Joan Baez - Joan Baez

Released - November 1960

Genre - Folk

Producer - Maynard Solomon

Selected Personnel - Joan Baez (Vocals/Guitar); Fred Hellerman (Guitar)
Standout Track - Fare Thee Well (10,000 Miles)

It's a great testament to the incredible power of Joan Baez's remarkable voice that she would go on to be revered as one of the most significant political and protest singers of the folk music scene in the 1960s, without ever really writing a song herself. There were incidents of Baez turning her hand to composition (most notably 1975's "Diamonds & Rust"), but she largely constrained her work to interpreting the songs of others and using them to draw attention to her own strongly voiced political and activist demonstrations and stances. She was perhaps best known as an interpreter and early champion of Bob Dylan's work, claiming that his songs were able to update the issues of justice that were prevalent in traditional spirituals in ways that other contemporary songwriters couldn't. Already regarded as the "Queen of Folk Rock" long before Dylan was crowned its King, Baez's early championing of Dylan's work was certainly a contributing factor towards the development of his popularity.

In 1960, however, with the release of her self-titled debut album, all this was yet to come. Here there is no Dylan, no activism, no sense of the headstrong young protester. It is perhaps the album where, more than any of her others, the focus is placed very firmly on nothing other than the one thing that really makes Baez so special - her voice. Here, Baez's intention was not to make a point or raise any sort of challenge, it was simply to sing familiar songs in a way that reinvigorated them, and it more than succeeds in that ambition. The setlist for the album consists entirely of traditional folk songs, including two Child Ballads. It's perhaps not the most adventurous or innovative conception for an album ever committed to record, but when an artist can sing as beautifully as Baez, there's no need to really try and be adventurous. Her voice soars over the simple and sparse guitar accompaniment, rendering these songs in their perfect simplicity, unadorned and simply left to speak for themselves. Not everything totally connects - "Mary Hamilton" is overlong and the vocal performance less engaging than elsewhere, for instance, but for the most part this is a perfect collection of upbeat and beautiful folk music, heralding the first early glimmers of the great protest singer that was soon to emerge. Best listened to outdoors and in sunshine and ideally surrounded by trees. It's that kind of album.

Track Listing:

All songs are Traditional, except where noted.

1. Silver Dagger

2. East Virginia

3. Fare Thee Well (10,000 Miles)

4. House Of The Rising Sun

5. All My Trials

6. Wildwood Flower

7. Donna Donna (Sholom Secunda & Aaron Zeitlin; English lyrics by Arthur Kevess & Teddi Schwarz)

8. John Riley

9. Rake And Rambling Boy

10. Little Moses

11. Mary Hamilton

12. Henry Martin

13. El Preso Numero Nueve