Joan baez cd in Folk Music

"Joan Baez in Concert, Pt. 1 [Bonus Tracks] [Remaster]" (03/05/2002) Folk Baez, Joan, Vanguard Records (USA)Solo performer: Joan Baez (vocals, guitar). Producer: Maynard Solomon. Reissue producer: Mark Spector. Recorded live between August 1962 and November 1963. Originally released on Vanguard (9112). Includes liner notes by Maynard Solomon and Arthur Levy. All tracks have been digitally remastered. This is part of Vanguard Records Original Masters Series. Adapter: John Jacob Niles. Personnel: Joan Baez (guitar). Liner Note Authors: Maynard Solomon; Arthur Levy . Recording information: Concert (10/1961-??/1963); Town Hall, NY (10/1961-??/1963). Arrangers: John Jacob Niles; Joan Baez. The 'queen of folk' was an accomplished live performer as this, the first of two In Concert albums proved. Accompanying herself on acoustic guitar, Baez brought her pure, virginal soprano to contrasting material. Her interpretations of Childe ballads 'Matty Groves' and 'The House Carpenter' are particularly moving, but an empathy with American folklore, including Woody Guthrie and the Carter Family, is equally apparent. Baez's reading of Malvina Reynolds' protest song, 'What Have They Done To The Rain', is especially arresting and inspired a later pop hit for the Searchers. This album helped take folk music out of the coffee-house circuit and into national consciousness. Joan Baez in Concert, Pt. 1, Baezs third widely distributed album, marked the apex of her success and influence as a traditional folksinger, her repertoire still almost wholly comprised of traditional folk songs delivered with only her own guitar as accompaniment. Actually recorded at various concerts, the album was phenomenal success, reaching the Top Ten and staying in the Top 40 for more than a year. Many folk albums of the era, not just Baez's, had a consciously eclectic span of traditional material from numerous sources, but Baez was more skilled than anyone in getting such a diverse mix to such a wide audience. And many musicians undoubtedly learned these songs from the Baez interpretations on this album, foremost among them "Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You," done not just by other folkys, but eventually by Led Zeppelin. "House Carpenter," "Black Is the Color of My True Love's Hair," "Kumbaya," "Matty Groves," and "Geordie" were also staples of many a folk set, and were rendered by Baez with stark, somber dignity. Amongst the child ballads and such were somewhat less expected choices: the Brazilian love song "Ate Amanha," Woody Guthrie's "Pretty Boy Floyd," and the first recording of Malvina Reynolds' classic nuclear danger warning "What Have They Done to the Rain" (later a pop hit for the Searchers). The Reynolds cover might have been the real milepost on the album, as over her next few albums Baez would slide her focus from traditional folk to songs by contemporary writers. The 2002 CD reissue is an excellent package with extensive new liner notes, adding a previously unreleased song from a 1961 concert ("My Lord What a Morning") and two songs from the same era from Very Early Joan Baez ("Streets of Laredo" and "My Good Old Man") that were previously unavailable on CD. ~ Richie Unterberger

"Joan Baez in Concert, Pt. 2 [Bonus Tracks] [Remaster]" (03/05/2002) Folk Baez, Joan, Vanguard Records (USA)Solo performer: Joan Baez (vocals, guitar). Producer: Maynard Solomon. Reissue producer: Mark Spector. Recorded live at between August 1962 and November 1963. Originally released on Vanguard (9113). Includes liner notes by Bob Dylan and Arthur Levy. All tracks have been digitally remastered. This is part of Vanguard's Original Masters Series. Personnel: Joan Baez (vocals, guitar). Liner Note Author: Arthur Levy . Recording information: Forest Hills, NY (1961-1963); Knoxville, TN (1961-1963); Miles College, Birmingham, AL (1961-1963). The 'queen of folk' was an accomplished live performer as this, the first of two In Concert albums proved. Accompanying herself on acoustic guitar, Baez brought her pure, virginal soprano to contrasting material. Her interpretations of Childe ballads 'Matty Groves' and 'The House Carpenter' are particularly moving, but an empathy with American folklore, including Woody Guthrie and the Carter Family, is equally apparent. Baez's reading of Malvina Reynolds' protest song, 'What Have They Done To The Rain', is especially arresting and inspired a later pop hit for the Searchers. This album helped take folk music out of the coffee-house circuit and into national consciousness. Like its predecessor, Joan Baez in Concert, Pt. 1, this live album was a huge success, making the Top Ten. However, though it was recorded not long after Joan Baez in Concert, Pt. 1 and is also a live album on which the only accompaniment is her own acoustic guitar, it's not merely a second set of recordings of similar material. Her repertoire was evolving from purely traditional folk to encompass significant work by contemporary folksinger/songwriters. Most prominent among those, of course, was Bob Dylan, and In Concert, Pt. 2 features her first two Dylan covers, "With God on Our Side" and "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right." For that alone the album was notable, but there were other notable expansions into interesting new territory, like the country classic "Long Black Veil," Derroll Adams' great melancholy "Portland Town," the civil rights anthem "We Shall Overcome," and bossa nova great Luiz Bonfa's "Manha de Carnaval." Baez's growth was not so radical as to alienate any of her folk followers, and the album still featured several traditional folk songs of the sort that had launched her career, like "Once I Had a Sweetheart" and "Jackaroe." The introduction of less-hidebound excursions, though, did much to lighten her approach and keep her from falling into too much of a maiden-of-constant-sorrow rut. The 2002 CD reissue adds lengthy historical liner notes and five bonus tracks. Two of those, "Rambler Gambler" and "Railroad Bill," were featured on the original pressing of the LP before being replaced by "With God on Our Side"; this marks the first appearance of "Railroad Bill" on CD. The remaining three are previously unreleased 1963 concert recordings, including Dylan's "Tomorrow Is a Long Time," the traditional "When First Unto This Country a Stranger I Came," and "Death of Emmett Till." The last of those, intriguingly, is an entirely different song than the early Bob Dylan composition named "The Death of Emmett Till"; this song was written by A.C. Bilbrew and originally recorded by the Ramparts. ~ Richie Unterberger