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Baez, Joan
Baez, Joan
 - Forrest Gump.jpg)
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1994 |
The Most Accomplished Interpretive Folksinger of the 1960s, Joan Baez Has
Influenced Nearly Every Aspect of Popular Music in a Career Still Going Strong
After More Than 35 Years. 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 (Oct. 1960) For Vanguard Records. It Was Made Up of 13
Traditional Songs, Some of Them Child Ballads, Given Near-Definitive
Treatment. A Moderate Success on Release, the Album Took Off After the
Breakthrough of Joan Baez, Vol. 2 (Sep. 1961), and Both Albums Became Huge
Hits, As Did Baez's Third Album, Joan Baez in Concert (Sep. 1962). Each Album
Went Gold and Stayed in the Bestseller 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, Part 2
(Nov. 1963) And Joan Baez/5 (Oct. 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 Dylan's Introduction of
Folk-Rock in 1965, and She Began to Augment Her Simple Acoustic Guitar Backing
With Other Instruments, Initially on Farewell Angelina (Oct. 1965). It Was
Followed by a Christmas Album, Noel (Oct. 1966), and Joan (Aug. 1967), Albums
On Which She Was Accompanied by an Orchestra Conducted by Peter Schickele.Baez
Continued to Experiment in the Late '60s, Releasing Baptism - A Journey
Through Our Time (Jun. 1968), in Which She Recited Poetry, and Any Day Now
(Dec. 1968), a Double Album of Dylan Songs Done with Country Backing, Which
Went Gold. In March 1968, Baez Had Married Anti-War Protest Leader David
Harris, Who Was Imprisoned As a Draft Evader. Harris Was a Country Music Fan,
And Baez's Turn Toward Country, Which Continued on David's Album (Jun. 1969)
And One Day At a Time (Mar. 1970), Reflected His Taste. Blessed Are... (Aug.
1971) Was a Gold-Selling Double Album That Spawned a Gold Top Ten Hit in
Baez's Cover of the Band's "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down." It Was
Followed by Carry It on (Dec. 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 Baez's
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 (Apr. 1975), Which Was Followed by the
Entirely Self-Written Gulf Winds (Oct. 1976). Baez Moved to the Portrait Label
Of Cbs (Now Sony) Records with Blowin' Away (Jun. 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 (Jan. 1989) And
Speaking of Dreams (Oct. 1989). Baez Moved to Virgin Records for Play Me
Backwards (Aug. 1992). In 1993, Vanguard Released Rare, Live & Classic, a
Three-CD Boxed 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.