Live in Europe 83 Review

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(More customer reviews)This album was recorded live in Europe during the days (back in the Reagan-crazed mid-1980's) when Baez could not find a stateside label. Listening to it is so great a pleasure that one almost feels sorry for those small-minded American record distributors who were busy packaging Milli Vanilli and Wham! Baez sings "The Love Inside" like a cello and does "Jaria Humada" as if she were a native of Baghdad.
Her voice and its interpretive power have mellowed and aged like good wine. "Live Europe" is an international treasure. Europeans prove once again that they recognize timeless talent when they hear it. As usual, unfortunately, they continue to put American audiences to shame.

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French live release. Subtitled 'Children Of The Night'.Fourteen tracks including 'Farewell Angelina', 'A HardRain's A Gonna Fall', 'Me And Bobby McGee' & 'Imagine'.

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Day After Tomorrow Review

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(More customer reviews)I put this on my iPod as soon as I was able to lay hands on a review copy and have been listening to it almost every day for weeks, without ever being inclined to skip a single track. Here's the review I wrote for The Australian newspaper in Sydney:
IT has been quite a while since the ethereal soprano that thrilled Joan Baez's early audiences made way for an earthier alto, and her voice has mellowed further over the decades. It remains a captivating instrument, but on studio recordings during the past couple of decades it has invariably been mixed too low and, as a result, overwhelmed by the orchestration. Day After Tomorrow demonstrates the folly of that technique: here the vocals are accorded the primacy they deserve and complemented by exquisitely balanced acoustic accompaniment. Add to that the most sublime bunch of songs to have graced a Baez disc since the mid-1970s, and the result is an outstanding addition to her oeuvre. The achievement can be credited in part to Steve Earle, who not only produced the album but contributed 30 per cent of the songs, including the opening and closing tracks, God is God and Jericho Road. They are both formidable songs in the vein of Christmas in Washington, but neither of them is quite as poignant as the gently anti-war title track, penned by Tom Waits, and Baez's take on Elvis Costello and T-Bone Burnett's Scarlet Tide is equally arresting. She has consistently been supportive of younger songwriters (including B. Dylan in the days when he was a complete unknown and she had already graced the cover of Time magazine), and in this instance has included a couple of songs by Eliza Gilkyson (Rose of Sharon and Requiem) that are redolent of the Child ballads that once constituted the core of Baez's repertoire, as well as one by Thea Gilmore (The Lower Road). The Bush administration's outrages have rekindled Baez's activism, and this may be her most socially conscious disc since the `80s, but it takes the path of subtle lamentation rather than strident sloganeering. At barely 37 minutes, the album is arguably too fleeting a pleasure, but its contents unquestionably fall in the category of diamonds, not rust.

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2008 marks Joan Baex 50th anniversary as a recording artist. The album was produced by the legendary Steve Earle. Joan gives her distinct interpretations to songs from Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, Steve Earle, Patty Griffin and more. Razor and Tie.

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Bob Dylan - Rolling Thunder Revue, 1976 (1976) Review

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(More customer reviews)This is an interesting, if odd DVD. The production values are adequate (especially given the "loosness" of the Rolling Thunder performances. What makes it oddest is the Asian subtitles during many of the performances, along with Asian titles for the songs, and occaisionally a red banner with some sort of Asian commentary floating across the screen. The DVD starts directly into the first perfomance - then ends abruptly. The rest of the DVD goes smoothly from one song to the next, except near the end. Then the last song fades out not even a minute in. Very odd indeed, though for a Dylan fan, a decent record of the Rolling Thunder time period.

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Bob Dylan (lead vocals, guitar), Joan Baez (vocals), Scarlet Rivera (violin), TBone Burnette (guitar, piano), Steven Soles, Mick Ronson (guitars), Bobby Neuwirth, Roger McGuinn (guitars & vocals), David Mansfi eld (steel guitar, mandolin, violin, dobro), Rob Stoner (bass), Howie Wyeth (drums), Gary Burke (congas) A Hard Rain s A-Gonna Fall -- Blowin In The Wind -- Deportees -- I Pity The Poor Immigrant -- Shelter From The Storm -- Maggie s Farm -- One Too Many Mornings -- Mozambique -- Idiot Wind -- Knockin On Heaven s Door recorded live at Hughes Stadium, Fort Collins, Colorado, May 23, 1976 I had little in common with and knew even less about a generation that I was supposed to be the voice of... , Bob Dylan writes in his 2004 autobiography Chronicles Volume One . Plain words that symbolised his diffi cult relationship with the off stage world. Adored by his fans and thought of as some kind of Messiah by the media, Dylan spent the better part of his life trying to escape their stifl ing embrace. Even Bob Dylan himself can t deny the social impact of his songs. For four decades, The thinking man s Elvis (Warhol) has been a captivator, provoker, confuser and innovator who released more than 500 songs and played thousands of sometimes wondrous, sometimes wonderful concerts around the globe. One of those concerts was on May 23rd 1976 when Dylan played in the frame of his Rolling thunder revue tour 75/ 76 in the Hugh stadium in Fort Collins, Colorado.

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