Joan Baez @ Old Town School of Folk Music, (773) 728-6000, Nov. 1 & 2
Depending on the level of contribution or influence that an artist has had, a tribute is often the best way to pay homage. With every passing year, tribute albums become more and more popular. Some of the best recent tribute discs include Kindred Spirits, a tribute to the late Johnny Cash that was released before his death, and the Hetrick-Martin Institute charity album Wig In A Box: Songs From & Inspired By Hedwig and The Angry Inch. Two more various artists compilations Just Because I’m A Woman: Songs of Dolly Parton (Sugar Hill) and Remembering Patsy Cline (MCA Nashville) have also joined the ranks.
Just Because I’m A Woman: Songs of Dolly Parton features a remarkable cross-section of female vocalists performing the songs of a remarkable female singer/songwriter. For anyone who ever thought that Alison Krauss sounds an awful lot like Dolly Parton, Krauss’s bluesy bluegrass reading of ‘9 To 5,’ reiterates that fact in a timely manner. On the bravest track, Melissa Etheridge (one of two out queer artists on the disc) deconstructs ‘I Will Always Love You.’ As you might expect, all Norah Jones’s cover of ‘The Grass Is Blue’ needs is Jones and her piano to get the point across. Shelby Lynne testifies on her reading of ‘The Seeker’ and her sister Allison Moorer illuminates ‘Light Of A Clear Blue Morning.’ Meshell Ndegeocello (the other out, queer artist) finds the funk in ‘Two Doors Down,’ reinventing it for this century. Dolly Parton herself performs the bonus track ‘Just Because I’m A Woman,’ and sums it all up with the line ‘My mistakes are no worse than yours/just because I’m a woman.’ The only bad thing I have to say about Just Because I’m A Woman is that the cover art doesn’t live up to the music on the CD.
The ubiquitous Norah Jones also appears on Remembering Patsy Cline. Her rendition of ‘Why Can’t He Be You,’ is a reminder of why Jones is considered a jazz vocalist. Unfortunately, Natalie Cole’s jazz-inspired reading of ‘I Fall To Pieces,’ slows the song down to a crawl, and the impact is lost. It comes as no surprise that Amy Grant sounds so comfortable singing country swing music, much more so than pop, as she does on ‘Back In Baby’s Arms.’ Diana Krall also respects the bluesy style of ‘Crazy,’ which works in both country and jazz settings, as you can hear in her version. Young pop star Michelle Branch unveils another side to herself on her lovely take on ‘Strange’ and k.d. lang (the sole out queer artist on this compilation) revisits her country tear-jerker roots on ‘Leavin’ On Your Mind.’ Patty Griffin is one of those singers who sounds like she was born to sing a Patsy Cline song and she gets her chance on ‘Faded Love.’
Both a songwriter and the singer of other people’s songs, the longtime contributions of Joan Baez are celebrated on the four disc set Joan Baez: The Complete A&M Recordings (A&M). Covering an exceptionally prolific four-year period, from 1972 through 1976, this thorough compilation begins with Come From The Shadows, on which the outspoken political activist asked her ‘sisters and brothers,’ to ‘arm up with love and come from the shadows’ in protest to the war. Come From The Shadows featured the Baez originals ‘Prison Trilogy (Billy Rose)’ and ‘Love Song To A Stranger,’ and a stunning rendition of John Lennon’s ‘Imagine.’ Baez described the daring (for its time) and extremely difficult ‘Where Are You Now My Son?’ as ‘a ballad written, spoken, and sung by myself about the eleven days of bombing I experienced in Hanoi, Vietnam,’ during Christmas 1972. Her next album, the aptly titled Gracias A La Vida (Here’s To Life), is a Spanish-language celebration that seems to be the fitting follow-up to the war horrors of her previous album. Baez’s masterwork, Diamonds & Rust was released in 1974 and, nearly 30 years later, retains its brilliance, from the dazzling Baez-penned title track to her covers of songs by Jackson Browne (‘Fountain Of Sorrow’), Stevie Wonder (‘Never Dreamed You’d Leave In Summer’), Bob Dylan (‘Simple Twist of Fate’), John Prine (‘Hello In There’) and Janis Ian (‘Jessie’). Even the lyricless ‘Dida,’ featuring Joni Mitchell on background vocals is still a pleasure. Baez’s two final A&M releases from 1976, Gulf Winds (containing ‘Sweeter For Me’) and the live album From Every Stage (including the hit single ‘Please Come To Boston’) are also included here.
Baez was never again as prolific in the recording studio as she was during her time on A&M in the ’70s, and her ’80s and ’90s output was somewhat uneven. Dark Chords On A Big Guitar (Koch), her first new studio album since 1997’s Gone From Danger is a smoky and moody, but much anticipated, return to form. As she did on Gone From Danger, Baez has covered a set of songs by some of the best young songwriters currently working, and in doing so gives them deserved exposure, as well as showing off her exceptionally good taste. Songwriter Greg Brown is one of the songwriters whose work appears more than once on the album—his ‘Sleeper’ opens the album and ‘Rexroth’s Daughter’ follows shortly thereafter—and Baez sounds thoroughly engaged on both tunes. Her warm reading of Ryan Adams’s ‘In My Time Of Need’ makes me well up each time I hear it. Caitlin Cary’s ‘Rosemary Moore’ allows Baez the chance to sing the blues and the same holds true for Baez’s interpretation of Natalie Merchant’s ‘Motherland.’ ‘Caleb Meyer’ and ‘Elvis Presley Highway’ (from which the album derives its title) are two songs by acclaimed songwriting team Gillian Welch and David Rawlings and Baez’s renderings are respectful. The album closes with Steve Earle’s ‘Christmas In Washington,’ which allows eternal activist Baez a chance to be political and extend a wish for peace on earth and goodwill towards men.