Happy Birthday, Joan Baez

 

80 years ago Joan Baez was born on this day in Staten Island. As all who are familiar with her music know, she was born with liquid silver vocal chords. That is to say, she has a beautiful, beautiful voice.

I like the way she acknowledges her voice as something she doesn't take credit for in the opening line of her memoir. (A whole blog post could be written about great opening lines of memoirs and books. I am thinking here o U.S. Grant's autobiography, and the opening sentence in Tolstoy's Anna Karenina.) 

Several thoughts and memories came to mind when I imagined what I would write here today, the first being that both she and Bob Dylan, whose life intersected hers at numerous junctures, were both born the same year. 

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Her interest in social justice stems from her family background. Her grandfather left the Catholic church to become a Methodist minister. He came to the U.S. when Joan's father was two years old. Her grandfather preached to and advocated for a Spanish-speaking population. Though her father considered the ministry he instead pursued a math and physics career, obtaining his PhD at Stanford in 1950. Joan's mother was born in Scotland, second daughter of an Anglican priest, and lived to be 100 years old, passing in April 2013.

Joan Baez at the March on Washington 1963. (Public domain)

For many of us, the most memorable image in our minds is her performance during Dr. Martin Luther King's March on Washington in 1963. Few people knew she knew Dr. King personally and had met him years earlier before she ever became a recording artist/folk singer. That was a milestone introduction to the wider world for Bob Dylan, who sang three songs including "Only A Pawn In Their Game."

Or maybe the most memorable is of Joan singing with Bob on the Rolling Thunder Revue. Or maybe it's that photo of her and Bob from the Newport Folk Festival.

As if that weren't enough Joan and Bob stuff, she (like so many others since) recorded an album of Dylan's songs suitably titled Baez Sings Dylan.

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One of my memories that is not included in the Wikipedia account of her life and career (where much of this info comes from) was the 25th Anniversary for the Dylan-themed show on KUMD hosted by John Bushey. A local notable, the late John Bushey was in the middle of his third bout with cancer and the anniversary became a good occasion to have a fund raising event to alleviate his rising medical bills. A silent auction was held and items from both the Dylan camp and from Ms. Baez were contributed. In addition, John received a phone call from Joan during which they spoke for about 20 minutes.

My Favorite album by Joan is not even listed in the Wikipedia listing hotlinked above. The album is titled Ring Them Bells, a collaboration recorded live in 1995 with Mary Chapin Carpenter, Mimi Farina and others. The album features a number of Dylan classics but Joan's heartbreaking rendition of "And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda" elevates this to another level. 

Of course anything Joan interprets in song gets elevated to a new level. And much more can be said, but for now I really only wanted to say Happy Birthday, Joan. 

Here's the lyrics to a classic folk song from her earliest years. Her song selection through the years has been impeccable. 

All My Trials

Hush, little baby, don't you cry

You know your mama was born to die
All my trials, Lord, soon be over

River of Jordan is muddy and cold
Well, it chills the body, but not the soul
All my trials, Lord, soon be over

I've got a little book with pages three
And every page spells, "Liberty"
All my trials, Lord, soon be over

Too late, my brothers
Too late, but never mind
All my trials, Lord, soon be over

If living were a thing that money could buy
You know the rich would live and the poor would die
All my trials, Lord, soon be over

There grows a tree in Paradise
And the pilgrims call it the Tree of Life
All my trials, Lord, soon be over

Too late, my brothers
Too late, but never mind
All my trials, Lord, soon be over
All my trials, Lord, soon be over

 
Relate Link
Three Versions of "Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You." 

Mergers: Ring Them Bells Blends Nicely with Dylan's Shooting Star

Photo by Nick Owuor courtesy Unsplash

On Saturday my mother, whom I call each Saturday morning, mentioned that there is a comet visible in the night sky right now. She didn't recall the name but Google has answers for everything, and it is called Neowise, after the telescope that first sighted it. It is the largest comet since Hale-Bopp, located beneath the Big Dipper in the North sky.

Saturday evening we had thunderstorms and you can't see comets through the clouds. Last night at 2:00 a.m., however, the clarity was spectacular.

We live on a rural patch outside Duluth with no light pollution to fog up the night sky. Unfortunately, with the current tilt of the earth, theBig Dipper is lying in the treetops. I walked out to the road, which runs North-South, and found the famous constellation still too low on the horizon.

As I headed back to the house I saw a shooting star, and yes, it made me think of someone. And naturally, that flying spark across the sky brought this song to mind.

Seen a shooting star tonight
And I thought of you
You were trying to break into another world
A world I never knew
I always kind of wondered
If you ever made it through
Seen a shooting star tonight
And I thought of you

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Well, what happened next was quite intriguing. As I began singing Shooting Star in my head, I simultaneously began hearing Ring Them Bells.

Remember when we were children learning to sing parts and rounds? "Row row row your boat" was my first introduction to the concept of different tunes and words blending harmoniously. "Merrily merrily merrily merrily" life was such a dream.

So in the middle of the night I began composing, or re-shuffling, the two songs into one.

Ring them bells ye heathen from the city that dreams
Seen a shooting star tonight and I thought of you
Ring them bells from the sanctuaries cross the valleys and streams
You were trying to break into another world a world I never knew
For they're deep and they're wide and the world is on its side
I always kind of wondered if you ever made it through
And time is running backwards and so is the bride
Seen a shooting star tonight and I thought of you

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It helps if you've already listened to Oh Mercy a gazillion times and have internalized the words and melodies, but if not, you can put the album on one song and sing the other to see how they fit together. Is it a coincidence, or was there some form of intentionality here? Or perhaps,

As it turns out, this wasn't the first time I paired these two songs in my mind. In 2017 as I explored the content of "Shooting Star" I similarly compared it with "Ring Them Bells," not the tune and rhythm of the words, but rather the themes. You can read that effort here: Shooting Star: Bookend on Dylan's Monumental Oh Mercy.

Have you ever done this sort of thing?

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In the Meantime, Philip Hale shared a link to this Wall of Power Radio Hour in which Paul Metsa talks with Ann Margaret Daniel about Dylan's latest double-CD of original songs, Rough and Rowdy Ways.  R&RW has a LOT to digest, and like so many of Dylan previous work, it's gets more rewarding with each listen. You can expect to read more about that when the buds are ripe and ready to bloom.