Well, I'll be damned
Here comes your ghost again
But that's not unusual
It's just that the moon is full
And you happened to call
And here I sit
Hand on the telephone
Hearing a voice I had known
A couple of light years ago
Heading straight for a fall
As I remember your eyes
Were bluer than robin's eggs
My poetry was lousy you said
Where are you calling from?
A booth in the Midwest
Ten years ago
I bought you some cufflinks
You brought me something
We both know what memories can bring
They bring diamonds and rust
And there you stayed
Temporarily lost at sea
The Madonna was yours for free
Yes, the girl on the half-shell
Could keep you unharmed
Over Washington Square
Our breath comes out white clouds
Mingles and hangs in the air
Speaking strictly for me
We both could have died then and there
Now you're telling me
You're not nostalgic
Then give me another word for it
You who are so good with words
And at keeping things vague
It's all come back too clearly
Yes, I loved you dearly
And if you're offering me diamonds and rust
I've already paid
Joan Baez
Europe, 1976-77
1.
MIDEM
Palais des Festivals
Cannes, France
1.30.1976
01 Oh! Happy Day
02 Joe Hill
03 Gracias a La Vida
04 The Ballad of Sacco & Vanzetti
05 Swing Low, Sweet Chariot
06 Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around
07 Diamonds and Rust
Total time: 23:51
Joan Baez - guitar & vocals
master mono off-air FM master reel, slightly remastered by EN, January 2021
2.
Hammersmith Odeon
London, UK
12.20.1977
01 Help Me Make It Through the Night
02 Farewell Angelina
03 Honey Love
04 Scarlet Ribbons
05 Virgin Mary Had One Son
06 Michael
07 Love Is Just a Four-Letter Word
08 Blowin' In the Wind
09 The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
10 Sweet Sir Galahad
11 Kumbaya
12 Imagine
13 Let It Be
14 Joe Hill
15 Amazing Grace
Total time: 51:50
Joan Baez - guitar & vocals
master off-air FM master cassette, slightly remastered by EN, January 2021
both shows zipped together; these were mastered to play contiguously
384 MB FLAC/January 2021 archive link
both shows zipped together; these were mastered to play contiguously
384 MB FLAC/January 2021 archive link
Another day, another super milestone birthday for another legendary player.
How many people can say they played the 1963 March On Washington... and also once had a song covered by Judas Priest?
It's funny, as I worked on these sets to get them a little less muffly and match them as best as I could sonically, I thought wow... at one time, a world based on inclusion, dignity and justice, as alluded to in many of these classic and timelessly anthemic songs, actually seemed possible. Maybe not likely, but possible.
In honor of Joan Baez's 80th b'day today, I'll try to convince myself that that can still happen, given the completely unhinged circumstances of the moment.
I don't have to type the damned numbers at the bottom of this here -- which means that this edificially towering warrior for social justice over the last 60 years of Civil Rights mayhem is still alive and kicking down the doors in that pure soprano -- so there's a start.--J.
