Joan Baez - Any Day Now

Joan Baez beat Bob Dylan to folk stardom, but she soon became one his biggest supporters, key interpreters, and briefly his lover. Any Day Now finds her playing all three roles; supporting, interpreting, and loving a disc full of his songs. Many of the more curious numbers ("The Walls of Redwing," "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere") were unavailable from Dylan at the time of the double-album's original 1968 release. Baez gets deeply into this stuff, adding her own weight and color to Dylan's idiosyncratic lines; even tackling the epic-length weirdness of "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands." The best track, "Love Is Just a Four-Letter Word," remains the definitive version of the song. --Michael Ruby Amazon.com

Masterpiece enhanced

This is an album of appealing Dylan interpretations and it's enlightening to hear his work from a female perspective. I heard some of Dylan's songs here first and only later experienced his own versions, for example I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine which is definitely very different (and more beautiful to me) in Baez's version.

Other great tracks include I Pity The Poor Immigrant (still as relevant as ever), Love Is Just A Four-Letter Word, the heart-breaking Walls Of Redwing (about inmates in a jail), One Too Many Mornings, Boots Of Spanish Leather and Restless Farewell.

Everything about this album is just SO RIGHT: her phrasing, the choice of songs and her elegant delivery. This is a classic folk album of the 1960s and also essential listening for Dylan fans. I love it. This re-issue contains two live bonus tracks that were recorded in Japan. July 23, 2007

A solid cover album and an intimate tribute

Any Day Now finds Joan Baez backed by a decidedly pop ensemble, covering the 60's folk and folk-rock songs of her one-time lover Bob Dylan. As is often the case with cover albums, some of the songs hit harder and better than others, but Baez couldn't have chosen a better oeuvre to sample, so most of the lulls are due to performance issues. All in all, though, if you like Joan Baez and/or Bob Dylan, Any Day Now is a great choice.

As the album opens, it's clear that this music is not the stripped-down folk that typifies earlier Baez recordings. She's accompanied by steel guitar, drums, electric guitar and...sitar? It's interesting to hear Joan backed by a pop ensemble and, for the most part, it works.

The less-convincing numbers on this album are mainly due to Baez's choice of songs. It's not that the songs are bad, they just don't fit her as well as they could. For instance, Baez's calculated, classic, vibrato-heavy singing voice has a little trouble relaxing the way Dylan would on "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere." "Live Minus Zero/No Limit" is slightly bizarre, since it's sung about a woman, as is "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands." The latter was an epic, mysterious love song on Blonde on Blonde, but for Baez it makes you wonder why she's singing an 11+ minute love song to a woman. "Tears Of Rage," though it's admirable that Baez makes an artistic risk to sing the entire tune a cappella isn't all successful--this version doesn't come close to touching The Band's definitive rendition, or even Gene Clark's excellent version (from White Light).

Though Baez doesn't perfectly match up with some of Dylan's songs, she breathes new life and meaning into several of them. She brings gritty reality to the dark ballad "North Country Blues," and her arrangement brings new narrative life and emotion to the classic "Boots of Spanish Leather." Likewise, she chooses some lesser-known Dylan songs like "Love is Just a Four-Letter Word," "Walls of Redwing" and "Walkin' Down the Line," that bring a few surprises and mix things up a bit.

Any Day Now was originally a double album--it's great that it all fits onto one disc, even with two (disposable) bonus tracks to boot. Overall, I think it's a worthwhile album, with some excellent interpretations of Dylan's songs that occasionally brings them into new, unique light. March 23, 2007

Joan Baez Remastered

i've always loved Joan Baez's cover versions of Dylan songs (except for one: the Hard Rain's gonna fall version on her Europe '83 album where she tries to immitate Mr. Dylan). it's nice to see a few bonus tracks on this re-release on CD.

JohPWilbrand February 9, 2007

Any Day Now, Joan Baez

For being a 1968 release it took me long enough to find it, but I think it is an excellent cd and for any Joan Baez and Bob Dylan fans it will be a perfect fit. March 23, 2006

A Dear Friend Told Me ...

This album was the childhood favorite of a very dear friend of mine. He gave me the cd for Christmas, 2002 and I have very nearly worn the tracks off of it (an old vinyl saying!). I grew up listening to Dylan sing "Sad Eyed Lady", he grew up listening to Joan's version. We are both die-hard Dylan and Baez lovers to this day. Ms. Baez' renderings made me wonder so I have been scouring the internet for copies of "the way Dylan did these songs". My friend has moved on, now, but I shall always be greatful for his gift. This is a great disc! Ok, I admit that I don't like "Tears of Rage" very much. But that's just me and, on a cd, it doesn't matter. I just hit the button and move right into "Sad Eyed Lady" (which I always play twice, by the way. I REALLY love that song!!). If you enjoy Dylan's verse but would rather hear it sung by someone else, I strongly recommend you listen to this one. I think you'll like it. September 14, 2005

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