, an album of seasonal songs notable for its variety and the fact that she sung two selections in German. One would expect to see "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" and "Deck the Halls," but Baez adds lesser-known gems like "Ave Maria" and "Coventry Carol," along with instrumental versions of "Bring a Torch, Jeannette, Isabella" and "Adeste Fideles." The arrangements, while not unusual for a holiday album, were something new for a Baez album. Lutes, violas, harpsichord, strings, and wind instruments provide a classical setting for Baezs lovely soprano. In this setting, her voice becomes more formal and mannered. The 2001 reissue of Noël also includes several bonus tracks, including a French version of "Away in a Manger." Baezs fans will probably be split on the quality of the album. Fans of her early traditional albums will find these arrangements and stylized vocals miles away from folk music; fans of Baezs pure soprano who never concerned themselves with genre purity will find Noël a must-have album for the holidays. | ||
 | Album: 7 of 43 Title: Joan Released: 1967 Tracks: 14 Duration: 50:24 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Be Not Too Hard (02:52) 2 Eleanor Rigby (02:20) 3 Turquoise (03:18) 4 La Colombe (The Dove) (05:21) 5 Dangling Conversation (02:47) 6 The Lady Came From Baltimore (02:33) 7 North (02:51) 8 Children of Darkness (03:54) 9 The Greenwood Side (07:44) 10 If You Were a Carpenter (02:10) 11 Annabel Lee (04:59) 12 Saigon Bride (03:15) 13 Oh, Had I a Golden Thread (03:47) 14 Autumn Leaves (02:32) |
| Joan : Allmusic album Review : Joan was very much an album of its time in terms of its sound and production, more so than any other album that Joan Baez ever recorded. In 1967, rock, folk, folk-rock, and pop all seemed to be headed in new and ever-more-ornate directions, and Joan was a response to that change and, not coincidentally, is also the most self-consciously beautiful record that Baez ever cut. Arranger/conductor Peter Schickele, who had previously worked with Baez on her Christmas album, provides generally restrained orchestral accompaniment on ten of the 12 songs here. The latter, in sharp contrast to Baezs earlier work, are mostly drawn from a wide range of such popular composers as John Lennon and Paul McCartney, Donovan, Paul Simon, and Jacques Brel, as well as Tim Hardin and Baezs late brother-in-law, Richard Farina. Several of these tracks -- "Turquoise" with its gorgeous parts for the harps and the horns, "Children of Darkness" with its beautiful writing for the reeds, and "Saigon Bride" with its haunting brass part -- are profoundly beautiful. Others, such as "Eleanor Rigby" and "Dangling Conversation," dont come off nearly as well, in part because theyre competing against fairly ornate originals and also -- in the case of the Paul Simon song -- because of Baezs decision to alter the words. If Joan has one unfortunate attribute, it lies in the singers Sinatra-like tendency to alter the lyrics of the songs that shes chosen to cover, if only by a single word ("is the theater really dead" becomes "is the church really dead," for no reason that anyone but the singer has ever been able to fathom); that and her overly strident singing (mated to an overly strident brass-laden arrangement) of Jacques Brels "La Colombe" constitute the low point of this otherwise very fine album. Additionally, Baez shows off the two earliest-published products of her career as a songwriter, in the form of "North" and "Saigon Bride," the latter a particularly poignant anti-war song that expresses the futility of the Vietnam War about as well as anything this side of Phil Ochs "White Boots Marching in a Yellow Land." | ||
 | Album: 8 of 43 Title: Baptism: A Journey Through Our Time Released: 1968-06 Tracks: 26 Duration: 44:23 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Old Welsh Song (01:16) 2 I Saw the Vision of Armies (01:16) 3 Minister of War (01:10) 4 Song in the Blood (04:28) 5 Casida of the Lament (01:01) 6 Of the Dark Past (Ecce Peur) (01:59) 7 London (01:19) 8 In Guernica (01:00) 9 Who Murdered the Minutes (03:20) 10 Oh, Little Child (01:25) 11 No Man Is an Island (00:56) 12 From Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (02:13) 13 All the Pretty Little Horses (01:14) 14 Childhood III (01:08) 15 The Magic Wood (02:27) 16 Poems From the Japanese (02:21) 17 Colours (01:13) 18 All in Green Went My Love Riding (03:24) 19 Gacela of the Dark Death (02:09) 20 The Parable of the Old Man and the Young Man (00:50) 21 Evil (01:30) 22 Epitaph for a Poet (01:15) 23 Old Welsh Song (01:18) 24 Mystic Numbers: 36. Wedding Song (01:06) 25 When the Shy Star Goes Forth in Heaven (01:24) 26 The Angel (01:32) |
| Baptism: A Journey Through Our Time : Allmusic album Review : Joan Baezs most unusual album, Baptism is of a piece with the "concept" albums of the late 60s, but more ambitious than most and different from all of them. Baez by this time was immersed in various causes, concerning the Vietnam War, the human condition, and the general state of the world, and it seemed as though every note of music that she sang was treated as important -- sometimes in a negative way by her opponents; additionally, popular music was changing rapidly, and even rock groups that had seldom worried in their music about too much beyond the singers next sexual conquest were getting serious. Baptism was Baez getting more serious than she already was, right down to the settings of her music, and redirecting her talent from folk song to art song, complete with orchestral accompaniment. Naturally, her idea of a concept album would differ from that of, say, Frank Sinatra or the Beatles. Baptism was a body of poetry selected, edited, and read and sung by Baez, and set to music by Peter Schickele (better known for his comical musical "discoveries" associated with "P.D.Q. Bach," but also a serious musician and composer). In 1968, amid the strife spreading across the world, the album had a built-in urgency that made it work as a mixture of art and message -- today, it seems like a precious and overly self-absorbed period piece. Baez lacks the speaking voice to pull off an albums worth of readings, though her interpretations of Federico García Lorcas "Casida of the Lament" and "Gacela of the Dark Death" show her achieving a level of compelling expressiveness that is lacking elsewhere; and the recording of Countee Cullens "Epitaph for a Poet" features some beautiful accompaniment by Schickele. Additionally, the sung portions, including "Old Welsh Song," "Who Murdered the Minutes," "The Magic Wood," and "Oh, Little Child" by Henry Treece, "Of the Dark Past" by James Joyce, "All in Green Went My Love Riding" by e.e. cummings, and the lullaby "All the Pretty Little Horses" are beautiful and sustain those portions of the album. Baptism is primarily for Baez completists, however, although it is also a singular reminder for 60s history buffs that not all of the antiwar movements music, or the work coming out of the folk scene in 1968, was necessarily loud, harsh, or bitter. | ||
 | Album: 9 of 43 Title: Any Day Now Released: 1968-12 Tracks: 16 Duration: 1:08:40 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Love Minus Zero/No Limit (02:43) 2 North Country Blues (05:01) 3 You Aint Goin Nowhere (03:00) 4 Drifters Escape (02:56) 5 I Pity the Poor Immigrant (03:47) 6 Tears of Rage (04:20) 7 Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands (11:18) 8 Love Is Just a Four-Letter Word (04:27) 1 I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine (03:16) 2 The Walls of Redwing (03:50) 3 Dear Landlord (02:59) 4 One Too Many Mornings (03:13) 5 I Shall Be Released (03:56) 6 Boots of Spanish Leather (04:32) 7 Walkin Down the Line (03:23) 8 Restless Farewell (05:51) |
