Live at Newport

by Joan Baez

Overview

This album draws tracks from Joan Baez's appearances at the 1963, 1964, and 1965 Newport Folk Festivals, a time period in which she was the very epicenter of the folk scene. With her clear, strong, and bell-like soprano, Baez brought together traditional-folk materials with some of the best songs of the then-emerging songwriters of the so-called folk revival (she was the introduction for many to the work of Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs, Richard Farina, and others), projecting a thematic unity between the old and the new that was instrumental in the success of the 1960s folk boom. This collection isn't quite as striking as her other live albums from this period, although only by degree, and there are several interesting tracks here, including the opener, a live version of Dylan's beautiful "Farewell Angelina," which seems almost written for (or about?) Baez. A duet with Mary Travers on "Lonesome Valley" is another highlight, as is an audience singalong on "Johnny Cuckoo." The final two tracks, "It Ain't Me Babe" and "With God on Our Side," are duets with Dylan, and while these performances may have strong historical value, the truth is that Baez and Dylan didn't sing well together at this point in their association, with both singers dragging the song in two different directions at once, almost as if it were a battle for dominance, which, time suggests, it may well have been. ~ Steve Leggett

Product Details

Release Date:	09/17/1996
Label:	Vanguard
UPC:	0015707701525
Rank:	139465

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Joan Baez   Primary Artist,Vocals
Peter Yarrow   Primary Artist
Bob Dylan   Primary Artist,Guest Artist
Mary Travers   Primary Artist
The Lilly Brothers   Primary Artist
Everett Lilly   Bass

Technical Credits

Mark Spector   Producer,Executive Producer
The Lilly Brothers   Performer
Jack Atlas   Composer
Jack Rhodes   Composer
Joe Hayes   Composer
Francis McPeake   Composer
Captain Jeff Zaraya   Mixing,Release Engineer
Peter Yarrow   Performer
Mary Travers   Performer
Woody Guthrie   Composer
Marijohn Wilkin   Composer
Danny Dill   Composer
Public Domain   Composer
Diana Davies   Photography
David Gahr   Photography
Kathrin Cipcich   Design
Nancy Lutzow   Executive Producer
John Cooke   Photography
Joan Baez   Arranger
Bob Dylan   Performer,Composer
Bessie Jones   Composer
Paul Campbell   Composer,Composer
Traditional   Composer