Joan - JOAN BAEZ****

Be Not Too Hard/Eleanor Rigby/Turquoise/La Colombe/Dangling Conversation/The Lady Came From Baltimore/ North/Children Of Darkness/The Green Wood Side/If You Were A Carpenter/Annabel Lee/Saigon Bride

With this simply titled album the legendary Joan Baez introduces orchestration and begins to move away from her folk base to cover some contemporary pop hits. (US:38)

"One of Joan Baez's better albums. It was recorded in a period where Joan had begun to sing popular songs like Simon and Garfunkel's Dangling Conversation and the Beatles Eleanor Rigby. If you like Joan's singing this is a beautiful example of her voice at the peak of her game."

"This is a magnificent Joan Baez LP and one of her finest efforts. The music is glorious and her voice, well... Joan is Joan. What more need one say? The orchestration on this recording may need getting used to, particularly if one is used to hearing Ms. Baez accompanied only by a strumming guitar. It is a rich, full bodied, musical orchestration that, at times, is replete with guitar, piano, organ, vibraphone, bass, drums, percussion, French horns, trumpets, trombones, oboes, bassoons, tambourine, harp and celesta. It is a fitting orchestration for a singer with the voice of an angel."

"This album is truly a masterpiece. I think E.A. Poe would have approved of his poetry being put to music such as in Annabel Lee. And if your rational side didn't bring you to the realize how insane the Vietnam war was, Saigon Bride would surely make your emotional side realize it. The depth of feeling of this album is incredible."

"I believe this is the loveliest of them all. Excellent in so many respects I'll point to Saigon Bride as one of the most beautiful on this release. If you don't know her work, start here."

"Joan's main problem lies in the arrangements. On Jacques Brel's La Colombe - a song which was tailor-made for Baez, the orchestra simply drowns her out. Ditto for The Lady Came From Baltimore and too many other tracks. Best cut is Be Not To Hard which features just Joan and her guitar. That's enough."

"I didn't really start enjoying this album until around mid-way where she leaves off decent renditions of pop songs and returns to some really beautiful folk numbers."