Blowin Away

Joan Baez | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 1, 2000)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony Special Product
• ASIN: B00000FDMG
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #153,530 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars No, you are not the only person who likes this album, January 15, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Blowin Away (Audio CD)

The other reviews of this album make good points; it is not what I would recommend to someone wanting to buy their first Baez album. You have to know her work a bit to appreciate how different this album is compared to her albums prior to the release of "Blowin' Away". You would also have to know that she had just changed labels to "Portrait", a subsidiary of CBS Records. There is a small enclosure that came with the vinyl album when it was released in 1977 showing some recording "execs" trying to explain to Ms. Baez what they are hoping this album will be like; she sums up their blather with the comment "More commerical?" It may not be a milestone, but it is definitely unique, almost an oddity in Ms. Baez' work. And quite listenable.

"Time Rag" shows her spirit and probably represents what this album is, perhaps, about; "Rippin' along toward middle age/and my music career kinda missed a page". How well I believe most of Ms. Baez', um, "mature" fans can relate to that these days! And I've heard other versions of "Cry Me A River", but this is the one I think of more often than not - has more of a "bite" and bitterness to it than some of the more maudlin versions. "Yellow Coat" is similar to "Diamonds & Rust" in theme; people drift apart and are left with... ? However, when I bought the vinyl album in 1977 - yes I am quite ancient - I was most taken with "Altar Boy and The Thief". You would have to be quite young and just coming to terms with being gay to understand what such a song meant. That someone of Ms. Baez's stature and talent would have even bothered to write such a song, let alone put it on an album, in 1977, with a new recording company? Amazing.

As other reviews have pointed out, there are some excellent songs on this album, some may not be Baez at her peak, but overall it is an album I have listened to often since 1977 and that I still enjoy listening to - that makes it 5 stars for me!

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Makes for a most enjoyable listen, June 5, 2000

By 

Randall Ivey "Randall" (USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Blowin Away (Audio CD)

As others have noted, BLOWIN' AWAY is hardly a milestone recording. What it is, is a gentle collection of songs, some self-penned, that allow us the pleasure of once more listening to Baez's inimitable voice. Among the noteworthy cuts are "Time Rag", a barb in rap about yellow journalism and "The Alter Boy and the Thief," a sweet portrait of a gay bar.

This is ideal listening for a rainy day.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Solid collection, September 28, 2005

By 

C. E. A. Esq (London) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Blowin Away (Audio CD)

I agree that this is not the best starting point for a new Joan Baez fan - it isn't characteristic of her overall sound. But at its best, it's wonderful. The Altar Boy and the Thief, Luba the Baroness, and A Heartfelt Line or Two are heart-rending and beautiful songs, and her voice is in great shape (I've always felt that her voice was at its strongest in the seventies and eighties - for me it was too shrill in the sixties).