Joan Baez : Carrickfergus, Bratislava 1989.

Joan Baez ~ Carrickfergus, Bratislava 1989!

This version was brought to my attention this morning by Sean Reilly and although there are many versions out there I was unaware Joan had given it a go. I have an old LP (Vanguard 1960) from back in the sixties where she sings a number of folk songs and the sleeve notes, which are comprehensive to say the least, describe her as being of Mexican-Irish parentage and as having a "soprano voice with no break from the lowest to the highest register, a choir-boy's pure projection linked with an intense vibrato, a clear diction and surpassing ability to grasp the communicative essence of every song, whether it be folk or composed, ballad or lyric - (Notes by Maynard Solomon) and those are just a sample of the notes. That LP is probably a collector's item. I wonder if she recorded any other Irish ballads. Must look up! Loaded by 'silentype1911' and with thanks. Go to Youtube to read the comments.

Joan Baez OH FREEDOM

Listening to part of the Arena show on RTE last night I caught the item on Joan Baez and the book, The Last Leaf  by Elizabeth Thomson which is available on Amazon. It got me searching for an old album recorded in 1960 on the Vanguard label and this girl could sing. From the sleeve notes on the back, "A soprano voice with no break from the lowest to the highest registers", Joan Baez was some fine singer and one of the great social activists of the past century. The video above was loaded by PS109VanBurenHigh and a visit to Youtube to read the notes accompanying it is a must. When Martin Luther King gave his famous, "I Have a Dream" speech on the 28th of August 1963 she opened the proceedings with this. Recorded in 1958 when she was just 17 years old it was released in 1964. From the album it says she's of Mexican-Irish parentage but everywhere else it's Mexican-Scottish. Someone correct me. She was also part of the Northern Irish peace process. As I said of John Lennon - where are they now. Look around you. To finish - all life matters.

Joan Baez - Diamonds and Rust (With Lyrics)

So Bob wins the Nobel Prize for Literature and those early protest songs... he wasn't afraid. And then he went off and did something different. Now who says poets don't make a difference? Nice one. This is a tribute from Joan Baez. With thanks to Dave Bing who posted and youtube.