Possibly this is one of the legendary folk singer Joan Baez’s best albums. Opening with two protest songs, her own moving “Prison Trilogy (Billy Rose)” and “Rainbow Road” with beautiful keyboards. Another Baez composition, “Myths”, is a gentle love song with an optimistic conclusion followed by “In The Quiet Morning” (for Janis Joplin), the poignant tribute written by Mimi Farina. There’s a lovely version of Leonard Cohen’s “The Partisan”; where Cohen has a verse in French, Baez sings the last verse in Greek. The album closes with a beautiful rendition of John Lennon's “Imagine”. With six of her own compositions ‘Come From The Shadows’ is a masterpiece that has been sorely neglected.
WHY BUYS • Joan Baez, one of the pioneers of the protest movement in the 1960s, is one of the most respected and influential figures in contemporary folk music • Inspired to play folk music by Pete Seeger, she started playing on the Boston folk scene in the late ‘50s, making her first recordings in 1959 • 2-CD set comprising her performances from the LP “Folksingers Round Harvard Square” and her first Vanguard albums “Joan Baez” & “Joan Baez Vol. 2” • Enlightening early showcase for her peerless voice and distinctive way with classic folk repertoire
ABOUT THE COLLECTION Joan Baez is one of the most revered and important names in contemporary folk music, a pioneer of the protest movement in the 1960 alongside Bob Dylan and others, and an artist whose peerless voice and highly personal way with a song has influenced countless folk performers who have followed in her wake over the decades.
Born in Staten Island, NYC, in 1941 of Mexican and Scottish decent, she moved around the country with her parents – her scientist father worked for UNESCO – and embraced many social causes. She encountered Pete Seeger in her early teens, and was inspired by his style of music, and when her father took a position at MIT in Boston in 1958, she became heavily involved in the folk scene there, giving her first concerts that year.
In 1959, with two other folk enthusiasts, she recorded a number of songs in a friend’s cellar, and that became the album “Folk Singers Round Harvard Square”, from which all the titles featuring Joan are included here.
She was invited to perform at the 1959 Newport Folk Festival” which led to her signing with Vanguard Records, and her first two albums for Vanguard from 1960 and 1961, “Joan Baez” and “Joan Baez Vol. 2”, which comprise the rest of this collection.
They feature Joan accompanying herself on guitar as she performs selections of mainly traditional songs, arranged and adapted by her to suit her highly distinctive style, and they provided the platform from which her extraordinary performing and recording career developed.
Recorded while she was still a teenager, the collection offers an enjoyable and captivating insight into her already highly developed talent.