| Any Day Now : Allmusic album Review : Recorded in October of 1968, Any Day Now marks Joan Baezs first foray into the recording studios of Nashville, armed with an entire program of Bob Dylans material and backed by a cast of Music Citys finest session players. Dylan himself, coming out of an imposed exile after a motorcycle crash, had issued only one recording since 1966s Blonde on Blonde; his low-key "comeback" outing, John Wesley Harding, released in December of 1967, had also been recorded in Nash Vegas with some of the same A-list players. Baezs interpretations on this double album are simply stellar. Her empathy for the material, her keen understanding of Dylans sound world, and her own glorious voice brought another dimension to these 16 songs and, if anything, extended their meanings. There is no greater interpreter of Dylans music, and while evidence of that certainly was offered on earlier recordings (such as 1967s Joan), the verdict was solidified here. The albums most famous track is "Love Is Just a Four-Letter Word," and because of the definitive performance of it here, it has basically belonged to Baez ever since. Another fine choice is "Walls of Redwing," a tune Dylan rarely performed and no one had yet recorded. Baezs read of "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands" brings its full complexity to the fore. Though Dylan later confessed (after Joan and Bob split) to writing it for his wife, Sara, on the album Desire, there is plenty in the song that alludes to his relationship with Baez. Her version of the song is almost identical in length (11:15 to Dylans 11:22) and is utterly beguiling. Likewise, her a cappella approach to "Tears of Rage," which immediately follows, is a beautiful version with a strangely fascinating placement. The bottom line is that Any Day Now, like Joan and Davids Album, found Baez at an intensely inspirational and creative peak. | ||
 | Album: 10 of 43 Title: One Day at a Time Released: 1969 Tracks: 11 Duration: 38:12 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Sweet Sir Galahad (03:43) 2 No Expectations (03:50) 3 Long Black Veil (03:24) 4 Ghetto (04:33) 5 Carry It On (02:21) 6 Take Me Back to the Sweet Sunny South (02:46) 7 Seven Bridges Road (03:41) 8 Jolie Blonde (02:00) 9 Joe Hill (03:25) 10 A Song for David (Davids Song) (04:56) 11 I Live One Day at a Time (03:31) |
| One Day at a Time : Allmusic album Review : One of the oft-overlooked aspects of Joan Baezs career in the 1960s is that after the first four albums, she never did the same thing twice; whats more, with the possible exception of the Baptism album, she succeeded at least 90 percent of the time in practically everything new that she tried during that decade. One Day at a Time is much closer to 100 percent on target, and was also startlingly new and daring at the time. Today it seems like no big deal, but in 1970 very few singers coming out of the folk scene as Baez did were reaching out to Willie Nelson ("One Day at a Time") and even the Rolling Stones ("No Expectations") for repertory, much less putting them on the same album with music by old leftist composers like Earl Robinson ("Joe Hill"), and then interspersing those songs with traditional country numbers. Even better, she was also writing her own songs, one of which, "Sweet Sir Galahad," ranks among the best songs that she ever recorded (no small compliment considering that the latter list includes much of the Dylan catalog, among other heavyweight compositional competition). She was in the middle of her country phase, mostly working with the best players in Nashville (who are a pleasure to hear as well), but One Day at a TIme has a freer, looser feel than Davids Album or Blessed Are, both of which came out of the same orbit. Her version of "Long Black Veil" couldve passed muster at The Grand Ol Opry, and she couldve cut these sessions with Dolly Parton, June Carter Cash, or any other female country singer of the era and not been out of place. The sheer, understated power of her voice on Delaney & Bonnies "Ghetto" and on "Carry It On" is also something to behold, and makes one wonder what kind of a gospel singer Baez might have made in another reality. Yet she could also loosen up enough to do a pure piece of sentimental traditional country music like "Take Me Back to the Sweet Sunny South" and make it work, too. And amid those multi-tiered, widely spaced superlatives, One Day at a Time also had (and still has) an additional facet that should make it essential listening on another level, to yet another audience -- its an excellent companion to and extension of Baezs appearance on the Woodstock album, as three of the cuts here feature her working with Jeffrey Shurtleff, who was her accompanist at the festival as well. | ||
 | Album: 11 of 43 Title: Davids Album Released: 1969-05 Tracks: 10 Duration: 37:06 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 If I Knew (02:49) 2 Rock Salt and Nails (03:51) 3 Glad Bluebird of Happiness (02:56) 4 Green, Green Grass of Home (03:15) 5 Will the Circle Be Unbroken (04:20) 6 The Tramp on the Street (03:29) 7 Poor Wayfaring Stranger (04:34) 8 Just a Closer Walk With Thee (04:02) 9 Hickory Wind (03:36) 10 My Homes Across the Blue Ridge Mountains (04:12) |
| David's Album : Allmusic album Review : Joan Baez started working with Nashville musicians in October of 1968, with the combined sessions that yielded Any Day Now -- her still highly respected showcase of Bob Dylan songs -- and Davids Album. Ironically, Davids Album, intended as a gift to her draft-resistor husband, David Harris, who was about to start a three-year jail term for refusing induction, was her main motivation for going to CBS Studios in Nashville, but it has always stood in the shadow of Any Day Now, which had the obvious allure of being an assembly of 16 Dylan songs. Not surprisingly, Davids Album has all kinds of veiled topical resonances -- "If I Knew" was a heartfelt peace anthem that surely opens the album because of what it seems to say for Harris, while "Poor Wayfaring Stranger" (which got further exposure as a single B-side in 1970), one of the most beautiful songs that Baez ever recorded (featuring her harmonizing with Mimi Fariña), and "Tramp on the Street" are both tributes to all of the politically and financially dispossessed of the era; it was the kind of repertoire that used to get full-blooded country performers like Johnny Cash suspected of being leftists in the ultra-right country music mecca, but if Baez managed to mute the topical edge of such songs, it was only because they were sandwiched in between inspired renditions of more typical country fare such as "Green, Green Grass of Home" and "Will The Circle Be Unbroken" and the gospel standard "Just a Closer Walk With Thee." The latter is, incidentally, this albums masterpiece, opening with an a cappella Baez introduction, joined by a gospel organ before the band comes in. The album also had an almost preternaturally early cover of Gram Parsons "Hickory Wind," which hadnt been out all that long at the time. All of this may sound very quaint 40 years on, but in 1969 it was a very potent message, and the singing and playing still hold up. Baez also sets aside some of her occasional stridency here, in favor of a more relaxed performance that shows her in the most engaging manner of her career on numbers like "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" (where shes joined by the Jordanaires) and the Parsons song. Davids Album has transcended its origins in part because of the sheer range of material on it, as well as the presence of such top Nashville talent as Grady Martin, Hal Rugg, Pete Drake, Jerry Reed, Buddy Spicher, Hargus "Pig" Robbins, and Fred Carter. David Harris is long since out of jail, and he and Baez parted, but its still an excellent album. | ||
