Joan Baez in Concert, Pt. 1 [Bonus Tracks] [Remaster] (CD - 1962)

Producer: Maynard Solomon.

Reissue producer: Mark Spector.

Recorded live between August 1962 and November 1963. Originally released on Vanguard (9112). Includes liner notes by Maynard Solomon and Arthur Levy.

All tracks have been digitally remastered.

This is part of Vanguard Records Original Masters Series.

Adapter: John Jacob Niles.

Personnel: Joan Baez (guitar).

Liner Note Authors: Maynard Solomon; Arthur Levy .

Recording information: Concert (10/1961-??/1963); Town Hall, NY (10/1961-??/1963).

Arrangers: John Jacob Niles; Joan Baez.

Originally released in 1962, In Concert, Pt. 1 captures the undisputed queen of folk music at the onset of her fabled career. Featuring 20-bit remastering from the original analog tapes, exact replicas of the original artwork and liner notes, previously unreleased cuts, and additional liner notes, this installment of Vanguard's Original Master Series is a historic collection of contemporary and traditional folk. Though Baez was reportedly suffering from stage fright at the time of these recordings, which were cobbled from the fall of 1961 to the spring of 1962, her delivery is crystal clear and confident. The exhaustive selection of material represents her diverse influences, most notably African tradition ("Kumbaya"), gospel ("Gospel Ship"), negro spiritual ("My Lord What a Morning"), West African ("Danger Waters"), Brazilian ("Ate Amanha," which is sung in Portuguese), and blues ("Babe I'm Gonna Leave You"), Baez's performances still retain freshness and vitality after four decades. ~ Tom Semioli

The 'queen of folk' was an accomplished live performer as this, the first of two In Concert albums proved. Accompanying herself on acoustic guitar, Baez brought her pure, virginal soprano to contrasting material. Her interpretations of Childe ballads 'Matty Groves' and 'The House Carpenter' are particularly moving, but an empathy with American folklore, including Woody Guthrie and the Carter Family, is equally apparent. Baez's reading of Malvina Reynolds' protest song, 'What Have They Done To The Rain', is especially arresting and inspired a later pop hit for the Searchers. This album helped take folk music out of the coffee-house circuit and into national consciousness.

Joan Baez in Concert, Pt. 1, Baezs third widely distributed album, marked the apex of her success and influence as a traditional folksinger, her repertoire still almost wholly comprised of traditional folk songs delivered with only her own guitar as accompaniment. Actually recorded at various concerts, the album was phenomenal success, reaching the Top Ten and staying in the Top 40 for more than a year. Many folk albums of the era, not just Baez's, had a consciously eclectic span of traditional material from numerous sources, but Baez was more skilled than anyone in getting such a diverse mix to such a wide audience. And many musicians undoubtedly learned these songs from the Baez interpretations on this album, foremost among them "Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You," done not just by other folkys, but eventually by Led Zeppelin. "House Carpenter," "Black Is the Color of My True Love's Hair," "Kumbaya," "Matty Groves," and "Geordie" were also staples of many a folk set, and were rendered by Baez with stark, somber dignity. Amongst the child ballads and such were somewhat less expected choices: the Brazilian love song "Ate Amanha," Woody Guthrie's "Pretty Boy Floyd," and the first recording of Malvina Reynolds' classic nuclear danger warning "What Have They Done to the Rain" (later a pop hit for the Searchers). The Reynolds cover might have been the real milepost on the album, as over her next few albums Baez would slide her focus from traditional folk to songs by contemporary writers. The 2002 CD reissue is an excellent package with extensive new liner notes, adding a previously unreleased song from a 1961 concert ("My Lord What a Morning") and two songs from the same era from Very Early Joan Baez ("Streets of Laredo" and "My Good Old Man") that were previously unavailable on CD. ~ Richie Unterberger minimize