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Joan Baez: The best of Joan Baez

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s

Artist: Joan Baez
Title: The best of Joan Baez
Released: 1977
Label: A&M Records
Time: 46:48
Producer(s): David Kershenbaum, Joan Baez, Henry Lewy
Appears with:
Category: Folk
Rating: ******.... (6/10)
Media type: CD
Purchase date:  2000.02.12
Price in €: 10,90
Web address: www.joanbaez.com

 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] Diamonds & Rust (Baez) - 4:35
[2] Forever Young (Dylan) - 3:38
[3] Prison Trilogy (Billy Rose) (Baez) - 4:21
[4] Simple Twist Of Fate (Dylan) - 4:40
[5] I Never Dreamed You'd Leave In Summer (Wonder/Wright) - 2:43
[6] Love Song To A Stranger (Baez) - 3:49
[7] Please Come To Boston (Loggins) - 4:14
[8] Children And All That Jazz (Baez) - 3:08
[9] Sweeter For Me (Baez) - 4:29
[10] Imagine (Lennon) - 3:26
[11] Gracias A La Vida (Here's To Life) (Baez/Para) - 3:32
[12] The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down (Robertson) - 3:47

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


Joan Baez - Guitar, Vocals

Ted Alevizos - Vocals
Bill Wood - Vocals

John L. Wasserman - Liner Notes

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


Emotionally charged songs from her '70s albums on A&M. Not early Baez, this album of touching songs is probably too commercial for diehard folk fans. Excellent.

Michael Erlewine, All-Music Guide
 

 L y r i c s


DIAMONDS AND RUST

Well I'll be damned
Here comes your ghost again
But that's not unusual
It's just that the moon is full
And you happened to call
And here I sit
Hand on the telephone
Hearing a voice I'd known
A couple of light years ago
Heading straight for a fall

As I remember your eyes
Were bluer than robin's eggs
My poetry was lousy you said
Where are you calling from?
A booth in the midwest
Ten years ago
I bought you some cufflinks
You brought me something
We both know what memories can bring
They bring diamonds and rust

Well you burst on the scene
Already a legend
The unwashed phenomenon
The original vagabond
You strayed into my arms
And there you stayed
Temporarily lost at sea
The Madonna was yours for free
Yes the girl on the half-shell
Would keep you unharmed

Now I see you standing
With brown leaves falling around
And snow in your hair
Now you're smiling out the window
Of that crummy hotel
Over Washington Square
Our breath comes out white clouds
Mingles and hangs in the air
Speaking strictly for me
We both could have died then and there

Now you're telling me
You're not nostalgic
Then give me another word for it
You who are so good with words
And at keeping things vague
Because I need some of that vagueness now
It's all come back too clearly
Yes I loved you dearly
And if you're offering me diamonds and rust
I've already paid



FOREVER YOUNG

May God bless and keep you always,
May your wishes all come true,
May you always do for others
And let others do for you.
May you build a ladder to the stars
And climb on every rung,
May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.

May you grow up to be righteous,
May you grow up to be true,
May you always know the truth
And see the lights surrounding you.
May you always be courageous,
Stand upright and be strong,
May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.

May your hands always be busy,
May your feet always be swift,
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift.
May your heart always be joyful,
May your song always be sung,
May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.
 

PRISON TRILOGY

Billy Rose was a low rider, Billy Rose was a night fighter
Billy Rose knew trouble like the sound of his own name
Busted on a drunken charge
Driving someone else's car
The local midnight sheriff's claim to fame

In an Arizona jail there are some who tell the tale how
Billy fought the sergeant for some milk that he demanded
Knowing they'd remain the boss
Knowing he would pay the cost
They saw he was severely reprimanded

In the blackest cell on "A" Block
He hanged himself at dawn
With a note stuck to the bunk head
Don't mess with me, just take me home

Come and lay, help us lay
young Billy down

Luna was a Mexican the law called an alien
For coming across the border with a baby and a wife
Though the clothes upon his back were wet
Still he thought that he could get
Some money and things to start a life