 | Album: 12 of 43 Title: Joan Baez on Vanguard Released: 1970 Tracks: 10 Duration: 36:55 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 All My Trials (04:40) 2 Matty Groves (07:44) 3 Queen of Hearts (02:30) 4 Geordie (03:38) 5 Hush Little Baby (01:24) 6 Plaisir d’amour (03:06) 7 The House Carpenter (05:22) 8 Silver Dagger (02:32) 9 Mary Hamilton (05:57) 10 Kumbaya (?) |
 | Album: 13 of 43 Title: The First Ten Years Released: 1970-10 Tracks: 18 Duration: 1:10:05 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Ghetto (04:33) 2 If You Were a Carpenter (02:10) 3 Love Is Just a Four-Letter Word (04:27) 4 There but for Fortune (03:14) 5 John Riley (03:53) 6 You Aint Goin Nowhere (03:00) 7 Mary Hamilton (05:57) 8 Manha de Carnaval (03:13) 9 If I Knew (02:49) 10 With God on Our Side (06:26) 11 Dont Think Twice Its Alright (03:11) 12 Geordie (03:38) 13 Te Ador (01:45) 14 No Expectations (03:50) 15 Sweet Sir Galahad (03:43) 16 Turquoise (03:18) 17 Farewell, Angelina (03:16) 18 A Hard Rains A-Gonna Fall (07:36) |
 | Album: 14 of 43 Title: Blessed Are… Released: 1971-08 Tracks: 23 Duration: 1:30:53 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Blessed Are... (03:06) 2 The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down (03:23) 3 The Salt of the Earth (03:25) 4 Three Horses (07:06) 5 The Brand New Tennessee Waltz (03:11) 6 Last, Lonely and Wretched (03:46) 7 Lincoln Freed Me Today (The Slave) (03:24) 8 Outside the Nashville City Limits (03:25) 9 San Francisco Mabel Joy (04:27) 10 When Time Is Stolen (03:02) 11 Heaven Help Us All (03:36) 12 Angeline (03:40) 13 Help Me Make It Through the Night (03:00) 14 Let It Be (03:51) 15 Put Your Hand in the Hand (03:24) 16 Gabriel and Me (03:31) 17 Milanese Waltz / Marie Flore (05:59) 18 The Hitchhikers Song (04:23) 19 The 33rd of August (03:46) 20 Fifteen Months (04:29) 1 Maria Dolores (03:29) 2 Plane Wreck at Los Gatos (Deportee) (05:19) 3 Warm and Tender Love (live) (04:06) |
| Blessed Are… : Allmusic album Review : With Blessed Are..., Joan Baez found herself with a hit single on the charts. That song, a cover of Robbie Robertsons "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down," is just one of the many surprises on Blessed Are... Once again using some of Nashvilles finest pickers and songwriters, Baez runs the gamut of such influences as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Mickey Newberry, Jesse Winchester, Stevie Wonder and, of course, herself, while sounding nothing more than like Joan Baez always has. Great music, and a lot of it, too, for when it was released on vinyl, it was a double album with a special 7" single included. Altogether, 22 tracks of some of Joans finest. | ||
 | Album: 15 of 43 Title: The Joan Baez Ballad Book Released: 1972 Tracks: 23 Duration: 1:18:07 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 East Virginia (03:40) 2 Henry Martin (04:10) 3 All My Trials (04:40) 4 Old Blue (02:32) 5 House of the Rising Sun (02:52) 6 Wagoner’s Lad (02:14) 7 Black Is the Color of My True Love’s Hair (02:33) 8 Lily of the West (03:17) 9 Silkie (03:55) 10 The House Carpenter (05:08) 11 The Trees They Do Grow High (02:59) 12 Fare Thee Well (10,000 Miles) (03:15) 1 Barbara Allen (04:15) 2 Jackaroe (02:57) 3 John Riley (03:50) 4 Matty Groves (03:50) 5 Queen of Hearts (02:15) 6 Fennario (03:40) 7 Go ’way From My Window (02:10) 8 Railroad Boy (02:30) 9 Mary Hamilton (05:54) 10 Once I Had a Sweetheart (02:57) 11 Silver Dagger (02:32) |
| The Joan Baez Ballad Book : Allmusic album Review : At a time when Baez was changing labels and branching into contemporary folk and country styles, Joan Baez Ballad Book harks back to her roots. Vanguard released this generous compilation of traditional Anglo-American folk ballads (culled from Baezs early-60s material) as a double-LP (later reissued as two separate LPs). Taken en masse, the performances cement Baezs reputation as a premier interpreter of traditional song. Her signature sound is laid out here in all its simplicity: the haunting, crystalline soprano accompanied by sparse acoustic guitar. It is a pure sound, expertly applied to the tragic and idealistic tendencies packed inside the ballad form. Because the compilation is weighted exclusively towards the early folk songs, Joan Baez Ballad Book may not be the definitive Baez compilation. But for folk purists, students of traditional ballad, and Baez fans who dont want to collect all the early albums, this is a potent compilation. | ||
 | Album: 16 of 43 Title: Come From the Shadows Released: 1972-05 Tracks: 12 Duration: 43:22 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Prison Trilogy (Billy Rose) (04:24) 2 Rainbow Road (03:03) 3 Love Song to a Stranger (03:52) 4 Myths (03:19) 5 In the Quiet Morning (for Janis Joplin) (02:56) 6 Weary Mothers (People Union 1) (03:30) 7 To Bobby (04:02) 8 Song of Bangladesh (04:51) 9 A Stranger in My Place (03:06) 10 Tumbleweed (03:31) 11 The Partisan (03:15) 12 Imagine (03:27) |
| Come From the Shadows : Allmusic album Review : After recording for the folk label Vanguard for more than a decade, Baez moved to A&M. On this label debut, she maintained her interest in country music, recording in Nashville with some of the citys session aces. She also continued to dedicate herself to radical politics, from her set opener "Prison Trilogy," which pledged, "Were gonna raze the prisons to the ground," to the closer, John Lennons "Imagine." In between were her call on Bob Dylan to return to protest music ("To Bobby") and her sister Mimi Farinas touching tribute to Janis Joplin, "In the Quiet Morning." | ||
 | Album: 17 of 43 Title: Where Are You Now, My Son? Released: 1973-03 Tracks: 8 Duration: 45:35 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Only Heaven Knows (02:34) 2 Less Than the Song (03:25) 3 A Young Gypsy (03:35) 4 Mary Call (03:34) 5 Rider, Pass By (04:11) 6 Best of Friends (03:03) 7 Windrose (03:44) 8 Where Are You Now, My Son? (21:29) |
| Where Are You Now, My Son? : Allmusic album Review : This isnt only not the place to start listening to Joan Baez, its the album that separates the true fans from the, um, fellow travelers. Side two is taken up by the title song, a musical account of Baezs trip to Hanoi over Christmas of 1972, complete with the sound of U.S. bombs falling on the city. Side one, on the other hand, contains one of Baezs best original songs, "A Young Gypsy," and two by her sister, "Mary Call" and "Best of Friends." | ||
 | Album: 18 of 43 Title: Hits/Greatest & Others Released: 1973-07 Tracks: 11 Duration: 35:29 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down (03:23) 2 Dangling Conversation (02:47) 3 Help Me Make It Through the Night (03:00) 4 Blessed Are... (03:05) 5 Eleanor Rigby (02:20) 6 Let It Be (03:36) 7 There but for Fortune (03:14) 8 The Brand New Tennessee Waltz (03:11) 9 I Pity the Poor Immigrant (03:47) 10 Love Is Just a Four-Letter Word (single version) (03:34) 11 Heaven Help Us All (03:31) |
| Hits/Greatest & Others : Allmusic album Review : An alternate cross-section of Baezs Vanguard music, including her monster hit "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down." | ||
 | Album: 19 of 43 Title: Joan Baez Profiles Released: 1974 Tracks: 12 Duration: 40:20 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down (03:20) 2 Sag mir wo die Blumen sind (04:00) 3 Carry It On (02:17) 4 A Song for David (04:52) 5 Joe Hill (03:30) 6 Blessed Are (03:01) 7 Sweet Sir Galahad (03:37) 8 It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue (03:21) 9 Love Is Just a Four Letter Word (04:25) 10 If I Were a Carpenter (02:10) 11 If I Knew (02:46) 12 Outside the Nashville City Limits (03:01) |
