Product Details

• Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Razor & Tie
• DVD Release Date: October 13, 2009
• Run Time: 150 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B002LMOAUQ
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #5,637 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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  Music > Folk > Traditional Folk

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

In the first comprehensive documentary to chronicle the private life and public career of Joan Baez, How Sweet The Sound examines her history as a recording artist and performer as well as her remarkable journey as the conscience of a generation. How Sweet The Sound features interviews with David Crosby, Bob Dylan, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, Roger McGuinn and others, as well as a candid conversation between Joan and ex-husband David Harris. The film is rich is historic archival material including footage of Baez' controversial visit to North Vietnam, Martin Luther King Jr. outside a California prison, where he visited Joan to offer his support after she was jailed for protesting the draft during the Vietnam War, and never-before-seen film of Joan as a teenager performing at Club 47 in Cambridge, where her career was launched in 1958.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

52 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Exquisite Portrait of the Queen of Folk!, October 13, 2009

By	Movielovr777 - See all my reviews

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At long last! Those of us who've followed Joan Baez' career (some since her beginning 50 years ago at the Newport Folk Festival) have watched her evolve into a legend in the folk music genre, an iconic figure with unparalleled skills as singer/songwriter, musician, and interpreter of some of the most beautiful and evocative folk, country, blues and rock songs ever written. We've bought her albums, then her cassettes, then her cd's, but we've also watched, listened and read about her efforts on behalf of the most vulnerable, war torn, disenfranchised and persecuted throughout the world.

Joan has stood with only her guitar and her clear, luminous voice braving dictators and bullies, military henchmen and bigoted thugs who would try to silence her from speaking or singing, determined to bring comfort and solace where she could, and hope and inspiration where she might. She has sung, marched, written about and simply been present at some of the seminal events of the past century; she has seen the triumphs and tragedies close up.

And finally this remarkable life has been documented with a depth befitting the woman who has quite rightfully become known as the Queen of Folk! The PBS 'American Masters' film takes us inside Joan's family, provides unprecedented access to friends and colleagues, and reveals the influences for her activism and her music---all candidly intimate and not always flattering, but never less than fascinating and sometimes funny, often poignant and always enthralling.

I would urge anyone who is familiar with and appreciates Ms. Baez' music to see this extraordinary documentary, and enjoy the splendid cd of her music that accompanies the DVD and traverses her career from its very beginnings to her most recent release, produced by Steve Earle. It's been a long time coming, but it's here at last...THANK YOU, Joan Baez, PBS and the producers and filmmakers for this wonderful tribute!

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Joan Baez, Folksinger, October 19, 2009

By	Amos Lassen (Little Rock, Arkansas) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)

"How Sweet the Sound"

Joan Baez,Folksinger

Amos Lassen

Having always been a Joan Baez fan, I often wondered why she had never released a DVD. I finally have one and I could not be happier. I once met Baez in New Orleans when she appeared at the House of Blues but my greatest memory of her is when she sang at the Roman amphitheater in Caesarea, Israel. All alone on the stage with just a guitar, Baez held the audience spellbound as she sang and that was no easy job. All of the who's who if the Israel music industry was in the audience and everyone loved the show.
"How Sweet the Sound" is a documentary on her life that was shown on PBS and it chronicles both the private side and the public career of Joan Baez. She was our conscience in the 60's and early 70's--we listened to her songs and we took up her causes. It is hard to believe that she has been singing for 50 years. The film features interviews with some of her contemporaries--David Crosby, Bob Dylan, Jesse Jackson, Roger McGuinn and with her ex-husband, David Harris. We are with Joan in Vietnam, when she marched with Martin Luther King, as a teenager performing and in Sarajevo. She is a legend and an icon and she has done so much--an activist, a singer, a songwriter, an interpreter, a musician and above all a real person. We have watched her and listened to her. She has faced dictators and haters but she has not been silenced. The film brought tears to my eyes several times.
It is very interesting to hear Dylan speak of her and to meet her son Gabe, who now plays in her band.
The only problem I have is that I wanted more and she deserves more. Packaged with the DVD is a CD of 16 songs spanning her career. If you love folk music as much as I do, this is a film you will want to have. I got it three days ago and have already watched it four times.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good program to watch, November 15, 2009

By	Barbara A. Smits - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

I saw this program on Public Television and liked it so well that I wanted my own copy to watch. I have been a big Joan Baez fan since she first came on the scene in the 60"s and it was great to see her finally get her "due" for all of the years that she has spent in the public spotlight. It was sad to think of those early days being past and gone, however, as public sentiment no longer seems to favor music that has much of a "message" that motivates young people toward public service and involvement...the protest generation is passing away (love them or hate them), much like the aging veterans who have fought for our country are dwindling in numbers...sigh. Most music sounds the same today, and there are few who take my breath away as Joan Baez did when I heard her first song on the radio many years ago. As far as the CD goes, I have most of her releases so there wasn't much new on it for me, but it will be good for those who are just coming on board. Buy and enjoy!