Joan Baez is now enjoying the
fifth decade of a career that has evolved with and encompassed
the changing musical and political times. As the most
celebrated folksinger of her time, she has
been a major influence in the field of popular music,
beginning with her first album, Joan Baez,
in 1960. A native of California, she and her family moved to
Boston in 1958. She had her first
success at the Newport Folk Festival in 1959, which resulted
in her first recording of traditional
folk songs the following year with Vanguard
Records.
Her first album was following
in quick succession by two more, Joan Baez, Vol. 2 in 1961,
and Joan Baez in Concert in 1962. All three albums
went gold, and remained bestsellers for
two years. She crossed the country making concert tours and
singing at festivals and political
gatherings.
Responding to the influence
of world events, musical styles changed as the decade progressed.
By the mid-sixties, Baez had changed her repertoire to
reflect the more socially conscious
popular song, as represented by the work of Bob Dylan. Her
arrangements also evolved,
growing from simple guitar to full orchestra. Several more
albums during these years brought
further success, including Farewell, Angelina and
Any Day Now, an album of Dylan songs which
also went gold. It was the noted Mahler conductor, Maurice
Abravanel, who persuaded her to
record the aria from Heitor Villa-Lobos’ Bachianas
Brasileiras number 5 (Joan Baez 5 – 1964).
By the mid 1970's, Baez was
writing her own songs, and reaching out to a pop/rock audience.
She recorded with several different labels over the following
two decades, producing a string
of successful albums. Her music was influenced by her
association with multiple political
causes, including the Civil Rights and Free Speech Movements,
anti-war resistance in southeast
Asia, and anti-violence marches in Northern Ireland. She
leant her musical presence to causes
celebrating civil rights, freedom, and the improvement of the
human condition literally around
the world.
Through the 1980's and 90's,
her performances included a Grammy Awards Live Aid telecast,
the Amnesty International Conspiracy of Hope tour, and the
People's Summit concert in Iceland
in conjunction with the Reagan/Gorbachev talks. She performed
at Sarajevo in association with
Refugees International, and at the Kennedy Center Honors
saluting Pete Seeger.
In 1995, she received her
third Bammy as Outstanding Female Vocalist, and in 2007, was
presented with the Grammy Awards Lifetime Achievement Award.
The year 2008 was a
landmark year for her, as she celebrated fifty years in
performance, and recorded her 24th studio
album, Day After Tomorrow.
