Joan Baez - The First 10 Years
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Free Music Notes for The First 10 Years
Free Music Review: Wonderful Compliation Of Her First Ten Years!
Hit: 5 Stars
This is a great collection of Joan Baez's amazing work over the first ten years of her recording career. It is not what one could rightfully call her greatest hits, for she was not an artist who released many singles or who got an awful lot of exposure on AM radio during the 1960s and early 1970s. Instead, she was mainly played on hip FM stations, and of course, was played incessantly by folkies in their record players, so that her music wafted through the dormitories and off the college campuses of the time. So, although there are a few songs included here like "love Is Just A Four Letter Word" that were on the charts, most of them are known better as songs from albums one listened to again and again. Thus, we have songs like "Ghetto", "There But For Fortune", and Dylan's "With God On Our Side", all beautifully done and wonderful to listen to, but certainly not songs that ever had much time on the popular airwaves of the times. So too with songs like "Sweet Sir Galahad", a song written by Joan describing her sister Mimi finally beginning to recover from the loss of her husband Richard Farina in a tragic motorcycle accident, or "No Expectations", a wonderful folksy interpretation of the Mick Jagger-Keith Richards song. There are a number of traditional songs here like "Farewell Angelina", "John Riley", and "Mary Hamilton". And as an added benefit, there are a number of other Bob Dylan songs, such as "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right", "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall", and "You Ain't Going Nowhere". All in all, this is a great collection and a fair representation of the veritable mountain of recording work Joan accomplished in the first ten years of her career.
Free Music Review: Loving Joan
Hit: 4 Stars
This first ten year compilation showcases Joan Baez's early works, where her voice was the song. The innocence and purity of her early folk recordings are a major mark in time for this marvelous singer. "Love Is Just A Four Letter Word", "John Riley" and the classic "If I Were A Carpenter" are memories made in and for heaven. Some of the other songs are a surprise as you sit back and suddenly 'remember' this one or that. This is a milestone recordingFree Music Review: the one baez album to buy
Hit: 5 Stars
A wide ranging and thoroughly satisfying compliation of Baez' early work, including definitive interpretations of Farewell Angelina (one of Dylan's hidden masterpieces), Love is Just a Four Letter Word (another Dylan gem), and There But for Fortune, and so so much more. Of all the great female folk singers, Joan Baez has the purest voice, and while her career may have been somewhat limited by the fact that she did not write her own songs, she is a superb interpreter of a range of material, from Dylan to old English folk songs.Free Music Review: If I were a carpenter, she'd be my kind of lady
Hit: 4 Stars
It's too bad that "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" was the popular AM radio song we judged her on. It was an ok song but did nothing to steer me into hearing more of her music. Which was my great loss. I rediscovered her after reading her autobiography. I hadn't realized how interesting she was. After reading her book I went and bought this CD and another greatest hits of her more recent work. "Ghetto" is dated but represents the period it came from accurately. "If I Were A Carpenter" is a beautiful blue collar love song: simple and sincere. "Love Is Just A Four-Letter Word" is too twangy for me. I pass it over when I play the CD. "There But For Fortune" is one of the true gems of this collection, and a nice introduction to Phil Ochs (her rendition stimulated an interest in my searching for other music by Ochs). "John Riley" is typical folk "wall flower" music. I'm not interested in these type of stories. "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere" isn't really a good song but an enjoyable song to listen to. "Mary Hamilton" another indistinguishable folk "wall flower" song. It would be a great campfire song, however. "Manha De Carnaval" is another gem. A melodious trip that shows Baez's voice in a different light. "If I Knew" is a great performance with a poignant message. Tells us what is really strong and appealing about a man who is more sensitive. "With God On Our Side" is one of my two favorites on this CD. A political, relevant message that makes one think. I can play it ten times and not become tired of listening to its message. The absolute best version of it. Dylan has never done this one justice. "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" another Dylan classic and well done by Baez. "Geordie" another folk "wall flower" piece. "Te Ador" a melodic treat. "No Expectations" is no melodic treat. "Sweet Sir Galahad" yuk! Sappy! "Turquoise" nicely done. "Farewell Angelina" another folksy song but this one is really good. "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" the best version of the most poetic song written under the umbella of rock n' roll. Dylan is the great American poet of the twentieth century, even better than Ginsberg. This song and especially this version is an anthem to all that was worth anything in the 60's and 70's. The imagery and undercurrents of this song are biblical and much more. This is Baez, Dylan and our generation at its best!Free Music Review: The Anti-Diva!
Hit: 5 Stars
Joan Baez `s clarity and sincerity simply radiate on this compilation. She has a fine voice, singing in the upper ranges with little tremolo; the effect is art rather than artifice. This CD displays her understated yet powerful voice in just over 70 minutes of peace and protest. (By the way, I hear from someone who's met her that she's very nice.)Some of the finest songs here are those written by Bob Dylan, "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere" is revealed as a sexy love song (even with all that stuff about "Genghis Khan"). "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright" is probably the best song on the CD, she captures the complex emotions with wonderfully expressive singing and guitar--it's the best version I've ever heard. She also does a compelling version of "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall"; she illuminates Dylan's lengthy standard, and it sounds fresh and immediate.
The first song, "Ghetto," is unfortunately also the worst. The singing is fine, but the bass line sounds right out of (the worst of) an Elvis show. It also sounds dated lyrically, as Ms. Baez sings about rising to the revolution, and in "building a new Jerusalem there will be no more ghetto at all." Oh well, it's an honest reflection of the decade's optimism and promise.
"If I were a Carpenter" sounds less sexist when sung by a woman, and its treatment here is soft and loving. The country guitar work on "Love is Just a Four-Letter" word is not to my tastes, but again, her voice rises above this. "If I Knew" is a more up-tempo work, with excellent accompaniment (I wish the players on each track were listed), and a satisfying bridge. She also does a nice, slightly country, version of the Stones' "No Expectations."
Joan Baez also plays guitar beautifully, in the same effective yet unembellished style of her singing: "There but For Fortune" and "John Riley" are fine examples. She seemingly transcends time on traditional folk songs like "Mary Hamilton" (there's a nice little lilt to her voice here), and live recordings of "Geordie," and the flamenco-tinged "Te Ador." The singing is angelic. Her own "Sweet Sir Galahad" and Dylan's "Farewell Angelina" are also beautiful examples of her work. There are so many excellent songs to enjoy!
Simple, beautiful, and thought-provoking, Joan Baez's `first decade' CD is a welcome look back at one of our national treasures.