 | Album: 20 of 43 Title: Gracias a la vida Released: 1974-03 Tracks: 14 Duration: 43:16 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Gracias a la vida (03:35) 2 Llegó con tres heridas (He Came With Three Wounds) (02:15) 3 La Llorona (The Weeping Woman) (03:40) 4 El preso número nueve (Prisoner Number Nine) (03:25) 5 Guantanamera (03:52) 6 Te recuerdo Amanda (I Remember You Amanda) (02:33) 7 Dida (03:33) 8 Cucurrucucú paloma (04:31) 9 Paso río (I Pass a River) (00:56) 10 El Rossinyol (The Nightingale) (03:04) 11 De colores (In Colors) (02:29) 12 Las madres cansadas (All the Weary Mothers of the Earth) (02:58) 13 No nos moverán (We Shall Not Be Moved) (03:41) 14 Esquinazo del guerrillero (Guerillas Serenade) (02:42) |
| Gracias a la vida : Allmusic album Review : Despite her Latin heritage, Joan Baez probably wouldnt have been encouraged by her 1960s record label, the New York-based independent Vanguard, to sing an entire album in Spanish. At A&M; Records, the Los Angeles firm co-founded by Herb Alpert that she joined in the early 70s, however, it would have been a different story, and it was A&M; that released Gracias a la Vida ("Heres to Life") in 1974. Baez demonstrates an affinity for Mexican folk music on such obvious choices as "Cucurrucucu Paloma," but its no surprise that, a year after the assassination of leading nueva canción folksinger Victor Jara in a military coup in Chile, an atrocity that shocked the American folk community, she has not backed away from her political commitments. There is "Guantanamera," a song that may have been a Top Ten U.S. hit for the Sandpipers in 1966, but that has political implications, as Pete Seeger has been reminding listeners for more than a decade. There is a Spanish version of "We Shall Not Be Moved" ("No Nos Moveran") with a lengthy spoken introduction. There are songs like "El Preso Numero Nueve" ("Prisoner Number Nine"; repeated from 1960s Joan Baez) and "Esquinazo del Guerrillero" ("The Guerillas Serenade"). And, inevitably, there is a song of Jaras, "Te Recuerdo Amanda" ("I Remember You Amanda"), which the slain singer wrote for his mother. But then there is also "Dida," a wordless duet with Joni Mitchell. Throughout, Baez demonstrates her mastery of Spanish singing over authentic arrangements while attempting to stir up her Spanish-speaking listeners just as she does their English-speaking compatriots. | ||
 | Album: 21 of 43 Title: Diamonds & Rust Released: 1975-04 Tracks: 11 Duration: 41:49 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Diamonds & Rust (04:46) 2 Fountain of Sorrow (04:30) 3 Never Dreamed You’d Leave in Summer (02:45) 4 Children and All That Jazz (03:08) 5 Simple Twist of Fate (04:46) 6 Blue Sky (02:47) 7 Hello in There (03:04) 8 Jesse (04:28) 9 Winds of the Old Days (03:55) 10 Dida (03:26) 11 Medley: I Dream of Jeannie / Danny Boy (04:10) |
| Diamonds & Rust : Allmusic album Review : With the Vietnam War winding down, Joan Baez, who had devoted one side of her last album to her trip to Hanoi, delivered the kind of commercial album A&M; Records must have wanted when it signed her three years earlier. But she did it on her own terms, putting together a session band of contemporary jazz veterans like Larry Carlton, Wilton Felder, and Joe Sample, and mixing a wise selection from the work of current singer-songwriters like Jackson Browne and John Prine with pop covers of Stevie Wonder and the Allman Brothers Band, and an unusually high complement of her own writing. A&M;, no doubt recalling the success of her cover of the Bands "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down," released her version of the Allmans "Blue Sky" as a single, and it got halfway up the charts. But the real hit was the title track, a self-penned masterpiece on the singers favorite subject, her relationship with Bob Dylan. Outdoing the current crop of confessional singer/songwriters at soul baring, Baez sang to Dylan, reminiscing about her 60s love affair with him intensely, affectionately, and unsentimentally. It was her finest moment as a songwriter and one of her finest performances, period, and when A&M; finally released it on 45, it made the Top 40, propelling the album to gold status. But those who bought the disc for "Diamonds & Rust" also got to hear "Winds of the Old Days," in which Baez forgave Dylan for abandoning the protest movement, as well as the jazzy "Children and All That Jazz," a delightful song about motherhood, and the wordless vocals of "Dida," a duet with Joni Mitchell accompanied by Mitchells backup band, Tom Scott and the L.A. Express. The cover songs were typically accomplished, making this the strongest album of Baezs post-folk career. | ||
 | Album: 22 of 43 Title: Greatest Hits Released: 1976 Tracks: 12 Duration: 07:16 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Diamonds and Rust (?) 2 Forever Young (?) 3 Prison Trilogy (?) 4 Simple Twist of Fate (?) 5 Never Dreamed You’d Leave in Summer (02:45) 6 Love Song to a Stranger (?) 7 Please Come to Boston (?) 8 Children and All That Jazz (?) 9 Sweeter for Me (04:30) 10 Imagine (?) 11 Gracias a la vida (?) 12 The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down (?) |
| Greatest Hits : Allmusic album Review : Greatest Hits is a reasonably comprehensive collection of Joan Baezs best-known songs, concentrating mainly on her crossover hits. Although it misses several fine items, the compilation remains an effective introduction for the curious listener. | ||
 | Album: 23 of 43 Title: Gulf Winds Released: 1976-11 Tracks: 9 Duration: 45:23 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Sweeter for Me (04:30) 2 Seabirds (04:34) 3 Caruso (03:45) 4 Still Waters at Night (03:02) 5 Kingdom of Childhood (07:50) 6 O Brother! (03:20) 7 Time Is Passing Us By (03:42) 8 Stephanies Room (04:05) 9 Gulf Winds (10:30) |
| Gulf Winds : Allmusic album Review : Joan Baezs landmark Diamonds & Rust found her at the peak of her singer/songwriter skills, seemingly capable of transitioning out of 60s protest mode into a more contemporary and commercially viable position. It was also around this time that she toured with Bob Dylans Rolling Thunder Revue, and according to Baezs memoirs, she wrote the songs for Gulf Winds during that tour. But Gulf Winds, her last A&M; album, was a significant drop off and marked the beginning of what would be a steep commercial decline. Produced by David Kershenbaum, the album tries its best to bolster Baez with a timely 70s studio sound, but for the most part it misses the mark. The songs just arent up to the task. "Sweeter for Me" sports a nice arppegiated piano by Baez and faintly harks to the melancholy brilliance of Diamonds & Rust, but, lyrically, most of the material is overwritten. The more stinging, faster-paced "O Brother!" is a more successful stab at a commercial sound, and Baez sings it with a bitter venom (you cant help but speculate that the song refers to Dylan himself). The standout track on an otherwise forgettable album, though, is surely the title track, "Gulf Winds," a ten-and-a-half-minute solo epic in the mold of her early work, just Joan and her acoustic guitar, brilliantly picked and sung, ironically demonstrating that, although Baez still had the talent, she couldnt capitalize on the success of Diamonds and Rust and the times were passing her by. | ||
 | Album: 24 of 43 Title: The Best of Joan C. Baez Released: 1977 Tracks: 12 Duration: 47:08 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Diamonds & Rust (04:46) 2 Forever Young (03:41) 3 Prison Trilogy (Billy Rose) (04:24) 4 Simple Twist of Fate (04:46) 5 Never Dreamed You’d Leave in Summer (02:45) 6 Love Song to a Stranger (03:53) 7 Please Come to Boston (04:16) 8 Children and All That Jazz (03:08) 9 Sweeter for Me (04:30) 10 Imagine (03:27) 11 Gracias a la vida (03:35) 12 The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down (03:53) |
| The Best of Joan C. Baez : Allmusic album Review : A&M;s 1977 collection The Best of Joan Baez doesnt chronicle her most influential work, but that doesnt mean its not without merit. Far from it, actually. This is a concise recapping of her poppier recordings for A&M;, which include such classic Baez moments as her original "Diamonds and Rust" and a definitive reading of Robbie Robertsons "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down." The rest of the album splits the difference between covers (including Stevie Wonders lovely "I Never Dreamed Youd Leave in Summer" and Dylans "Simple Twist of Fate") and originals, providing an entertaining, enlightening encapsulation of her 70s recordings. | ||
