Customer Reviews

Noel

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Joan Baez has the perfect voice for these lovely old (or seemingly old) Christmas carols---a plangent, high, pure soprano. Only her fast vibrato keeps her from being mistaken for a Vienna choir boy.

It was eerie to hear her sing these carols again on CD, almost forty years after I first heard them on vinyl. In that decades-long interval, no one has ever managed to sing "The Little Drummer Boy" without sounding saccharine and/or lachrymose. I grew to despise the "rump bump bump bums" that resounded every Christmas season through elevators and K-Marts---until I heard Joan sing the song again. Somehow her straightforward presentation, with medieval-sounding accompaniment turns this 1940's chestnut into a haunting Childe ballad.

This CD has a good mix of traditional carols, and some that may sound unfamiliar, e.g. "Down in Yon Forrest." For those of us who still remember the original vinyl release, there is the pleasant surprise of six additional songs.

Another new add-on is "The Making of Noël"-liner notes by none other than Peter Schickele, the discoverer of that 'highly figmental composer' P.D.Q. Bach! Schickele also happened to write the arrangements for this album of Christmas songs back in 1965, and talks about his experiences with Joan Baez.

The original liner notes---a poem by Joan Baez---are also included.

If, like me, you heard this record every December when you were growing up, this reissue is a must-have. It is one of those Christmas classics for me, up there with the Waverly Consort's Christmas and New York Pro Musica's Play of Herod. It is also (I have to admit) one of my favorite Joan Baez albums.
I have to disagree with one of the prior reviewers, who questioned the need for an expanded reissue. Now I have to admit my prejudice here--I love expanded reissues. I love hearing what got left off the initial release, even if it was deservedly omitted the first time. In this case, the expanded reissue is worth it, if just to hear Joan's rendition of "the First Noel."
There is, as other reviewers have noted, a dark side to this album, a dark side that keeps it from slipping into treacly sentimentality. For that and other reasons, it has staying power. Brava, Joan. Bravo, Peter Schickle, the arranger. And bravo to the Solomons, the original producers and creative force behind the album. This team would go on to make the great, now-forgotten BAPTISM, an even darker album of songs and poetry. But that's for another season.

now, the remastered release adds several tracks not present on the original. How could it get any better that that?

Being almost as old as Joan Baez is, I am now finally replacing my 60s LPs with CDs, remembering, recapturing a time I thought behind me. This recording of Joan Baez is different from her usual, as it is of traditional pieces, not of political protest. One gets to hear her voice, her lovely voice, and not be conflicted with a contrary point of view. Consequently it should be heard by a wider audience. This is about joy and the music simply sparkles

The hidden treat here is that the arrangements are by Prof Peter Schickele, too often unheralded for the excellent musician/musicologist he is aside from his more (n)famous PDQ Bach genre. I LOVE the percussive harpsichord in The Little Drummer Boy: it always gets REPEATS on my playlists.

I came searching Amazon for the album as originally released, and a can't be more pleased that it has 'grown', as well as matured. If pageants can be intimate, this sequence of vocal and instrumental tracks certainly qualifies.

Joan Baez' "Noel" cranked playfully in the Christmastime of my past, alongside perennial muzak-favorites by Perry Como, Johnny Mathis, and Percy Faith. But for some reason, it called to a darker side of the season, perfect alongside cold weather and the mystery of childhood that I seem to recall now with the season itself.

With years' distance and a little more musical maturity, this album strikes me as one of the most original and stark Christmas releases available. Whereas Vince Guraldi's "Charlie Brown" work brings to mind those funny cartoons dancing, and umpteen retro-heavy diva cassettes play on in Restoration Hardware and The Gap beckoning a million recycled memories, Joan Baez lifts the season up, up, out of itself, fusing American Indian, folk, medieval, and even African - sounding tones into a wicked, forlorn wintry masterpiece. The intro to "I Wonder As I Wander" chimes with a sort of otherworldly demeanor, and her soaring voice lends an almost angelic quality to "Ave Maria". In between her steadfast renditions of longtime favorites are a few contemplative instrumentals, nothing overdone, the entire record stately and misunderstood by even the (then) beatnik crowd that once embraced her.

