Search - Joan Baez :: How Sweet The Sound

For The Fans

Mark D. Prouse | Riverdale (Bronx), NY | 10/20/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This companion piece to the fine American Masters program of the same title is a historical record of a lifetime of music and activism. It includes a couple of polished, slick tracks from studio albums (ONE DAY AT A TIME, BLESSED ARE...), but is otherwise made up of previously unreleased live recordings from Baez concerts spanning the decades. The quality of the sound varies (Barbara Allen the poorest, the studio stuff the clearest), but Joan's fans (this fan, anyway) will consider this recording a welcome, sweet gift from a gifted artist. Anyone who owns or has enjoyed the boxed set, RARE, LIVE & CLASSIC, will like this collection; its almost an addendum to that anthology (most of the repeated songs are different performances).



In her earliest period, when her voice was at its purest, Baez was excruciatingly serious, but at the same time, there was a sweetness that balanced the cold, detached quality of songs that were often hundreds of years old. She connected with these old melodies in a special way that turned them from museum artifacts into compelling stories, deeply felt and communicated. Back then, I sometimes got the feeling Joan was singing only to me -- they seemed that intimate. Although I've moved on to an extremely broad range of music, and collected every kind of music imaginable, I credit Joan Baez for sparking my love of music at the age of seven (1960), and so, along with just a handful of others whose careers have been almost as long (Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Ian Tyson), I've kept up with her career. There are many touchstones here, some welcome (Joan's own "Song For David," Tom Waits' "Day After Tomorrow" from her latest release, here represented in a live version), some not so (the long, musically boring "With God On Our Side," the nasal, inexplicable hit, "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down"), but as a whole, reviewing Joan's 50-year long career on this brief CD was lovely. I even enjoyed, warts and all, the raucous, live duet with Bob Dylan, "I Pity The Poor Immigrant." The shining highlight of this collection is a 2009 live recording of the self-penned, "Love Song To A Stranger," accompanied by guitar and piano. Even with a voice revealing some of the inevitable wear and tear of time, this performance rivals the studio version, recorded over thirty years earlier!



I recommend this CD in tandem with the DVD, which has around 90 minutes worth of bonus material, not seen on the PBS airing of HOW SWEET THE SOUND. Get the Deluxe DVD Edition (it's only a couple of bucks more), and you'll have both the film and the CD soundtrack."

A wonderful retrospective

L. Herman | Mclean, VA USA | 10/15/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A wonderful and insightful look back at the life and career of a very special artist."

Diamonds and Rarities

Tim Brough | Springfield, PA United States | 01/05/2010

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This CD serves as the soundtrack to the PBS special (and now on DVD) How Sweet The Sound, a biography of Joan Baez. Musically, it's an interesting batch of rarities and live cuts with a trio of choice studio selections. The rarities will delight fans; a pair of rare live songs from 1958 from Club 47 in Massachusetts. While the quality is not the highest, they showcase a young and pure voice already skilled at interpreting traditional folks songs ("I Will Never Marry" and "Barbra Allen"). Live songs later in the album find Joan in the 2000's interpreting modern folk classics writers like Steve Earle.



She also shows here ability to reach the heart of other persons' songs, like Robbie Robertson's "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" (studio version) and Bob Dylan's "With God on Our Side" (live version). Her own writing has also yielded classics, with the obvious - "Diamonds and Rust," speaking of Dylan - here in a 2008 concert version. "How Sweet The Sound" contains this 15 song mixture, which makes it very nice for folkies or fans of Joan Baez, but not essential.



Also recommended: Day After Tomorrow

Joan Baez' Greatest Hits"