It hadn't been too very long when it seemed like everything went wrong
They didn't even have the time to find themselves a home
This foreigner, a brown-skin male
Thrown into a Texas jail
It left the wife and baby quite alone

He eased the pain inside him
With a needle in his arm
But the dope just crucified him
He died to no one's great alarm

Come and lay, help us lay
Young Luna down
And we're gonna raze, raze the prisons
To the ground

Kilowatt was an aging con of 65 who stood a chance to stay alive
And leave the joint and walk the streets again
As the time he was to leave drew near
He suffered all the joy and fear
Of leaving 35 years in the pen

And on the day of his release he was approached by the police
Who took him to the warden walking slowly by his side
The warden said "You won't remain here
But it seems a state retainer
Claims another 10 years of your life."

He stepped out in the Texas sunlight
The cops all stood around
Old Kilowatt ran 50 yards
Then threw himself down on the ground

They might as well just have laid
The old man down
And we're gonna raze, raze the prisons
To the ground
Help us raze, raze the prisons
To the ground


SIMPLE TWIST OF FATE

They sat together in the park
As the evening sky grew dark,
She looked at him and he felt a spark tingle to his bones.
'Twas then he felt alone and wished that he'd gone straight
And watched out for a simple twist of fate.

They walked along by the old canal
A little confused, I remember well
And stopped into a strange hotel with a neon burnin' bright.
He felt the heat of the night hit him like a freight train
Moving with a simple twist of fate.

A saxophone someplace far off played
As she was walkin' by the arcade.
As the light bust through a beat-up shade where he was wakin' up,
She dropped a coin into the cup of a blind man at the gate
And forgot about a simple twist of fate.

He woke up, the room was bare
He didn't see her anywhere.
He told himself he didn't care, pushed the window open wide,
Felt an emptiness inside to which he just could not relate
Brought on by a simple twist of fate.

He hears the ticking of the clocks
And walks along with a parrot that talks,
Hunts her down by the waterfront docks where the sailers all come in.
Maybe she'll pick him out again, how long must he wait
Once more for a simple twist of fate.

People tell me it's a sin
To know and feel too much within.
I still believe she was my twin, but I lost the ring.
She was born in spring, but I was born too late
Blame it on a simple twist of fate.
 

I NEVER DREAMED YOU'D LEAVE IN SUMMER

I never dreamed you'd leave in summer
I thought you would go then come back home
I thought the cold would leave by summer
But my quiet nights will be spent alone

You said there would be warm love in springtime
That was when you started to be cold
I never dreamed you'd leave in summer
But now I find myself all alone

You said then you'd be the life in autumn
Said you'd be the one to see the way
I never dreamed you'd leave in summer
But now I find my love has gone away

Why didn't you stay?


LOVE SONG TO A STRANGER

How long since I've spent a whole night in a twin bed with a stranger
His warm arms all around me?
How long since I've gazed into dark eyes that melted my soul down
To a place where it longs to be?
All of your history has little to do with your face
You're mainly a mystery with violins filling in space

You stood in the nude by the mirror and picked out a rose
From the bouquet in our hotel
And lay down beside me again and I watched the rose
On the pillow where it fell
I sank and I slept in a twilight with only one care
To know that when day broke and I woke that you'd still be there

The hours for once they passed slowly, unendingly by
Like a sweet breeze on a field
Your gentleness came down upon me and I guess I thanked you
When you caused me to yield
We spoke not a sentence and took not a footstep beyond
Our two days together which seemingly soon would be gone

Don't tell me of love everlasting and other sad dreams
I don't want to hear
Just tell me of passionate strangers who rescue each other
From a lifetime of cares
Because if love means forever, expecting nothing returned
Then I hope I'll be given another whole lifetime to learn

Because you gave to me oh so many things it makes me wonder
How they could belong to me
And I gave you only my dark eyes that melted your soul down
To a place where it longs to be


PLEASE COME TO BOSTON

Please come to Boston for the Springtime
I'm stayin' here with some friends and they've got lotsa room
You can sell your paintings on the sidewalk
By a café where I hope to be workin' soon
Please come to Boston
She said "No-would you come home to me?"

