Customer Reviews

Gracias a La Vida

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3 star:		(1)
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As a music seller, naturally, I've heard *of* Joan Baez, but had never heard her music. A few days ago I came across a review for "Gracias A La Vida." One reviewer mentioned the similarities to Linda Ronstadt's excellent "Canciones de mi padre," which has been one of my favourite Spanish-language CDs for years. Strangely enough, at work the next day, I was going through boxes of old audio cassette tapes from the last twenty years, when to my surprise...a copy of "Gracias A La Vida" appeared. I put it into the tape player, not knowing what to expect from an album more than thirty years old.

The fourteen songs feature Veracruz harp, Latin guitar and percussion, and the warm, clear voice of Joan. The beautiful Spanish lyrics are profound in their simplicity and grace. "Gracias a la vida" (Here's To Life), by Violeta Parra, begins as a solo, but turns into a magical duet towards the final chorus. "Llegó con tres heridas" (I Come With Three Wounds) is a very short, moving song that contains only four simple lines: "I come with three wounds: those of life, death and love." Again, the haunting harmony and simple strumming of a guitar are the sole embellishments.

Her version of the Mexican ballad/folktale "La Llorona" (The Wailing Woman) is stunning. There is a melancholy that seeps into your soul upon hearing this ballad, with its castanets, strummed guitars, violin, and pain-drenched lyrics ("They say that I do not feel pain, Llorona, because they don't see me cry"). Other outstanding versions of "La Llorona" include recordings by the legendary Chavela Vargas (recently seen in Julie Taymor's biopic of Frida Kahlo; Chavela was one of Frida's real-life lovers) and Mexican songstress Lila Downs (both found on the Frida soundtrack by Elliot Goldenthal).

The Huapango "El Preso Numero Nueve" (Prisoner Number Nine) is the first song on the CD that sounds exactly like the gorgeous ranchera/mariachi CDs by Linda Ronstadt recorded some twenty years after "Gracias A La Vida" was released. Bright mariachi brass and violins slide into strummed guitars in this haunting tale of a prisoner executed for a crime of passion. Next, the sinuous Cuban anthem "Guantanamera," penned by national poet-hero José Martí, followed by the poignant "Te Recuerdo, Amanda," by Chileño Victor Jara, who was assassinated by the Pinochet regime. Mariachi returns on "Cucurrucucu Paloma," trailed by the haunting a capella interlude "Paso Rio," which brought to mind the power of Gregorian chant.

Next, a beautiful song in Catalán, "El Rossniyol" (The Nightingale), with the soothing simplicity of a lullaby. The tone swings back to Mexican traditional on the lilting "De Colores." "Las Madres Cansadas" (The Weary Mothers) and "No Nos Moverán" are powerful testaments to the human spirit to overcome. Finally, the album closes on a bright note with "Esquinazo del Guerrillero" (Guerilla's Serenade).

Although many of the songs are short, there is much beauty and vibrant Hispanic culture to be enjoyed, including huapangos, songs of protest, and ballads, all tied together by Joan's lovely voice and perfect Spanish (her father was Mexican). If you enjoy "Gracias A La Vida," be sure to check out Linda Ronstadt's excellent "Canciones De Mi Padre" and "Más Canciones de Mi Padre," performed with the legendary Mariachi Vargas. Happy listening!

I do not know a word of Spanish, but this 1974 recording always moves me. The songs are so beautiful that one doesn't really need to understand the words to enjoy the music. Some are easy to sing along to, like the foot-tapping title track, Guantanamera, Cucuru Paloma and De Colores, while others are rather sad and a little more structurally complex, like Llego Con Tres Heridas and El Preso Numero Nueve. Subtitled 'Joan Baez Sings in Spanish', the album does contain one Catalan number and is a proper folk recording with songs from Spain and various Latin American countries. Most of the tracks have addictive Latin rhythms and catchy hooks; the instruments include acoustic, bass & classical guitars, cello, harp, harmonica, percussion, strings, flute & woodwinds while a Mariachi band provides backing on two songs.

It opens with the inspiring title track (Here's to Life), a lilting song written by Violeta Parra that lists lots of things to be grateful for. Llego Con Tres Heridas (I Come with Three Wounds) which follows is melancholy as Joan sings Miguel Hernández's lament on life, love and death. The mournful mood continues on the tuneful traditional song La Llorona (The Weeping Woman) after which the Mariachi band takes over on the rhythmic El Preso Número Nueve (Prisoner Number Nine). Guantanamera is especially buoyant with appealing guitar textures and on the wordless Dida, Joni Mitchell duets with Joan. The melodious Victor Jara song Te Recuerdo Amanda (I Remember you Amanda) has a more complex structure than the traditional material.

