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| | How Sweet The Sound | | | Music Artist : | | Joan Baez | | Music Style : | | General | | Record Label : | | Razor & Tie | | Release Date : | | 2009-10-13 | | Store Price : | | $13.96 | | Artistopia's Price: $12.99 | | Usually ships in 24 hours | | |
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CD Tracks/Songs
Disc 11. Man Smart Woman Smarter
2. I Never Will Marry
3. Barbara Allen
4. Silver Dagger
5. Fennario
6. Oh Freedom
7. With God On Our Side
8. A Song for David
9. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
10. I Pity The Poor Immigrant (Duet w/ Bob Dylan)
11. Carry It On
12. Diamonds & Rust
13. Love Song To A Stranger
14. Day After Tomorrow
15. Jerusalem
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Other Artist Albums
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Customer Reviews of This Album/CD |
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 For The Fans
Submitted on: 2009-10-20 |
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This companion piece to the fine American Masters program of the same title is a historical record of a lifetime of music and activism. It includes a couple of polished, slick tracks from studio albums (ONE DAY AT A TIME, BLESSED ARE...), but is otherwise made up of previously unreleased live recordings from Baez concerts spanning the decades. The quality of the sound varies (Barbara Allen the poorest, the studio stuff the clearest), but Joan's fans (this fan, anyway) will consider this recording a welcome, sweet gift from a gifted artist. Anyone who owns or has enjoyed the boxed set, RARE, LIVE & CLASSIC, will like this collection; its almost an addendum to that anthology (most of the repeated songs are different performances).
In her earliest period, when her voice was at its purest, Baez was excruciatingly serious, but at the same time, there was a sweetness that balanced the cold, detached quality of songs that were often hundreds of years old. She connected with these old melodies in a special way that turned them from museum artifacts into compelling stories, deeply felt and communicated. Back then, I sometimes got the feeling Joan was singing only to me -- they seemed that intimate. Although I've moved on to an extremely broad range of music, and collected every kind of music imaginable, I credit Joan Baez for sparking my love of music at the age of seven (1960), and so, along with just a handful of others whose careers have been almost as long (Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Ian Tyson), I've kept up with her career. There are many touchstones here, some welcome (Joan's own "Song For David," Tom Waits' "Day After Tomorrow" from her latest release, here represented in a live version), some not so (the long, musically boring "With God On Our Side," the nasal, inexplicable hit, "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down"), but as a whole, reviewing Joan's 50-year long career on this brief CD was lovely. I even enjoyed, warts and all, the raucous, live duet with Bob Dylan, "I Pity The Poor Immigrant." The shining highlight of this collection is a 2009 live recording of the self-penned, "Love Song To A Stranger," accompanied by guitar and piano. Even with a voice revealing some of the inevitable wear and tear of time, this performance rivals the studio version, recorded over thirty years earlier!
I recommend this CD in tandem with the DVD, which has around 90 minutes worth of bonus material, not seen on the PBS airing of HOW SWEET THE SOUND. Get the Deluxe DVD Edition (it's only a couple of bucks more), and you'll have both the film and the CD soundtrack. |
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 A wonderful retrospective
Submitted on: 2009-10-15 |
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| A wonderful and insightful look back at the life and career of a very special artist. |
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