And she said, "hey ramblin' boy now wontcha settle down?"
"Boston ain't your kinda town"
"There ain't no gold and there ain't nobody like me"
"I'm the number one fan of the man from Tennessee"

Please come to Denver with the snowfall
We'll move up into the mountains so far that we can't be found
And throw "I love you" echoes down the canyon
And then lie awake at night till they come back around
Please come to Denver
She said "No-boy, would you come home to me?"

And she said, "hey ramblin' boy why dontcha settle down?"
"Denver ain't your kinda town"
"There ain't no gold and there ain't nobody like me"
" 'cause I'm the number one fan of the man from Tennessee"

Now this drifter's world goes 'round and 'round
And I doubt that it's ever gonna stop
But of all the dreams I've lost or found
And all that I ain't got
I still need to lean to
Somebody I can sing to

Please come to LA to live forever
California life alone is just too hard to build
I live in a house that looks out over the ocean
And there's some stars that fell from the sky
Livin' up on the hill
Please come to LA
She just said "No-boy, won't you come home to me?"

And she said, "hey ramblin' boy why dontcha settle down?"
"LA can't be your kinda town"
"There ain't no gold and there ain't nobody like me"
" No, no, I'm the number one fan of the man from Tennessee"

"I'm the number one fan of the man from Tennessee"

Please come to Boston (Hey ramblin’ boy come home)
Please come to Boston (Hey ramblin’ boy come home)
Please come to Boston (Hey ramblin’ boy come home)
Please come to Boston (Hey ramblin’ boy come home)

[Repeate and fade]


CHILDREN AND ALL THAT JAZZ

Little Annie Fannie
Morgan and Christian
Katy and Nathan
Tommy and Zem Zem
Alex and J.J.
Tai and Ezekial
Amy and Josie
Matthew and Mosie
Sweet Pearl and Nicholas
Come here and tickle us
I don't like nicknames
I like to play games
One of them's Batman
That's where it's at man
Look at your t-shirt
I see you're all wet now
I'll give you a bath
If you'll go to bed now
Oh can't you see
I'm tired
I'm tired
I'm tired

Joey and Janet
Jennifer, Joshua
Justin and Jason
Jacob and Jordan
Heather and Shannon
Marisa and Kirsten
Kimmie and David
Who shall we play with?
Here comes my own son
Light of my life is
Younger than new leaves
Brighter than you please
Says that he loves me
Big as the world
and Gabriel Harris
You go to bed now
You go to bed now
It's quarter to nine
I'm tired
I'm tired
I'm tired

You heard what I said now
You go to bed now
It was a hard day
Never enough play
Iggy was sick
and couldn't come over
One of your mice died
That was when you cried
Get in the tub
And play with your boats now
Sit here beside me
I'll tell you a story
One about snakes
And anything gory
Ask me no questions
How far is the sky
And I'm falling asleep
And you're smarter than I am
Light of my life
Good night
Good night
Good night


SWEETER FOR ME

Red telephone sitting by my bed
Practically bore your name
Lying alone in the twilight zone
Waiting for your call to come in
Hadn't been for the kid
Who was sleeping upstairs
You'd have found me well on my way
On that midnight plane to L.A.

You suffered sweeter for me
Than anyone I've ever known

I dared to look into the years
Would you still have your wife?
I dared to peer through my tears
Could we ever have a life?
Even thought I was pregnant by you
But I didn't care
I just talked to my son
Would he mind another one?

