Joan Baez (album)
Encyclopedia
Joan Baez was singer Joan Baez
's 1960 self-titled debut album, featuring 13 traditional folk songs.
at the time, she chose to go instead with the independent Vanguard
label, hoping for increased artistic license. Most of the songs featured only Baez' vocals and guitar, with a second guitar (played by Fred Hellerman, of The Weavers), added to some songs. Despite the lack of strings and horns, backup singers and hit singles, the album went gold, although it did not make the Billboard 200
chart until 1962, following the success of her second album, Joan Baez, Vol. 2
. Joan Baez peaked at number 15 and spent 140 weeks on the chart.
In 1983 Baez described the making of the album to Rolling Stone
s Kurt Loder
:
"...It took four days. We recorded it in the ballroom of some hotel in New York, way up by the river. We could use the room every day except Tuesday, because they played Bingo there on Tuesdays. It was just me on this filthy rug. There were two microphones, one for the voice and one for the guitar. I just did my set. It was probably all I knew how to do at that point. I did 'Mary Hamilton
' once and that was it...That's the way we made 'em in the old days. As long as a dog didn't run through the room or something, you had it..."
In 2001, Vanguard reissued Joan Baez with new liner notes and three previously unreleased songs. (Between 2001 and 2005, they reissued remastered versions of Baez' thirteen original albums with the label.)
except where noted.
Reissue bonus tracks
Joan Baez
Joan Chandos Baez is an American folk singer, songwriter, musician and a prominent activist in the fields of human rights, peace and environmental justice....
's 1960 self-titled debut album, featuring 13 traditional folk songs.
History
Though Baez was reportedly offered a contract with ColumbiaColumbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
at the time, she chose to go instead with the independent Vanguard
Vanguard Records
Vanguard Records is a record label set up in 1950 by brothers Maynard and Seymour Solomon in New York. It started as a classical label, but is perhaps best known for its catalogue of recordings by a number of pivotal folk and blues artists from the 1960s; the Bach Guild was a subsidiary...
label, hoping for increased artistic license. Most of the songs featured only Baez' vocals and guitar, with a second guitar (played by Fred Hellerman, of The Weavers), added to some songs. Despite the lack of strings and horns, backup singers and hit singles, the album went gold, although it did not make the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
chart until 1962, following the success of her second album, Joan Baez, Vol. 2
Joan Baez, Vol. 2
Joan Baez, Vol. 2 was Baez's second album. Released in 1961, the album, like her self-titled 1960 debut album, featured mostly traditional songs. The bluegrass band The Greenbriar Boys provided backup on two songs. Joan Baez, Vol...
. Joan Baez peaked at number 15 and spent 140 weeks on the chart.
In 1983 Baez described the making of the album to Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
s Kurt Loder
Kurt Loder
Kurt Loder is an American film critic, author, columnist, and television personality. He served in the 1980s as editor at Rolling Stone, during a tenure that Reason later called "legendary". He has contributed to articles in Reason, Esquire, Details, New York, and Time. He has also made cameos on...
:
"...It took four days. We recorded it in the ballroom of some hotel in New York, way up by the river. We could use the room every day except Tuesday, because they played Bingo there on Tuesdays. It was just me on this filthy rug. There were two microphones, one for the voice and one for the guitar. I just did my set. It was probably all I knew how to do at that point. I did 'Mary Hamilton
Mary Hamilton
"Mary Hamilton" and "The Fower Maries" are two common names for a famous, apparently fictional sixteenth-century ballad from Scotland....
' once and that was it...That's the way we made 'em in the old days. As long as a dog didn't run through the room or something, you had it..."
In 2001, Vanguard reissued Joan Baez with new liner notes and three previously unreleased songs. (Between 2001 and 2005, they reissued remastered versions of Baez' thirteen original albums with the label.)