 | Album: 25 of 43 Title: Blowin Away Released: 1977-06 Tracks: 10 Duration: 42:05 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Sailing (04:22) 2 Many a Mile to Freedom (02:58) 3 Miracles (05:24) 4 Yellow Coat (03:37) 5 Time Rag (05:25) 6 A Heartfelt Line or Two (03:23) 7 Im Blowin Away (03:18) 8 Luba the Baroness (07:06) 9 The Altar Boy and the Thief (03:29) 10 Cry Me a River (03:00) |
| Blowin' Away : Allmusic album Review : After spending many years at A&M; Records, Joan Baez moved to the CBS subsidiary Portrait in 1977, releasing Blowin Away. Like many artists, Baez used the new label as an opportunity to begin a new musical direction, of sorts. Blowin Away is the slickest record Baez had recorded to date, a polished collection of folk-pop. To some ears, this may be a little unsettling, but it has to be said that the production is glossily appealing, and Baez sings very well throughout the record. The problem is, most of the material is unmemorable and generic, making the album only of interest to her most dedicated fans. | ||
 | Album: 26 of 43 Title: Satisfied Mind Released: 1979 Tracks: 39 Duration: 02:32 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Satisfied Mind (?) 2 There but for Fortune (?) 3 Eleanor Rigby (?) 4 Sweet Sir Galahad (?) 5 The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down (?) 6 Babe, Im Gonna Leave You (?) 7 Pretty Boy Floyd (?) 8 What Have They Done to the Rain? (?) 9 Birmingham Sunday (?) 10 We Shall Overcome (?) 1 Matty Groves (?) 2 The Death of Queen Jane (?) 3 Henry Martin (?) 4 Barbara Allen (?) 5 Geordie (?) 6 House Carpenter (?) 7 The Cherry Tree Carol (?) 8 Mary Hamilton (?) 1 Come All Ye Fair and Tender Ladies (?) 2 Go way From My Window (?) 3 All My Trials (?) 4 Once I Knew a Pretty Girl (?) 5 Poor Wayfaring Stranger (feat. Mimi Farina Melvin) (?) 6 Wagoners Lad (?) 7 The Lily of the West (?) 8 Stewball (?) 9 Railroad Boy (?) 10 House of the Rising Sun (?) 11 Silver Dagger (02:32) 1 Dont Think Twice, Its Alright (?) 2 Love Minus Zero/No Limit (?) 3 I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine (?) 4 You Aint Goin Nowhere (?) 5 Restless Farewell (?) 6 Little Moses (?) 7 Long Black Veil (?) 8 The Tramp on the Street (?) 9 Green, Green Grass of Home (?) 10 Will the Circle Be Unbroken (?) |
 | Album: 27 of 43 Title: The Joan Baez Country Music Album Released: 1979 Tracks: 20 Duration: 1:09:04 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down (03:23) 2 The Brand New Tennessee Waltz (03:11) 3 Outside the Nashville City Limits (03:25) 4 Ghetto (04:33) 5 My Homes Across the Blue Ridge Mountains (04:12) 6 Rock Salt and Nails (03:51) 7 Help Me Make It Through the Night (03:00) 8 Long Black Veil (03:24) 9 I Still Miss Someone (03:14) 10 San Francisco Mabel Joy (04:27) 1 Take Me Back to the Sweet Sunny South (02:46) 2 Hickory Wind (03:36) 3 Will the Circle Be Unbroken (04:20) 4 The Tramp on the Street (03:29) 5 Carry It On (02:21) 6 Gospel Ship (02:48) 7 Little Moses (03:31) 8 Banks of the Ohio (03:09) 9 Engine 143 (03:32) 10 Pal of Mine (02:50) |
| The Joan Baez Country Music Album : Allmusic album Review : Combining new songs with previously-released material, 1979s double album THE JOAN BAEZ COUNTRY MUSIC ALBUM is divided into four side-long thematic sections: Songs of the South, Love Songs, Roots and Retrospects, and Old-Timey Songs. The definition of "country music" is rather fluid, stretching to accommodate the folk-rock of the Bands "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" and Jesse Winchesters "Brand New Tennessee Waltz," Delaney and Bonnies R&B-influenced "Ghetto" and Gram Parsons country-rock classic "Hickory Wind," alongside tunes by Kris Kristofferson and Johnny Cash and a handful of traditional folk tunes. With some songs given full-band electric backup, a handful of acoustic bluegrass tunes and others strictly solo, the performances are as wide-ranging as the repertoire. Not quite so much a true country album as a rather idiosyncratic reinterpretation of country music, THE JOAN BAEZ COUNTRY MUSIC ALBUM is nonetheless an intriguing release. | ||
 | Album: 28 of 43 Title: Honest Lullaby Released: 1979-07 Tracks: 10 Duration: 39:22 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Let Your Love Flow (02:56) 2 No Woman, No Cry (03:55) 3 Light a Light (03:21) 4 The Song at the End of the Movie (02:50) 5 Before the Deluge (05:19) 6 Honest Lullaby (05:09) 7 Michael (06:04) 8 For Sasha (04:43) 9 For All We Know (02:41) 10 Free at Last (02:24) |
| Honest Lullaby : Allmusic album Review : On her second album for CBSs Portrait label (and her last new album issued in the U.S. for eight years), Baez was given a full-scale pop-rock production by veteran Barry Beckett and the studio band in Muscle Shoals, AL. The result, on songs that range from "Let Your Love Flow" to "Before the Deluge," is accessible but not particularly memorable 70s-style pop. If you always wanted to know what the words to "No Woman, No Cry" are, however, this is the place to find out. | ||
 | Album: 29 of 43 Title: The Joan Baez Ballad Book, Volume 1 Released: 1984 Tracks: 12 Duration: 41:16 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 East Virginia (03:40) 2 Henry Martin (04:10) 3 All My Trials (04:40) 4 Old Blue (02:32) 5 House of the Rising Sun (02:52) 6 Wagoner’s Lad (02:14) 7 Black Is the Color of My True Love’s Hair (02:33) 8 Lily of the West (03:17) 9 Silkie (03:55) 10 The House Carpenter (05:08) 11 The Trees They Do Grow High (02:59) 12 Fare Thee Well (10,000 Miles) (03:15) |
 | Album: 30 of 43 Title: The Joan Baez Ballad Book, Volume 2 Released: 1984 Tracks: 11 Duration: 41:14 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Barbara Allen (04:21) 2 Jackaroe (03:04) 3 John Riley (03:53) 4 Matty Groves (07:24) 5 Queen of Hearts (02:26) 6 Fennario (03:49) 7 Go Away From My Window (02:12) 8 Railroad Boy (02:31) 9 Mary Hamilton (05:58) 10 Once I Had a Sweetheart (03:00) 11 Silver Dagger (02:32) |
 | Album: 31 of 43 Title: Farewell, Angelina Released: 1987 Tracks: 11 Duration: 42:27 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Farewell, Angelina (03:16) 2 Daddy, You Been on My Mind (02:19) 3 Its All Over Now, Baby Blue (03:25) 4 The Wild Mountain Thyme (04:37) 5 Rangers Command (03:18) 6 Colours (03:06) 7 Satisfied Mind (03:27) 8 The River in the Pines (03:37) 9 Pauvre Ruteboeuf (03:37) 10 Sagt Mir Wo Die Blumen Sind (04:04) 11 A Hard Rains A-Gonna Fall (07:36) |