You suffered sweeter for me
Than anyone I've ever known

Once more the mist rolls to the sea
Like a hundred times we've known
Trees are faded and the clouds have stopped
Where the wind had blown
How I dread when the evening comes
And I cannot be
What you want me to be
When you are next to me

How silent you are as the veils come down
Before my eyes
Soft and reserved as you move away
Donning your disguise
While every folk song that I ever knew
Once more comes true
And loves grows old
And waxes cold

You suffered sweeter for me
Than anyone I've ever known

Just one favor of you, my love
If I should die today
Take me down to where the hills
Meet the sea on a stormy day
Ride a ridge on a snow white horse
And throw my ashes away
To the wind and the sand
Where my song began

You suffered sweeter for me
Than anyone I've ever known


IMAGINE

Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today...
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one


GRACIAS A LA VIDA

Gracias a la vida, que me ha dado tanto.
Me dio dos luceros, y cuando los abro,
Perfecto distingo lo negro del blanco,
Y en el alto cielo su fondo estrellado,
Y en las multitudes al hombre que yo amo.

Gracias a la vida, que me ha dado tanto.
Me ha dado el oído que, en todo su ancho,
Graba noche y día grillos y canarios
Martillos, turbinas, ladridos, chubascos,
Y la voz tan tierna de mi bien amado.

Gracias a la vida, que me ha dado tanto,
Me ha dado el sonido y abecedario.
Con él las palabras que pienso y declaro,
"madre, amigo hermano" y luz alumbrando
la ruta del alma del que estoy amando

Gracias a la vida, que me ha dado tanto.
Me ha dado la marcha de mis pies cansados.
Con ellos anduve ciudades y charcos,
Playas y desiertos, montañas y llanos,
Y la casa tuya, tu calle y tu patio.

Gracias a la vida que me ha dado tanto
Me dio el corazón, que agita su marco.
Cuando miro el fruto del cerebro humano,
Cuando miro al bueno tan lejos del malo.
Cuando miro el fondo de tus ojos claros.

Gracias a la vida que me ha dado tanto.
Me ha dado la risa, me ha dado el llanto.
Así yo distingo dicha de quebranto,
Todos materiales que forman mi canto,
Y el canto de ustedes que es es mismo canto.

in English:

Thanks to life, which has given me so much
It has given me two eyes, and when I open them
I clearly distinguish black from white
And in the high sky, its starry depths,
And from the crowds, the man that I love.

Thanks to life, which has given me so much
It has given me hearing, which in all its breadth
Day and night records crickets and canaries,
Hammers, turbines, barking, dark clouds,
And the tender voice of my beloved one.

Thanks to life, which has given me so much
It has given me sound and the alphabet
And with it the words to think and speak
Mother, friend, brother, and the light that brightens
The path of the soul of my loved one.

Thanks to life, which has given me so much
It has kept my tired feet walking
With them I walked through cities and puddles,
Beaches and deserts, mountains and plains
And your house, your street and your courtyard.

Thanks to life, which has given me so much
It gave me my heart, which shakes its frame
When I look at the fruit of the human brain
When I look at good ones so far from bad ones
When I look at the bottom of your light-color eyes.

Thanks to life, which has given me so much
It has given me laughter and it has given me tears
Thus I distinguish between joy and pain,
They are all elements of my song
and of your song, which is all one and the same.


THE NIGHT THEY DROVE OLD DIXIE DOWN

Virgil Caine is the name and I served on the Danville train (note 1)
'Til Stoneman's cavalry came and tore up the tracks again
In the winter of sixty-five
We were hungry just barely alive
By May tenth Richmond had fell
It was a time I remember oh so well

Chorus
The night they drove old Dixie down
And the bells were ringing
The night they drove old Dixie down
And the people were singing, they went
La la la la la la, la la la la la la la la, la

Like my father before me I will work the land (note 2)
And like my brother above me who took a rebel stand
He was just eighteen, proud and brave
When a Yankee laid him in his grave
I swear by the mud below my feet
You can't raise a Cain back up when he's in defeat

[chorus]

Back with my wife in Tennessee when one day she called to me (note 3)
Virgil, quick come see, there goes Robert E Lee
Now I don't mind choppin' wood
And I don't care if the money's no good
You take what you need and you keep the rest
But they should never have taken the very best

[chorus]

 M P 3   S a m p l e s


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