Joan Baez - The Complete A&M Recordings

Recovering the past.

It was refreshing to hear again one of the great voices of the protest era! The recordings were of excellent quality. February 17, 2007

The best of the best of Baez

After pleading and cajoling with A&M records for years, they finally remastered the recordings Joan Baez made while with their label and released them in one package. Her most politically sound and vigorous recordings were during this turbulent time in US history.

"Where Are You Now, My Son?" contains an audio recording of Baez' visit to Hanoi during Christmas of 1972 which included some of the worst of the US bombing raids. The plaintive voices of parents whose children have been killed by American bombs dropped from the sky is heartbreaking all these decades later.

The A&M collection also includes "Gulf Winds", of which the autobiographical song of the same name is worth the price of the entire set. It is Baez, a guitar and her voice telling her childhood in her own words. It is hauntingly beautiful as it explores concerns that are still of interest as she describes what it was like to grow up a brown-skinned girl in a world that values only white. "From Every Stage" is a live recording featuring Joan acoustically and with a band. One of the show stoppers on this album is her rendering of "Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts" from the recently released "Tangled up in Blue" by Bob Dylan. This CD includes two pieces never released before to sweeten the deal. This really is a wealthy of goodies for Joan's fans. January 24, 2007

Joan's best Record on this great CD set

For years I have been looking to replace my lost, "Come from the Shadows LP".On this great collection of Joan Baez recordings is the complete album.
Come from the Shadows contains memorable tracks such as Prison Trilogy,Imagine,and To Bobby.
This disc is worth the money of the set on its own however the other recordings contain some classic Joan.
Highly recommended for all Joan Baez fans. September 10, 2006

Some of her best work

I don't think anyone can argue that "Diamonds and Rust" was Joan's finest album. I believe it was also her best selling album since her earliest Vanguard recordings. Her work during her tenure with A&M represents some of the best of her career. And that label gave her the treatment she deserved. I purchased the "Come from the Shadows" album first on a QS quad LP, and the sound blew me away. I was already a JB fan, but this more than cemented my fandom. I somehow missed "Where Are You Now, My Son", but was glad to have it on this set. "Gulf Winds" was another favorite of mine, especially the track "Caruso". I had all of these on vinyl; now, on these remastered CD's, the music and all the subtleties show through even better than ever. I have to agree with the reviewers who were less than satisfied with the packaging. I, too, would have liked to see the tracks listed on each disc. I would have also liked for these discs to be hybrid SACD's. Guess you can't have everything. April 13, 2006

Never mind the depth, feel the quantity!

This box set gives you the complete A&M Recordings (1972 -- 1976) containing Come From The Shadows (1972), Where Are You Now My Son? (1973), Gracias A La Vida (Here's To Life) (1974), Diamonds And Rust (1975), Gulf Winds (1976) and From Every Stage (1976). Also are a trio of 45-rpm b-sides making their digital debut on this compendium, including a cover of Bob Dylan's "Forever Young", and Baez originals "Where's My Apple Pie" and "Johnny I Hardly Knew Yeh".

After a dozen years on Vanguard Records, her first effort for A&M was the politically-charged Come In From The Shadows. The album became notable not only for its' heavy Nashville influence, but also for the bold "Song Of Bangladesh," her open letter to Dylan on "Bobby," as well as the cover of John Lennon's "Imagine".


This was followed by Where Are You Now My Son?, which quickly became controversial due to her strident viewpoints on the continuing conflicts in Southeast Asia. The title track is a 26-minute semi-biographical epic, with ambient sounds documented by Baez in Hanoi, Vietnam during the final weeks of 1972. Its' brutal honesty did not sit well with many, although it re-established her as a key political and musical conduit.


This was followed by Gracias A La Vida (Here's To Life) which took an artistic detour as it was recorded in Spanish. It became no less of a controversial statement, containing a version of the Pablo Neruda poem "No Nos Moveran (We Shall Not Be Moved)". The government of Spain banned the work and it was deleted from subsequent pressings.

The brilliant and mostly non-political Diamonds & Rust became not only a touchstone for Baez, but was also considered essential listening in the mid 1970s. It remains resonant with the Dylan-influenced title composition, and the covers of Janis Ian's "Jessie," Jackson Browne's "Fountain Of Sorrow," the Allman Brothers' "Blue Sky" and John Prine's "Hello In There."


Her last studio offering for A&M was Gulf Wind. It yielded considerably lighter fare, reflecting much of the same escapism and ennui America was concurrently enduring. One of the most outstanding elements is the plethora of strong originals. Chief among them are "Oh Brother!" -- an admitted response to Dylan's "Oh Sister" -- and the picturesque title song, which Baez claims as having been influenced by an experience during Dylan's all-star Rolling Thunder Review tour.


Although technically From Every Stage was issued before Gulf Winds, for the sake of continuity the double-LP live collection concludes The Complete A&M Recordings (1972 -- 1976). Baez is spotlighted in both acoustic as well as band settings. Her repertoire at the time included tunes dating back to her days on Vanguard -- such as "Stewball" and "Blessed Are .." as well as a few that had yet to be recorded by Baez before. Among them were the civil rights anthem "(Ain't Gonna Let Nobody) Turn Me Around," and a reading of "Blowin' In The Wind" which would be used in the film Forrest Gump during the March On Washington scene.


The sound is spectacular as all 80 tracks have been thoroughly remastered. The accompanying 32-page booklet is replete with rarely publish photos, as well as reminiscences from the artist herself and faithful reproductions of the LP liner notes.

April 10, 2006

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