| Farewell, Angelina : Allmusic album Review : By late 1965, most members of the folk community were feeling the pressure of a changing music world -- between the presence of folk-rock bands like the Byrds and newer outfits like the Beau Brummels and the Leaves coming up, not to mention Bob Dylan himself going electric, they were now competing against some high-wattage (in the most literal sense) rivals for the attention of audiences. Most wilted in that environment, but Baez rose to the occasion, partly because she was able to; her voice was one of the most hauntingly beautiful in the world, and she was no slouch when it came to finding (and later writing) good songs. To be sure, her sixth album is top-heavy with Bob Dylan songs, including the title track, which he never officially recorded -- on that basis alone, it attracted a lot of attention from his fans -- and her epic rendition of "A Hard Rains a-Gonna Fall," which can stand up next to Dylans own for sheer, sustained power, and her falsetto-driven performance of "Its All Over Now, Baby Blue" didnt hurt in that department. But rather than relying on the Dylan repertory to sell the album, she made Farewell, Angelina worthwhile all the way through. Of the two traditional songs here, "The River in the Pines" is a throwback to Baezs simple, unadorned early sound; but "Wild Mountain Thyme" is something new and special, her understated yet jaunty-tempo rendition almost minimalist in its scoring, yet it sticks with the listener as long (or longer) than, say, the Byrds recording. Her version of Woody Guthries "Rangers Command" should be heard for its sheer lyricism and loveliness, and her recording of Donovans "Colours" might even have been a hit single if it had been handled right -- Bruce Langhornes amplifier turned up one notch, from 3 to 4, mightve done it. "A Satisfied Mind" was not only a stunning recording (especially on the final verse), but took her one step closer to the country music sound and repertory that would enrich Baezs music in the second half of the 60s. And she even managed to give a special nod to Pete Seegers universal notions of pacifism by including a German version of "Where Have All the Flowers Gone." Beyond Baezs singing, the album is also worth hearing for Langhornes guitar work and the performance of Richard Romoff on string bass on "Wild Mountain Thyme" and "A Hard Rains a-Gonna Fall." This would be the last time that Baez would work with so small, spare, or deceptively simple an accompaniment -- the next time out, shed have a full orchestra and then a complement of Nashville musicians backing her. | ||
 | Album: 32 of 43 Title: Classics, Volume 8 Released: 1987 Tracks: 17 Duration: 1:05:30 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Diamonds & Rust (04:46) 2 The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down (03:38) 3 Simple Twist of Fate (04:46) 4 Imagine (03:27) 5 In the Quiet Morning (for Janis Joplin) (02:56) 6 Best of Friends (03:03) 7 Forever Young (03:41) 8 Prison Trilogy (Billy Rose) (04:24) 9 Jesse (04:28) 10 Children and All That Jazz (03:08) 11 Please Come to Boston (04:19) 12 Never Dreamed You’d Leave in Summer (02:45) 13 Gracias a la vida (03:35) 14 Sweeter for Me (04:30) 15 Love Song to a Stranger (03:53) 16 Dida (03:33) 17 Amazing Grace (04:32) |
| Classics, Volume 8 : Allmusic album Review : This 1987 best-of compiles the work from A&M efforts that marked a stylistic change from her Vanguard years, yet a pretty consistent level of success. Relying on the work of other artists seemed to be more hit and miss during the A&M era. In Baezs interpretations of songs like Bob Dylans "Simple Twist of Fate" and "Forever Young" and John Lennons "Imagine," her pitch-perfect tone might strike some as unemotional, but her singing is engrossing nonetheless. Not surprisingly, Baez sounds the best here with the tracks that deviate from weighty issues. "Gracias a la Vida" (sung in Spanish) and the haunting "Di Da" (with Joni Mitchell) have her giving off more charm and emotion than usual. "Children and All That Jazz," from her best-selling 1975 album Diamonds & Rust, has a gorgeous, heavily produced 70s L.A. pop/rock style that suited her voice. Unlike many greatest-hit sets, Classics, Vol. 8 also offers strong live performances, including "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" and the CD closing "Amazing Grace." Classics, Vol. 8 has the strength of a regular release effort and more than captures the time frame and the artist its spotlighting. | ||
 | Album: 33 of 43 Title: Recently Released: 1987-06 Tracks: 9 Duration: 41:05 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Brothers in Arms (05:05) 2 Recently (03:06) 3 Asimbonanga (04:49) 4 The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress (03:08) 5 James & the Gang (04:32) 6 Let Us Break Bread Together / Freedom (08:47) 7 MLK (02:55) 8 Do Right Woman, Do Right Man (03:22) 9 Biko (05:17) |
| Recently : Allmusic album Review : Baez returned to U.S. record shops with a vengeance here, delivering her interpretations of songs by Dire Straits, Johnny Clegg, U2, and Peter Gabriel, performers whose political consciousness had been formed by listening to old Joan Baez albums. And on the title track, a stunning original, she boldly answered ex-husband David Harris downbeat memoir of the 60s, Dreams Die Hard, as well as other 80s revisionists. | ||
 | Album: 34 of 43 Title: Imagine Released: 1988-05-17 Tracks: 17 Duration: 1:05:30 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Diamonds & Rust (04:46) 2 The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down (03:38) 3 Simple Twist of Fate (04:46) 4 Imagine (03:27) 5 In the Quiet Morning (for Janis Joplin) (02:56) 6 Best of Friends (03:03) 7 Forever Young (03:41) 8 Prison Trilogy (Billy Rose) (04:24) 9 Jesse (04:28) 10 Children and All That Jazz (03:08) 11 Please Come to Boston (04:19) 12 Never Dreamed You’d Leave in Summer (02:45) 13 Gracias a la vida (03:35) 14 Sweeter for Me (04:30) 15 Love Song to a Stranger (03:53) 16 Dida (03:33) 17 Amazing Grace (04:32) |
 | Album: 35 of 43 Title: Speaking of Dreams Released: 1989-11 Tracks: 9 Duration: 45:36 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 China (06:30) 2 Warriors of the Sun (05:30) 3 Carrickfergus (05:36) 4 Hand to Mouth (04:33) 5 Speaking of Dreams (04:30) 6 El Salvador (03:58) 7 Rambler Gambler / Whispering Bells (05:07) 8 Fairfax County (05:54) 9 A Mi Manera (03:54) |
| Speaking of Dreams : Allmusic album Review : After staying away from American record stores for eight years, Joan Baez became surprisingly prolific in the late 1980s, as Speaking of Dreams marked her third release in three years for Gold Castle Records and, actually, her second of 1989, following the live LP Diamonds and Rust in the Bullring, which had been issued in January. (The year, as she just happened to mention in passing in one of the songs, marked her 30th anniversary as a performer.) From the dramatic album cover depicting the singer decked out as if on her way to a bullfight to the album-closing Spanish-language adaptation of "My Way" featuring the Gipsy Kings, it seemed that Baez wasnt over her infatuation with Spain. Or maybe a better way of putting it would be to say that her perspective remained international, as she also rhapsodized about a romance with an under-30 Cameroonian in Paris in the self-written title song; sympathized with the plight of the students in Tiananmen Square in the self-written "China"; longed to be in Ireland in Van Morrison and Patrick Moloneys "Carrickfergus"; considered the various cock-ups in South and Central America due to U.S. interference in Greg Copelands "El Salvador," a duet with Jackson Browne; and tried out South African mbaqanga courtesy of Paul Simon and his band on a medley of the traditional folk song "Rambler Gambler" and the doo wop hit "Whispering Bells." Still, Speaking of Dreams managed to combine the three elements that had been constants in Joan Baez albums for some time. There were the traditional, or traditional-sounding, songs, "Rambler Gambler," "Carrickfergus," and David Massengills lovely "Fairfax County" (which, despite being a contemporary composition sounded exactly like a highwayman ballad dating back a century or two). There were politically oriented songs, often by contemporary songwriters, such as "El Salvador" and George Michaels poverty-conscious "Hand to Mouth." And there were Baez originals, in this case two also on political themes, with "Warriors of the Sun," an anthemic laundry list of concerns from civil rights to environmentalism joining the earnest handwringing of the timely "China." There may not have been much in the way of keepers for the Baez concert repertoire or songs for the hit parade, but Speaking of Dreams was a sturdy, craftsmanlike effort that showed respect for Baezs traditional approach and also brought her sound up to date through the production and the carefully chosen cameos by similar stars. | ||
