Short biography of joan baez

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In a 1963 article by Nat Hentoff, for example, she praised interpretation over mere quality: "I think of a rural folk singer--Doc Watson's mother--whose voice might not seem beautiful to some people. She soon became a symbol of the folk revival and was featured on the cover of Time. Her voice, described by Robert Shelton in a 1960 review of an early concert in the New York Times, was a "a soprano voice, surprisingly never trained, that has a purity, penetrating clarity and control that not a few art singers would envy.

She was arrested and jailed for non-violent protests of the Vietnam-era draft, as was her husband, David Harris, who spent much of their marriage in jail. They performed together often at the start of their careers, as in her 1963 Forest Hills Music Festival concert in New York at which she devoted half of the program to Dylan songs, sung by him, by her, and as duets.

In October Joan begins touring with Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue. After area residents claim the onslaught of "hippies and free-love subversives" will threaten property values, the Institute closes after one month, but re-opens without incident in December.

1966

Joan's first three Vanguard recordings are certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America, and Noel is released.

Joan also continues her civil right work by appearing at a benefit concert at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, protesting the state's Proposition 14 which would allow segregated housing, and she becomes involved with the Free Speech Movement at the University of California at Berkeley. With Ira Sanderl, she founds the Institute For The Study Of Nonviolence in Carmel Valley, California.

This recording features taped segments from Joan's trip to Hanoi. They tour the country on a joint concert and lecture series advocating draft resistance.

Joan Baez is an influential American singer, songwriter and social activist. She also gave free concerts, such as the 1967 concert by the Washington Monument.

Joan once again headlines at the Newport Folk Festival, leads a seminar on "The New Folk Music" at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California, and travels with the Beatles on a portion of their U.S. concert tour. Social activist; arrested and jailed for protests against the Vietnam war; founder of Resource Center for Nonviolence, 1965; active in Amnesty International, 1972--; founder and president of Humanitas International, 1979--.

Joan Baez's Awards

Chicago Business Executives Move for Vietnam Peace Award, 1971; "Joan Baez Day" was established by city of Atlantic, Ga., 1975; Thomas Merton Award, 1976; Public Service Award, Third Annual Rock Music Awards, 1977; named best female vocalist, Bay Area Music Awards, 1978 and 1979; Earl Warren Civil Liberties Award, ACLU, 1979; honorary D.H.L., Antioch University and Rutgers University, 1980; Jefferson Award, 1980; Lennon Peace Tribute Award, 1982; Americans for Democratic Action award, 1982; SANE Education Fund Peace Award, 1983; Academie Charles Cros Award (France) for best live album, 1983.

Famous Works

Selective Works
Joan Baez Vanguard, 1960.
Joan Baez 2 Vanguard, 1961.
In Concert Vanguard, 1962.
In Concert 2 Vanguard, 1963.
Joan Baez 5 Vanguard, 1964.
Farewell, Angelina Vanguard, 1965.
Noel Vanguard, 1966.
Portrait Vanguard, 1966.
Joan Vanguard, 1967.
Baptism Vanguard, 1968.
Any Day Now Vanguard, 1968.
David's Album Vanguard, 1969.
One Day at a Time Vanguard, 1970.
First Ten Years Vanguard, 1970.
Blessed Are Vanguard, 1971.
Carry It On Vanguard, 1972.
Come from the Shadows A&M, 1972.
Where Are You Now, My Son? A&M, 1973.
Gracias a la Vida (Here's to Life) A&M, 1974.
Diamonds & Rust A&M, 1975.
Live in Japan Vanguard, 1975.
Love Song Album Vanguard, 1976.
From Every Stage A&M, 1976.
Gulf Winds A&M, 1976.
Blowin' Away Portrait, 1977.
Golden Hour Pye, 1972.
Hits: The Greatest and Others Vanguard, 1973.
Best of Joan Baez A&M, 1977.
Golden Hour 2 Pye.
House of the Rising Sun Musidisc, 1978.
Honest Lulaby Portrait, 1979.
Country Music Vanguard, 1979.
Spotlight on Joan Baez Portrait, 1980.
Live in Concert Portrait, 1980.
The Magic of Joan Baez K Tel, 1981.
Early Joan Baez I and II Metronome.
Recently Goldcastle, 1987.
Joan Baez in Concert Vanguard, 1988.

In a 1979 joint interview with Judy Collins, she told the New York Times that performance and the message are interrelated: "The concert becomes a context of its own, and that's what's beautiful about being able to stand up there--that I can say what I want, put the songs where I want them and, hopefully, give people an evening of beautiful music as well." She has appeared on most college campuses, in Carnegie Hall and major concert halls, and in outdoor festivals.

Throughout the year, Joan tours the United States, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Holland, France, Sweden, Denmark and Norway.

2010

In February Joan performs at the White House in Washington, DC, as part of In Performance at the White House: A Celebration of Music from the Civil Rights Movement.

The first course of action for Humanitas is to publish the "Open Letter to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam" in five major U.S. newspapers.

In the summer of 1959 Baez was invited to sing at the Newport Folk Festival in Rhode Island.

In August Vanguard Records begin re-releasing Joan's catalog as part of their Original Master Series.

In addition to simple folk songs, she began to sing Anglo American ballads, blues, spirituals, and songs from various countries. As she had done in the case of Chile and Argentina (without public outcries from former associates), Baez called for human rights to be extended to those centers in the war-torn country. She was born in Staten Island, New York, January 9, 1941, the daughter of Dr.

Albert Baez, a physicist.

In a benefit performance for Humanitas International Human Rights Committee, Joan performs in a vocal quartet, appropriate titled Four Voices For Human Rights, with Indigo Girls and Mary Chapin Carpenter in Berkeley, California, in October. Humanitas, along with KRON-TV and the San Francisco Examiner newspaper, forms the Cambodian Emergency Relief Fund and raises over one million dollars in aid.

1980

Joan is bestowed Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degrees by both Antioch University and Rutgers University for her political activism and the "universality of her music." She also receives the Jefferson Award presented by the American Institute of Public Service, and she receives the San Francisco Bay Area Music Award (BAMMY) as top female vocalist for 1979.

Daybreak, a memoir penned by Joan, is published (Dial Press) and is a bestseller.

1969

During a taping of CBS-TV's The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, Joan's remarks pertaining to draft resistance are censored, prompting a pre-emption of the show.

Short biography of joan baez

Joan Baez's Awards

Famous Works

Further Reading