Customer Reviews

Baptism

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

For every 100 customers who liked Joan's early albums, only one or two cared for BAPTISM. It is not to everybody's taste, so kudos to Vanguard for remastering it. It is a dark, dark collection, a meditation on tears, death, fear and loss, and overshadowed by a deep antipathy to war (this was 1968). Its best parts (COLOURS, WHO MURDERED THE MINUTES, CHILDHOOD III, THE MAGIC WOOD and EPITAPH FOR A POET are my favorites) are very moving. The rewards are worth the effort it takes to get into this recording.

This is NOT a recording for "hard-core fans only". With all that's happening in the world today, BAPTISM should be required listening for everyone. In any case, it's much better than the current anthologies of anti-war poetry. This re-working of the original recording is excellent. It is a timeless recording, one of Joan's most experimental and best. Don't hesitate!

First released in 1968, "Baptism" is a collaboration with composer Peter Schickele, who also did orchestral arrangements for the earlier "Noel" and "Joan" albums. On this album, Baez left the lyrics of Dylan, Farina, and Donovan for the verse of Walt Whitman, William Blake, and Jacques Prevert, among others. Sometimes singing, mostly reciting, she is accompanied by Schickele's evocative music. The problem is a lack of variety in the project. Although multi-cultural before its time (with Asian and black American selections), the general tone is quite grim. The original album begins and ends with a hauntingly-sung short piece by Henry Treece. In between are relentless expressions of human misery. Childhood fears, reflections on death, war, and oppression, get a time-out only for romantic despair. A baptism by fire to be sure, and certainly a product of the times.

The seven pieces where Baez sings the poems, instead of reciting them in an understated manner, are all melodically striking, if mostly somber in tone. Her singing is so beautiful that serious fans will want to add this CD to their collection. The stand-out track is e. e. cummings' "all in green went my love riding." The material is perfectly suited to Baez's solemn delivery and Schickele's pristine music. Casual listeners curious about the Baez/Schickele sound will be better off sampling "Noel" or "Joan." The two also collaborated on the "Silent Running" soundtrack later on.

The three short bonus tracks on the remastered edition are all spoken, and non-morbid in content. The liner notes do a good job of recreating the period in which this recording was made. The original liner notes are included as well, but not the text of the poetry (as in the LP edition).

Three stars might seem a low rating, since I have searched for this recording ever since I first heard it in college in the '70s, but the combination of poetry (read in Joan Baez's monotonous voice) and a few songs will not be to everyone's taste, as it was not to mine. However, some of the poetry and several of the songs are so haunting as to be almost devastating. "All in Green Came My Love Riding" and "The Woods" have remained in my head all these years, and have an almost visceral effect on me - beautiful and haunting and other-worldly. They have a quality sometimes associated with the word Celtic, though that would limit them too much. And the poetry is excellent - particularly Wilfred Owen's "The Old Man and the Young," which retells the story of Abraham sacrificing Isaac in terms of the millions of youth sacrified to no end in World War I, and his among his (many) powerful anti-war poems. Even if you buy this CD for one or two tracks, it will be worth the price.

Recorded as part of a trilogy with Noël and Joan, "Baptism" remains probably the most controversial work in Joan Baez' career.

Whilst "Joan" and "Noël" Baez had been working on accessible, contemprary material that alienated many of her early fans interested in traditional folk song, "Baptism" consisted of poetry recitals that rarely saw Baez signing at all: most of "Baptism" is spoken rather than sung and many of her early fans disliked the album for that reason, though it still stayed longer in the Billboard charts than anything after Farewell, Angelina.

Actually, however, "Baptism", whilst it is largely spoken, actually stands as proof that Baez' voice is able to speak rather than sing without losing an ounce of the remarkable beauty that has made it so admired for many decades. Although born as late as 1977, I have enough experience with music to know conclusively that it is very unsual for a "singing" voice to translate well to a more spoken style, and the quiet beauty that dominates "Baptism" is thus highly compelling.

Most tracks on "Baptism" are very short, with only two piece over three minutes, and this does detract somewhat because too many of the tracks lack lines that could possibly make them really memorable. Nonethless, both the slight, upbeat "The Magic Wood" and the dark war trilogy of "London", "In Guernica" and "Who Murdered the Minuets" are touching enough to be extremely compelling.

"All The Pretty Little Horses" is as sad and beautiful as anything Baez did on her early pre-orchestration albums, and the extremely soft "Minister of War" is a touching appeal that should stand as a lesson to many makers of political rock in the modern world that louder is not more effective. Peter Schickele's orchestration is much less lush than on "Joan" and probably he fits "Baptism"'s extraordinarily spartan atmosphere (even compared to the ambience of her early pure folk albums) better. Overall, "Baptism" is the last Baez album that anyone except a hardcore fan needs. Even if at times not memorable, its spare, quiet, touching nature is exactly what folk music should be.

Delicate,fragile and sensitive. She interprets the author's words like no one else. I fell in love with this album in '68 and played it until it died. Vanguard could not find the the master in '99 when I looked for it. Bless you who found the this piece of art and offer it to us via CD.
If you Love Joan..if you love poetry, don't deny yourself of this experience. Indeed. encourage her to do more interprative reading!!!

This is a stunning, esoteric album showing Baez's voice at its best--I agree completely with the other reviewer here--it must be heard in its entirety to be fully appreciated. With the wonderful and lovely orchestrations by the creator of P.D.Q. Bach (!), this is a piece of artistry not to be missed.

This is an album that encapsulates my adolescence and that gave me the confidence to start to write my own poetry. I knew I would find it here at the greatest shop on the planet. Thank you Amazon,com

Delicate,fragile and sensitive. She interprets the author's words like no one else. I fell in love with this album in '68 and played it until it died. Vanguard could not find the the master in '99 when I looked for it. Bless you who found the this piece of art and offer it to us via CD.
If you Love Joan..if you love poetry, don't deny yourself of this experience. Indeed. encourage her to do more interprative reading!!!

While I have enjoyed such albums cd's like Farewell Angelina, Baptism is a rather unusual but wonderful journey. I have always enjoyed it when musical artists such as Baez step away from their usual style and do something completely different. This is her most underrated album/CD ever. It's worth the listen, and a thirty second sound clip just doesn't do the ears justice.