 | Album: 36 of 43 Title: 10 000 Miles Released: 1991 Tracks: 16 Duration: 52:22 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Queen of Hearts (02:28) 2 Wagoners Lad (02:17) 3 Black Is the Colour of My True Loves Hair (02:50) 4 House of the Rising Sun (02:53) 5 Henry Martin (04:11) 6 All My Trials (04:38) 7 10.000 Miles (03:22) 8 John Riley (03:51) 9 Goway From My Window (02:16) 10 Mary Hamilton (05:57) 11 Once I Had a Sweetheart (02:58) 12 Silver Dagger (02:32) 13 Railroad Boy (02:28) 14 Old Blue (02:36) 15 East Virginia (03:44) 16 Lily of the West (03:16) |
 | Album: 37 of 43 Title: Play Me Backwards Released: 1992-10-06 Tracks: 11 Duration: 36:34 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Play Me Backwards (04:08) 2 Amsterdam (03:13) 3 Isaac & Abraham (01:51) 4 Stones in the Road (04:41) 5 Steal Across the Border (02:56) 6 Im With You (02:51) 7 Im With You (reprise) (00:57) 8 Strange Rivers (03:49) 9 Through Your Hands (04:27) 10 The Dream Song (03:20) 11 Edge of Glory (04:16) |
| Play Me Backwards : Allmusic album Review : Proving that Joan Baez never really goes away, Play Me Backwards is a fine 1992 release from the legendary singer/songwriter. The smooth production of Wally Wilson and Kenny Greenberg frames her voice beautifully, with a contemporary, yet undated sound. And, with songs courtesy of Mary-Chapin Carpenter, John Hiatt, and Janis Ian, how can you go wrong? Although its not a ground-breaking artistic achievement, its Joan Baez, and its definitely an enjoyable way to pass 40 minutes. Getting things started, the bouncy groove of the percussive title track belies its tale of a stolen childhood. The images drawn are vivid, and the pain recalled in the reclaiming is tangible, but forgiving. The wistful melancholy of Ians "Amsterdam" is gorgeously handled with a delicate maturity, as is Hiatts triumphantly hopeful "Through Your Hands." In another upbeat swing, "Im With You" is one of the main highlights of the record. Dedicated to her son Gabe, Baez vows her steadfast support and presence as he makes his way into a life of his own. Any kid would be proud to have such a tribute showcasing their parents unconditional love. The album closes with another loving family honor. Written for her father, "Edge of Glory" is the opposite bookend to "Im With You," as it contemplates the attempts of pleasing and healing in the father-daughter relationship. From child to mother and all stops in between, Play Me Backwards details an emotional journey as seen through the eyes of Baez. Its a lovely trip. | ||
 | Album: 38 of 43 Title: Gone From Danger Released: 1997-09-23 Tracks: 10 Duration: 43:05 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 No Mermaid (04:22) 2 Reunion Hill (04:08) 3 Crack in the Mirror (05:49) 4 February (04:11) 5 Fishing (04:46) 6 If I Wrote You (03:28) 7 Lily (03:52) 8 Who Do You Think I Am (04:02) 9 Mercy Bound (04:51) 10 Money for Floods (03:33) |
| Gone From Danger : Allmusic album Review : Although it might appear that Joan Baez has had an uphill struggle in her career as an interpretive singer in a popular music field dominated by singer/songwriters, in fact she has kept her music fresh over the years by seeking out successive generations of upcoming writers and championing their work. In the 1960s, that might have meant Bob Dylan and Richard Fariña, for instance, but 30 years later she is still finding new work by young artists and popularizing it, even if they also perform the songs themselves. On her 1997 album, Gone from Danger, those songwriters are Dar Williams, Sinéad Lohan, and Richard Shindell, each of whom contributes multiple songs, as well as Betty Elders and Mark Addison. They provide her with a host of new social issues to tackle as well, among them pedophilia (Elders heartbreaking "Crack in the Mirror") and immigration (Shindells caustic "Fishing"). As usual, she proves herself a superior interpreter, intelligently presenting the complex, mature concerns of the songwriters, whether the subjects have political or emotional resonance (or both). She is aided by producers Wally Wilson and Kenny Greenberg, who have constructed contemporary folk-rock arrangements using A-list musicians from the New Acoustic and newgrass fields, placing the music firmly in the 90s Americana style, which is not so far from Baezs mid-60s music. This may be the umpteenth album by a performer whose career is nearing the 40-year mark, but it sounds as up to date as a disc by any contemporary artist of the day. | ||
 | Album: 39 of 43 Title: Dark Chords on a Big Guitar Released: 2003-09-08 Tracks: 10 Duration: 44:23 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Sleeper (04:35) 2 In My Time of Need (04:33) 3 Rosemary Moore (05:15) 4 Caleb Meyer (02:31) 5 Motherland (04:44) 6 Wings (04:01) 7 Rexroth’s Daughter (05:19) 8 Elvis Presley Blues (04:40) 9 King’s Highway (03:28) 10 Christmas in Washington (05:13) |
| Dark Chords on a Big Guitar : Allmusic album Review : Six years is a long time to go between albums, especially for an artist who has recorded as sporadically as Joan Baez has over the last decade-and-a-half. And while her last outing, Gone From Danger, with songs by Dar Williams, Richard Shindell, and other contemporary singer/songwriters, was a milestone for Baez, it was merely an appetizer for the depth and weight that is Dark Chords on a Big Guitar. Here Baez uses her uncanny gift for song selection to choose material from a different generation of songwriters. Shes moved away from the precious New England types, and looked instead to the moodier, murkier, sketchier material by scribes whove been comfortable walking the edges for awhile: Greg Brown, Steve Earle, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, Ryan Adams, Caitlin Cary, Joe Henry, Josh Ritter, and even chart-topper Natalie Merchant. Produced by Mark Spector, Baez used her road band on the album; it includes the criminally under-noticed Duke McVinnie on guitars. Browns "Sleeper," with its quietly transcendent narrative of loves revelation, opens the record only to dovetail into the brokenness, desperation, and prayerful entreaty for love that is Adams "In My Time of Need." Carys "Rosemary Moore" is a Patsy Cline-meets-the-Cowboy Junkies-styled country lounge tune. What these first three songs reveal is that even though her voice is no longer a huge, ringing instrument, Baez is a better interpretive vocalist than ever before. Because of her reduced range and reedier tone, she seeks new ways to get inside her material and does so in startling ways. While she may no longer have the vocal range to rouse an entire generation to action en masse, she more than succeeds at getting the listener to delve deeply into a song, to encounter it in the very fiber of her being, and look into the mirror to examine what truth it holds. Dark Chords on a Big Guitar is not simply a title; there are a lot of electric guitars here that provide atmospheric sounds and ambiguous, sensual textures on this record. While Baez is not a rock singer and doesnt try to be, this is a rock album. In the tension between the sonics and her voice on these tunes lies a breeding ground for the impossible to happen -- and it does, over and again: Baez uses that tension, the notion that desire and transcendence are two sides of the same coin, and rides it into the cracked heart of each of these fine tunes, shattering their surfaces and their artifice. She travels into the center, where each lyric holds its vulnerability, its culpability, and she revels there, bringing back meaning and truth from the murky, messy, wanton depths. Check out her reading of Henrys "Kings Highway"; it finds ghostly traces of the Band in its ringing electric six strings and shuffling drums. Her version of Merchants "Motherland" blows the original away. Her voice tears at the grain of the lyric, opening it enough for the listener to feel it in