Track Listing

1. Once I Had a Sweetheart
2. Jack-A-Roe
3. Gospel Ship (When We're Traveling Through the Air)
4. House Carpenter
5. Copper Kettle
6. Kumbaya
7. What Have They Done to the Rain?
8. Black Is the Color of My True Love's Hair
9. Danger Waters (Hold Me Tight)
10. Long Black Veil
11. Fennario
12. Nu bello cardillo
13. Don't Think Twice, It's All Right
14. We Shall Overcome
15. Portland Town
16. Queen of Hearts
17. Manha de Carnaval
18. 'Te Manha
19. Geordie
20. With God on Our Side

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #116904 in Music
• Released on: 1990-10-25
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Live

Customer Reviews

One voice, one guitar, one mind, one heart, one soul...
This is a compilation of live performances in 1962 and '63, including "We Shall Overcome" done at predominately black Mills College in Alabama in '63. Of the 20 selections, two are early Dylan classics ("Don't Think Twice" and "With God on our Side.") Three are sung in Spanish or Portuguese and ten are traditional folk airs. In the current age, when Britney Spears at 19 requires background dancers, taped vocals, fireworks, smoke, mirrors, et. al., it is refreshing to be reminded that in the early 60's, at around the same age as Britney, Ms. Baez could hold an audience with just her voice, excellent solo guitar work, and her perfect phrasing and diction. In addition, the songs often meant something real, and were worth learning. She bared her feet, but not her midriff, and her heart, but not her breasts. For those who would like to find out what made her the female lead performer of the whole folk/protest revival, this disc is a good purchase. For those who liked her back then, and would enjoy having some of her best early work on CD, it's also a great buy. My own favorite is "Gospel Ship"...and even if you aren't Christian, or don't normally like hymns, the clarity of her vocal, the crispness of her guitar accompaniment, and the simplicity of the song combine to make a three-minute wonder here. I also love the way she does "Long Black Veil" and for my dough, only Johnny Cash equals her performance. "Fennario" is great as well, but you may know it as "Pretty Peggy O". Dylan did this on his own debut album, and comparing the two versions is a treat. Joan's version of "Don't Think Twice, it's Alright" is equal to Bob's own, at least, in emotional impact. "We Shall Overcome" is probably the second best version by a white artist behind Pete Seeger's. This collection even offers "Kumbaya" the much-maligned campfire sing-along, but Joan is the one who made it so ubiquitous that people eventually got tired of it. Listen to it here, recorded in '62, and you realize why people fell in love with singing it.

another beauty by joanie
Eveything Baez does - esp. her earlier work, like this one - is beautiful to me. This is a good mosaic of many of her styles: classic broadside ballads (Fennario), Dylan (Don't Think Twice, With God, etc.), Appalachia (Copper Kettle), Spanish/Portuguese (Te Manha, etc.), Gospel (Gospel Ship), etc. This is the first Baez album I ever bought, and learned to play guitar with in the 60's. It's still a thrill - beautiful.

Great!
Only one of two Joan Baez albums I've heard-but I love it! My favorites are Long Black Veil, Don't Think Twice, and With God ... She has SUCH an absolutely beautiful voice... and boy, do I wish I could play the guitar like that! I love Bob Dylan, but I can't help thinking she sounds better singing his songs than he does. (Sorry!)