Dark Chords on a Big Guitar

Joan Baez

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 9, 2003)
• Original Release Date: September 9, 2003
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Koch Records
• ASIN: B0000AINL7
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #120,708 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Though she was earliest known as a folk traditionalist, Joan Baez has long been recognized for her good taste in contemporary songcraft. Four decades after introducing the young Bob Dylan to a wider listenership, she here finds kindred spirits in a range of artists from Greg Brown ("Sleeper," "Rexrith's Daughter") to Gillian Welch and David Rawlings ("Caleb Meyer," "Elvis Presley Blues") to Natalie Merchant (whose "Motherland" could have been written made to order for Baez) to young Josh Ritter ("Wings"). Her empathic version of the standout "In My Time of Need" by Ryan Adams shows that whatever she's lost in the upper register of her soprano, she's gained in the interpretive depth of her lower register. She also covers the comparatively quirky "Rosemary Moore" by Adams' former Whiskeytown bandmate, Caitlin Cary. Though the closing "Christmas in Washington" finds her pristine vocal smoothing the emotional rough edges from Steve Earle's original, most of the rest finds her not only selecting inspired material, but doing justice to it. --Don McLeese

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Surprisingly, one of Baez's best albums!, September 10, 2003

By	"nmiller3784" (Lewiston, ME United States) - See all my reviews

I must say that I was extremely sceptical when I heard that Joan Baez was going to release a new album. I knew that she had lost some of her vocal range, and modern productions have a tendency to diminish the impact of records by veteran artists.
However, while Baez's voice is not the same as it was in the 60s or 70s, it is much lower, huskier, and ultimately warmer and more accessible than ever before. The production, while definitely modern, fortunately never gets in the way of the material.
The album's strongest suit, however, is the songs themselves. Baez has always had a knack for finding great material from other artists, and all ten songs here are fantastic. She did not include any of her own compositions (she claims to have given up writing songs), but that is hardly missed at all. The writing, despite being the work of many different pens, is uniformly dark and ominous. However, many tracks are simultaneously sultry and exciting, which makes for a fine listen both the first time around and after repeated listenings. There is a folk-rock core to the songs, but over this is an interesting mixture of blues, jazz, and occasionally a fairly hard (for Baez) rock sound. This is one of her best albums, and certainly her most consistent. Not even Diamonds and Rust or Any Day Now had this depth of emotion or unity of texture.
Perhaps the most effective review I can give this album is this: I hope Baez puts out another album like this, and soon. Thanks, Joan!

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Joan's new "older" voice, September 28, 2003

By	"georgem-uk" (Warrington, Cheshire, UK) - See all my reviews

Like other Dark Chords reviewers I feel that Joan Baez is
choosing to use her voice in a particular way on this recording in a way that suits the music, the songs themselves and the times we are living in. It is a number of years since I heard Joan Baez sing live -1997, I think - when she sang "Matty Groves", from one of her earliest recordings in full soprano and faultlessly - all 22 verses! These songs on Dark Chords would not sound right sung in a high soprano voice: they are more earthy and I think Joan's treatment of them on this CD is no less than superb. To my ear this CD sounds as good - and at times as raw - as a live performance. It's true that Joan's voice is changing over time but she seems to be rising
wonderfully to the challenge of a new style suggested by the songs themselves. I feel, too, that her singing voice is now much closer than before to her speaking voice which always has to my mind been much deeper than her "achingly pure soprano" when singing. Her current singing style has a contemporary edge to it, which is likely to get more people listening to her work and more radio playing than was maybe the case previously. People I have played the CD to are using words like "mellow" and comment how well the voice and the band blend on most tracks. I was pleased to see Dark Chord listed on some website
under "Adult Contemporary". This recording seems to be leaning
towards commercial values without compromising the integrity of Joan, the main performer, or her beliefs. Joan Baez is back on the music scene (though for her die-hard fans she has always been there.) All this just to say that I like this CD very much!!! Go on, treat yourself! Buy Dark Chords on a Big Guitat and revel in the quality of a lovingly put-together piece of music craft!

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Probably my favorite Baez, January 20, 2005

By	R. Kyle (USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

My only complaint is recording quality. The selection of music and Baez's voice and arrangements is wonderful. This is a more rocked-out version of Baez than we are used to.

Among my favorites are "Sleeper" the opening song, a sensuous tale of lovers, "Caleb Meyer" a tale of a feisty woman fighting off a would-be rapist:

Caleb Meyer your ghost is goin
To wear those rattlin chains
WHen I go to sleep at night
Don't you call my name

I've been a fan of Baez for years and this is something of a departure from what you'll normally hear, but I think an enjoyable listen. Her voice and choice of music is always worthwhile.