her marrow, its raw need, its profound nakedness, and the fiery spirit at its heart. Spectors production, which is reminiscent of Daniel Lanois, has more teeth; he seems to like jagged edges, and Baez thrives on them here. The album ends with her version of Earles "Christmas in Washington." Somehow, this reading of the song means more than Earles; its as if he wrote it for her. As she invokes the ghosts of Woody Guthrie, Emma Goldman, and Malcolm X, she places the entire weight of those generations -- as instructed by them -- into her plea. It feels rightfully desperate, bewildered, and angry. It is a prayer echoed with purpose, pride, and the disbelief that such a plea would even be necessary in this day and age. Lets hope they hear it. Dark Chords on a Big Guitar proves that as an artist, Baez is still reaching, still restless, still resilient as leather, and possessed by the spirit of loving kindness; she is still wily and sexy, and still seeking a deeper, wider base to anchor her burning blue heart in the belly of her muse. On this record, Baez is poetically, musically, spiritually, and emotionally articulate; she voices with ease and conviction those scary, forbidden things everyone else feels in the dark night of their own souls. | ||
 | Album: 40 of 43 Title: Day After Tomorrow Released: 2008-09-08 Tracks: 10 Duration: 36:38 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 God Is God (03:28) 2 Rose of Sharon (03:34) 3 Scarlet Tide (02:25) 4 Day After Tomorrow (05:31) 5 Henry Russells Last Words (03:37) 6 I Am a Wanderer (02:30) 7 Mary (03:54) 8 Requiem (03:55) 9 The Lower Road (04:11) 10 Jericho Road (03:29) |
| Day After Tomorrow : Allmusic album Review : Having recorded Steve Earles "Christmas in Washington" on her last studio album, 2003s Dark Chords on a Big Guitar, and his "Jerusalem" on her 2005 live album, Bowery Songs, and toured with him in between, Joan Baez has turned to Earle as the producer of her 24th studio album, Day After Tomorrow; he also contributes three of the ten songs, two of them, "God Is God" and "I Am a Wanderer," specially written. Earle seems to have taken as his assignment the goal of creating a modern Joan Baez album that is in the tradition of her great albums of the 1960s. First, he assembled a group of acoustic musicians in Nashville, anchored by multi-instrumental string players Tim OBrien and Darrell Scott (a rhythm section of Viktor Krauss and Kenny Malone is sometimes present also), and then he and Baez cherry-picked recent songs from contemporary singer/songwriters working in the spirit of those Baez covered earlier in her career, including Elvis Costello, Eliza Gilkyson, Patty Griffin, and Tom Waits. In making those choices, they looked to material that evoked Baezs folk past. For example, as Baez herself says of Gilkysons "Rose of Sharon," "If I didnt know otherwise, I would have just assumed that it was an old English folk song." "Scarlet Tide," written by Costello and T Bone Burnett for the soundtrack to the 2003 Civil War film Cold Mountain, in which it was sung by Alison Krauss, naturally sounds like a 19th century American folk song. True to Baezs longtime political commitments, it addresses war, as does Waits and wife Kathleen Brennans "Day After Tomorrow," which Baez sings with only her own guitar accompaniment, while Diana Jones "Henry Russells Last Words" tells the true story of a mining disaster. Earles "Jericho Road," first heard on his Washington Square Serenade album, is presented a cappella with handclaps and background vocals by Earle, Scott, and OBrien, sounding just like the sort of spiritual Baez used to adapt back in the 60s. At 67, Baez betrays some vocal aging, but she uses it wisely to impart extra feeling into what is often a downbeat collection of quality songs, and Earle has succeeded in his attempt not to reinvent her, but to re-create her sound and message in contemporary terms. | ||
 | Album: 41 of 43 Title: The Complete Gold Castle Masters Released: 2017 Tracks: 33 Duration: 2:28:35 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Brothers In Arms (05:06) 2 Recently (03:06) 3 Asimbonanga (04:51) 4 The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress (03:08) 5 James & the Gang (04:31) 6 Let Us Break Bread Together / Oh Freedom (08:49) 7 Mlk (02:53) 8 Do Right Woman, Do Right Man (03:23) 9 Biko (05:18) 10 Lebanon (05:09) 11 Diamonds and Rust (03:46) 12 Aint Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around (01:22) 13 No Woman No Cry (03:45) 14 Famous Blue Raincoat (04:58) 15 Swing Low Sweet Chariot (03:43) 16 Let It Be (03:59) 17 El Preso Numero Nueve (03:15) 18 Llego Con Tres Heridas (02:36) 19 Txoria Txori (03:00) 20 Ellas Danzan Solas (Cueca Sola) (05:38) 21 Gracias a La Vida (06:13) 22 No Nos Moveran (01:25) 23 China (06:29) 24 Warriors of the Sun (05:30) 25 Carrickfergus (05:38) 26 Hand To Mouth (04:34) 27 Speaking of Dreams (04:30) 28 El Salvador (03:58) 29 Rambler Gambler / Whispering Bells (05:07) 30 Fairfax County (05:54) 31 A Mi Manera (03:57) 32 Goodnight Saigon (05:57) 33 Warriors of the Sun / Shes Got a Ticket (07:07) |
 | Album: 42 of 43 Title: The Album Released: 2017 Tracks: 14 Duration: 43:30 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Wagoners Lad (02:14) 2 The Trees They Do Grow High (02:59) 3 The Lily Of The West (03:20) 4 Silkie (04:00) 5 Engine 143 (03:32) 6 Once I Knew A Pretty Girl (02:55) 7 Lonesome Road (02:23) 8 Banks Of The Ohio (03:09) 9 Pal Of Mine (02:50) 10 Barbara Allen (04:16) 11 The Cherry Tree Carol (03:29) 12 Old Blue (02:36) 13 Railroad Boy (02:31) 14 Plaisir DAmour (03:10) |
 | Album: 43 of 43 Title: Whistle Down the Wind Released: 2018-03-02 Tracks: 10 Duration: 38:55 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Whistle Down the Wind (04:48) 2 Be of Good Heart (04:02) 3 Another World (02:57) 4 Civil War (04:22) 5 The Things That We Are Made Of (05:10) 6 The President Sang Amazing Grace (03:20) 7 Last Leaf (03:05) 8 Silver Blade (03:55) 9 The Great Correction (03:43) 10 I Wish the Wars Were All Over (03:33) |
| Whistle Down the Wind : Allmusic album Review : Joan Baez has as estimable a legacy as anyone who emerged in American folk music from 1960 onward, but sometimes a powerful legacy can be as much a burden as an asset. While shes enjoyed a long and eclectic career thats spanned six decades, to many Baez will always be the earnest, crystal-voiced activist she was in the early to mid-60s, and much of her career since has been devoted to honoring what was good about her formative years without being chained to her past. Whistle Down the Wind, released in 2018 as Baez was beginning what she pledged would be her last major concert tour, is the work of an autumnal Joan Baez, but also one who hasnt turned her back on her music or her principles. The glorious soprano notes of Baezs glory days are clearly out of reach for her here, but her phrasing remains thoughtful and emotionally strong, and if her voice isnt quite what it once was, its still lovely and full of authority. The mood of these ten songs (which include compositions by Tom Waits, Josh Ritter, Anohni, and Mary Chapin Carpenter) is generally downbeat and sometimes doleful, but Baez fills her performances with strength and commitment that are impressive in their quiet defiance. In songs like "The President Sang Amazing Grace" and "I Wish the Wars Were All Over," Baez makes clear shes still committed to a better world without attaching herself to polemics that will be dated in ten years. And the production by Joe Henry is superb, matching Baezs vocals with subtle but simpatico accompaniment from a studio band that knows how to shine while making room for the protagonist. Whistle Down the Wind is a portrait of an artist who, at the age of 77, has not given up on her muse or her ideals, and while its subtle, its also a deeply moving piece of work that demands attention. | ||