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Joan Baez - Do I just not get it?

Hi,

I'm a relatively young music/audio guy (24). I recently bought a remaster LP of Joan Baez "In Concert" which I've heard is a great album, both musically and soundwise.

This is my first exposure to Joan Baez - and not meant to offend fans... But I could not make it past song two. Now I love singer/songwriter music, and certainly enjoy female vocals and acoustic guitar... but her voice! It is unlistenable! She uses so much vibrato and sounds like a sheep... baaaaaaa... Stevie nicks can at least get away with being a sheep because she has the rock music to keep the attention away... but joan Baez - How do you guys enjoy listening to this stuff? The vibrato is terrible!
goatwuss
gregm
3,405 posts
 
A lot is time-related and, as JD notes... the lyrics no longer strike the direct emotional chord as before, perhaps. Without the direct emotional & situational context, what's left is the music & that vibrato. That, I concur, hasn't aged very well.
Nor have my ears:
...(A)... song from Joan Baez I love is Diamonds & Rust
So do I -- but now that I'm a few months older, I prefer the version by Judas Priest! Go figure...
phd
1,314 posts
 
Gregm, I had no idea that Judas Priest did a version of this song, never heard that one but I bet it would be interesting to hear.

Music is like stepping into a time machine, I don't think there is another media that can transport you so effectively & quickly to a another place and time. For better or worse this is one of Music's greatest draws.
entrope
482 posts
 
Actually you do get it.

I feel the same even though she is of my generation (50).
fishboat
245 posts
 
If you remember the 60's-70's then you weren't there...

Baez's 'sound' is the sound of those times that became her style...or is it the other way around?

I saw her on the recent Bob Dylan PBS special..she's aged well.

eldartford
4,262 posts
 
Joan Baez did us a great favor in finding, restoring, and performing a huge range of authentic folk songs...ballads which actually tell a story. Her voice is authentic, generally not backed up by other singers and a studio band. She actually played her own guitar while singing.

For vintage Baez, try Vanguard CD VMD-2027 and VMD-2097. On the second CD is one of the most beautiful love songs I know, "Plaisir d'amour".

Just don't get me started about her politics.
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