#24 Joan Baez by Joan Baez

While I apologise for the Hairspray song it was not without good cause. It’s officially the first album of the sixties and I couldn’t be more excited to try out the works of The Who and Bob Dylan as well as some of the odder titled albums (Trout Mask Replica by Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band immediately springs to mind). Wait, I think I will take back the apology. In the end Hairspray is an amazing feel-good film and that is what the sixties was about, right? Hope, happiness and hair.

As for the first album of the decade I had a bit of a double take moment as soon as Silver Dagger began to play, for the resemblance between the Joan Baez and Joni Mitchell for me was rather startling. So for the rest of the album I tried to listen out for more of these similarities which cropped up again and again, such as in All My Trials which in places reminds me of My Old Man off of Blue. This got me to thinking as to how with out Joan Baez there may not have been as open a door for Joni Mitchell to walk though. This would have a cascade effect on many of the singers that I listen to, such as KT Tunstall, Amy Macdonald and Lene Marlin. For that I do feel a bit indebted to this album as a whole for giving me so much in influential listening pleasure.

But hey, this is all well and good but what do I think of the album as a whole? The short answer is that I really enjoyed it. The minimal orchestration works really well here and to my knowledge is the first album on the list to feature such a sparse arrangement. The majority of the songs feature only a woman with an impressive vibrato and her guitar. That’s it. Nowadays this doesn’t sound too breathtaking as women vocalists are on equal footing with men now and are equally armed in string instruments. In fact it‘s common place that a new musical revolution would be a kind relief. Back then though this was an oddity, think of At Mister Kelly’s and Lady In Satin where the women were backed by a full orchestra. Instead there is a series of beautifully executed folk songs with such emotional dexterity, the most emotion being placed behind her version of Mary Hamilton which made me cry when I started listening to the lyrics.

While it may sound in a way clichéd from me but this is just one of those albums where you can just faintly see the blueprints of a whole genre of music which inspires a future cohort of women to take arms (ok guitars) and play away. Needless to say that there probably won’t be a voice quite like Joan Baez… apart from Joni Mitchell. But that’s a mute point surely. I can foresee many more plays of this album in the future so it is definitely deserving of a high rating.

8.5/10

Fab Four:
Silver Dagger
Donna Donna
Little Moses
Mary Hamilton