Search - Joan Baez :: First Ten Years

Exquisite

Peter Reeve | Thousand Oaks, CA USA | 06/05/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"If you want just one CD that gives you an overview of Joan Baez's career and contains her greatest hits, well...you won't find one. Her career has been too long and varied for that. She was at Woodstock and at Live Aid. She covered traditional English and Spanish folk songs, protest and mainstream pop.



Joan's is the finest female voice of the 60's folk revival and protest movement -- pure and melodious and true. This particular CD has too much Dylan for my taste (although, contrary to Amazon's editorial, Gates of Eden is not on this album). Good at the time, these now sound very dated. But that is an accurate reflection of the period. We tend to forget now that a great many fans admired Dylan's songwriting but wished he would leave it to the sweet-voiced Joan to sing them.



My personal favorites are the traditional English songs Mary Hamilton, Geordie and John Riley. She sings them exquisitely. If you share that taste, you must get this CD.



Given that this album has a wide variety of music and the resale value seems quite high, this is a prime candidate for ripping and burning the tracks you like and selling it on, especially as the insert notes are minimal and not worth keeping.



As a child of the 60s, the album of hers that I remember best and which now seems most representative is her eponymous 'Joan Baez'. Start either with that album or with this one.



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The Anti-Diva!

M. Allen Greenbaum | California | 06/14/2000

(5 out of 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."

Her voice is exquisite like no other

Carlos Rodriguez | 04/26/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"What I have always love about Joan Baez is her exquisite and crystal clear voice. She is a dream to listen to and her songs fit her vocal range just perfect. This album is excellent all the way through and the songs included on the CD is the best of her repertoire from 1960 to 1970, which is why the album is called THE FIRST TEN YEARS. All of the songs on this collection are great but there are six tracks that are truly wonderful and is why I bought this album aside from the fact that she has a beautiful voice. The songs that I love from this great recording are "Ghetto", "If I Were A Carpenter", "If I Knew", "No Expectations" (which is a cover of the Stones original and she sounds far better than Mick on this one.) "Sweet Sir Galahad" and "Love Is Just A Four-Letter Word". They are all excellent and as I said before perfect for her glorious soprano voice. This is a great album to have and enjoy for many years to come and if you're a Joan Baez fan than this one is a must for your collection. GREAT and EXHILIRATING."