Reception
In his Allmusic review, music critic Bruce Eder gave the album five out of five stars, commenting that the purity of the sound was notable at the time. He wrote of the album "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"Track listing
All songs are traditional arranged Joan BaezJoan Baez
Joan Chandos Baez is an American folk singer, songwriter, musician and a prominent activist in the fields of human rights, peace and environmental justice....
except where noted.
- "Silver DaggerSilver Dagger (song)"Silver Dagger", or "Katy Dear", is an American folk ballad. It likely traces its roots to the British Isles of late 19th century, though possibly much earlier; the first published version appeared in 1907....
" – 2:32 - "East Virginia" – 3:44
- "Fare Thee Well (10,000 Miles)Fare Thee Well (song)Fare Thee Well is an 18th century English folk ballad, in which a lover bids farewell before setting off on a journey. The lyrics include a dialogue between the lovers. The first published version of the song appeared in Roxburghe Ballads dated 1710; the lyrics were there given the title "The...
" (Traditional, arranged David Gude) – 3:22 - "House of the Rising Sun" – 2:56
- "All My TrialsAll My TrialsAll My Trials was a folk song during the social protest movements of the 1950s and 1960s. It is based on a Bahamian lullaby that tells the story of a mother on her death bed, comforting her children, "Hush little baby, don't you cry./You know your mama's bound to die," because, as she explains,...
" – 4:41 - "Wildwood FlowerWildwood Flower"Wildwood Flower" is an American song, best known through performances and recordings by the Carter Family. However, the song predates them. The original title was "I'll Twine 'Mid the Ringlets"...
" – 2:37 - "Donna DonnaDonna DonnaDonna Donna is a Yiddish theater song about a calf being led to slaughter. The song's title is a variant on Adonai, a Jewish name for God.-History:...
" (Sholom Secunda, Aaron ZeitlinAaron ZeitlinAaron Zeitlin , the son of the famous Jewish writer Hillel Zeitlin and Esther Kunin, authored several books on Yiddish literature, Poetry and Parapsychology.-Biography:...
; English lyrics Arthur Kevess, Teddi Schwartz) – 3:15 - "John RileyJohn Riley (song)"John Riley" is a traditional English folk song ....
" – 3:54 - "Rake and Rambling Boy" – 1:59
- "Little Moses" – 3:31
- "Mary HamiltonMary Hamilton"Mary Hamilton" and "The Fower Maries" are two common names for a famous, apparently fictional sixteenth-century ballad from Scotland....
" (ChildChild BalladsThe Child Ballads are a collection of 305 ballads from England and Scotland, and their American variants, collected by Francis James Child in the late nineteenth century...
No. 173) – 5:58 - "Henry MartinHenry Martin (song)"Henry Martin" is a traditional Scottish folk song about a youngest brother who turns pirate to support his older brothers. The first known printed version dates from the early 17th century and consisted of 82 verses describing the exploits of the freebooter Sir Andrew Barton and his two...
" (ChildChild BalladsThe Child Ballads are a collection of 305 ballads from England and Scotland, and their American variants, collected by Francis James Child in the late nineteenth century...
No. 250) – 4:15 - "El Preso Número Nueve" ("The Ninth Prisoner") (Hermanos Cantorell) – 2:48
Reissue bonus tracks
- "Girl of Constant SorrowMan of Constant Sorrow"Man of Constant Sorrow" is a traditional American folk song first recorded by Dick Burnett, a partially blind fiddler from Kentucky. The song was originally recorded by Burnett as "Farewell Song" printed in a Richard Burnett songbook, c. 1913. An early version was recorded by Emry Arthur in 1928...
" – 1:46 - "I Know You RiderI Know You Rider"I Know You Rider" is a traditional woman's blues song that has been adapted by numerous artists. Modern versions can be traced back to the song's appearance in the 1934 book, American Ballads and Folk Songs, by the noted father and son musicologists and folklorists, John Lomax and Alan Lomax...
" – 3:46 - "John RileyJohn Riley (song)"John Riley" is a traditional English folk song ....
" (extended version) – 4:23