Cucurrucucú Paloma receives a festive treatment by the brilliant Mariachi Uclatlan and their swirling instrumental and vocal patterns, in sharp contrast to Joan's a cappella rendition of Paso Rio which introduces the slow Catalan folk song El Rossinyol (The Nightingale), another sombre excursion. The vibrant sing-along De Colores with its rousing melody precedes a tender and sad ballad Las Madres Cansadas (Weary Mothers). The protest song No Nos Moveran (We Shall Not Be Moved) is introduced by a spoken monologue by Rondalla Amerindia and the album concludes with an uptempo ballad titled Ezquinazo del Guerrillero. Gracias A La Vida is a most enjoyable listening experience with plenty of modal and stylistic variety.

I am a teacher of high school Spanish, I have been using this record for 2 decades in the classroom!. I finally decided to look for it in CD as the record/record player slides into history! Just today I used Rossinyol which is an example of the Catalan language. Guantanamera is poetry by Cuba's boy patriot, Jose Marti. La Llorona is sad, sorrowful legend. There is poetry by Pablo Neruda and United Farm worker songs of solidarity. It is a vertiable wealth of Spanish culture in one place.

My mom use to play this record during the seventies. Out of all Joan Baez's records, I remember this one the most! When Linda Ronstadt came out with her "Canciones ...", all I could think is how much she was following Joan. "Gracias a La Vida" is a recording of the old spanish songs sung around campfires, the stuff that is disappearing in the Southwest. I am glad to see this record is out on CD!

I liked this cd because Joan really expresses the feelings that every author wanted to with his song. I am mexican, I am used to listen to folk artists all the time, and since the first time I listened to her performance of "Llorona" I really loved it, because her voice is so bright, so clear, so full of pain, so within the lyrics. I think she really meant what she was singing at that time, and her voice was really in one of the best moments of her career.

This was featured as a "recording of the month" in Stereo Review magazine in 1974 and it was always worthwhile to explore recordings honored that way. Which is how I came by my first Joan Baez album and spent the next 26 years thankful that I saw that review. The range of emotion on this exciting disc, whose inspiration is maintained from beginning to end, is wonderful. It helps to know some Spanish, but the music is enough to lift you up. We have no finer singer among us than Joan Baez and you owe it to yourself to have this wonderful CD.

Joan combines her Hispanic heritage, love of folk music and commitment to the oppressed in this beautiful Spanish language album. Fans need not understand Spanish to enjoy the purity of her voice and the emotion of the rhythms. If you do speak Spanish, you will appreciate Joan's perfect pronunciations and the clarity of the lyrics. Recognize the title track from the fabulous album "Diamonds and Rust", and "El Preso Numero Nueve" and "Dida" from earlier albums as well. The track "La Madres Cansadas" is the Spanish translations of ("All the) Weary Mothers of the Earth" from Joan's album "Come From The Shadows".

I bought this album in the CD version for my boss who is from Mexico as a welcome gift. I knew she would like it since I really liked the LP version that I bought years ago. She liked it so much, she said she is going to loan it to her father since he's a big Joan Baez fan. If you want to hear an album that is incredibly tuneful, I totally recommend it.

Joan Baez delivers an enchanting performance on her collection, "Gracias A La Vida" (Thanks to Life). I owned it many years ago (in the 1970's) on vinyl. I was so pleased to find it on CD through Amazon.com. Her Spanish is impecable, and her delivery of such traditional Spanish folk ballads such as "La Llorona" (The Weeping Woman), "Guantanamera", "Cucurrucucu Paloma", "De Colores", "Las Madres Cansadas", and "No No, Nos Moveran" is no less than entrancing. Her crystal clear, bell like tones only add to the ethereal experience of this homage to latin culture. Baez lovers will cherish it. Even those unfamiliar with her work will find it hard to resist. Largo vive Joan Beaz!
- Lily Marlowe - Denver, Colorado

After many years using her splendid soprano voice to sing and record traditional and modern folksongs of the British Isles and the USA, and after traveling the world, singing to and for some of its most vulnerable peoples, Joan released this beautiful album of folk songs from Latin America, sung mostly in Spanish, with one song in Portuguese.

Joan had seen the world in all its glory and tragedy. She had worked tirelessly for peace in Vietnam, Ireland and other seemingly hopeless conflicts, standing up for humanity's greatest potential while viewing up close some of its greatest horrors and injustices. She marched with Martin and Cesar, sang to mothers who'd lost their children and wives whose husbands had been 'disappeared' by the juntas, and through it all she absorbed the cultures and music of the people she met, and the friends she made.

No doubt her father's Mexican heritage influenced her attraction to some of the songs on 'Gracias a la Vida', as well as her time with Cesar Chavez and traveling through the countries of South and Central America. After talking to the poets, artists and activists whose very words, in some circumstances, could bring about their arrest, imprisonment or worse, she put together this powerfully beautiful and ultimately transcendent collection of songs and poems set to music.

The words (which can be found by searching "baez gracias a la vida lyrics"), the melodies and the rhythms on this CD combine with Ms Baez' voice to provide a musical landscape that includes joyful celebration, thoughtful observations, loving tribute and painful, tragic loss. It is a CD to be treasured and listened to again and again!