You can have your cheesy holiday schmaltz. This is, as Linus once intoned, "what Christmas is all about".

On this stately and sometimes sombre work, Joan Baez is backed by traditional instruments like recorders, viols, lute, pipe organ, strings and harpsichord. The intention was to make the sound reminiscent of the various periods in which the carols were written. Noel is thus completely different from her 1960s folk recordings with the prominent acoustic guitar.

Her voice is pristine and the arrangements outstanding, especially on tracks like Little Drummer Boy and Ave Maria (a classical arrangement, sung in German). The songs are interspersed with short instrumental like Good King Wenceslas, Bring A Torch, Deck The Halls, Angels We Have Heard On High and Adeste Fidelis, that add to the medieval mood of the album.

There is plenty of variety though, as for example the mournful Mary's Wandering is followed by the brief instrumental Deck The Halls and that, in turn, by her beautiful soulful version of Away In A Manger with its gripping harpsichord sounds. Baez' voice really soars on Cantique De Noel and What Child Is This, whilst Silent Night receives a tender and subdued treatment.

One of my favourites is The First Noel with its powerful, uptempo arrangement. This wonderful album concludes with a beautiful French version of Away In A Manger. The overall atmosphere is reverent and devotional rather than joyful and festive, which makes Noel an exception amongst Christmas albums.

The CD booklet includes the history of the making of the album by arranger Peter Schickerle, the original liner notes and some lovely photos of Joan, including the cover of the original vinyl LP. Noel was a surprise for me as a long-time Baez fan since the sound is so different from both her early folk work and her later art song material.

Her sweet music used to flow out of my Mothers record player when I was very little. She would play it as the Thanksgiving dishes where being washed. It was a christmas tradition. Overtime I grew up and the record player became obsulute, and the record became damaged over time. What joy it was for me to find "Noel" on Amazon. When I hear Joan Baez sing O' come o' come Emanuel, I remember how much I wanted to sing like her. I thought I'd never get to hear that collection again. To put it simply this record is the Magic of my remains.

Christmas is not Christmas without this beautiful recording.

After having given this album/cd to friends throughout the years, I discovered recently that I didn't have my own copy anymore. I looked everywhere--big box stores, used music stores, etc.--but to no avail. I finally checked Amazon, and was happy to find it in this new, remastered version, along with additional tracks not present on the original.

This recording is an amazing combination of Baez's impeccable soprano, extraordinarily nuanced arrangements, and an 'x' factor that I can only call "sublime." Most Christmas music (to my ears) bounds forward in an unreflective, mechanized glee. Not so here. The pathos inherent in Christ's birth--so often overlooked in most Christmas music--is fully present in this gorgeous album, and serves as a necessary counterpoint to the joy and wonder of the nativity.

If you need a cure for the overwhelming commercialism that has become Christmas, just play this album. It will reconnect you in a profound way with the simple beauty of Christmas.

There is no Rust here, just Diamonds and other jewels. This CD has a magical, medieval, madrigal flair - multi-lingual and multi-instumental. Oddly morose for this usually joyous and jubilant season, Joan shines with these mostly minor-keyed morsels!

This is my favourite Christmas album of all time. I heard this every Christmas when I was growing up and I am ecstatic to find it on CD. The carols are beautifully arranged and sung in Joan Baez' clear, glorious voice. Other pieces are instrumental using traditional Baroque instruments. Her version of "Little Drummer Boy" gives Bing Crosby a run for his money!

I am so ecstatic that this is now on cd. Ihad it originlly when it was on eight track. (Remember those?) It was always one of my favorite Christmas recordings and I thought it was lost forever. However, there's a bonus. If I'm not mistaken, there are a few added tracks on this version. Yes, I'm going to purchase it. I've looked for it before and couldn't find it. this wasa total surprise.