22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Diva of Folk Music, November 22, 1999
This review is from: Any Day Now: Songs of Bob Dylan (Audio CD)
This double album was given to me in 1976 by a friend who was dismayed at my taste for simple pop tunes at the time. It had the desired effect, and has remained special to me ever since. Recently I bought the CD as well, but it's the crackly sound of the vinyl record that takes me back to my Uni days when I blasted Ms Baez's crystal-breaking voice throughout my residential college. I don't think I have ever heard a clearer voice in all my life: it's like pure Snowy Mountains water. And of course, who better to sing Dylan than Baez - when you want it sung tunefully and with meaning! Her rendition of Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands remains in my all-time top 5 songs. I can't imagine it being sung any better. If you can appreciate sophisticated folk music, buy it. Joan Baez is the diva.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A FOLK CLASSIC, June 20, 2001
This review is from: Any Day Now: Songs of Bob Dylan (Audio CD)
This is an album of superb Dylan interpretations and enlightening listening to hear his songs from a female perspective. I heard some of Dylan's songs here first and only later experienced his own versions, for example I Dreamed I Saw St.Augustine which is definitely very diffrent (and more beautiful to me) in Baez's version. Other great tracks include I Pity The Poor Immigrant (still as socially relevant as ever), Love Is Just A Four-Letter Word, the heart-breaking Walls Of Redwing (about inmates in a jail), One Too Many Mornings, Boots Of Spanish Leather and Restless Farewell. Everything about this album is just SO RIGHT: her phrasing, the choice of songs and her elegant delivery. This is THE classic folk album of the 1960s and also essential listening for Dylan fans, even for those who think he sings well, he he! I love it.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the Great Tributes to Bob Dylan!, March 29, 2005
This review is from: Any Day Now: Songs of Bob Dylan (Audio CD)
Whether or not you enjoy this remarkable recording would most likely depend upon one or both of two factors: 1) do you like the woman's very distinctive voice applied to the rough-and-tumble verse and attitude of a Bob Dylan song? and 2) do you enjoy country-style folk music played by top-notch, improvisational musicians who are willing to step back just enough to allow the singer to maintain center stage? If you are a Joan Baez fan AND a country music fan (who can get past the obvious contradictions between those two musical worlds) then go directly to the nearest music store, or get this CD right here and now online. I am a Joan Baez fanatic who is ALSO a big Bob Dylan fan. I know several Dylan lovers who hate Joan Baez, and they can't stand this record. I think they are simply unable to get past a chauvinistic, macho dislike for the feminine and the beautiful in their music. Does Baez strip some of Dylan's work of its grit and grime, and therefore some of its power? Perhaps, but I don't give it too much thought anymore, because what Baez brings to the proceedings here, besides her obvious reverance for Dylan's songs, is an ability bring out the MELODIES that Dylan composed, which, with all due respect to the Songwriting Genius, he himself barely sang. Because Baez's precise diction, pronounced vibrato and soaring soprano are rather out of fashion these days, younger listeners may have to make some effort to get used to her style, but close listening (get in the headphones and crank up the volume) and patience, should pay off in the end. I should mention, too, the deepening in Joan's voice that began to occur around this time in her long career. Her ravishing low notes are by turns lovely like a cello and then somewhat nasal and twangy -- perfectly suited to this kind music. Her full range is heard on "Boots of Spanish Leather" and the amazing "Restless Farewell."
Contrary to what another reviewer on this site felt, this album is anything BUT bland! The countrified instrumentation is simply gorgeous throughout, adding something mysterious and haunting to Joan's intense vocals. Listen to how Grady Martin's electric sitar sends a mournful chill into the heart of "North Country Blues," or how a lovely, liquid guitar line shades the melancholy in "One Too Many Mornings," and how Joan can't help but get down with the boys in the band on the rock 'n' roll numbers "Drifters Escape" and "Dear Landlord," because they are both energetic and obviously fun to play. Joan must have been beside herself with joy to be able to sing with these guys and she definitely rose to the occasion, critics be damned. The much lauded rendition of "Love Is Just A Four Letter Word" is indeed a definitive performance, but it is by no means the only reason to buy, as it is equalled several times throughout ANY DAY NOW, most notably on the gospel-styled title song, (complete with a rousing chorus), and the incredible epic "Sad-Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands." There are many subltle pleasures to be discovered with repeated listenings to this album, and after all these years it remains not only my top favorite Joan Baez album, but one of my all-time favorite records, period.
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