Joan Baez

Joan Baez, Diamonds And Rust, A & M 4527

According to the liner notes, the folks at A & M have persuaded Joan Baez to put aside her diatribes and her Spanish language albums and record something that'll sell for a change. So now from an avowedly political writer and performer, comes an album which is very similar to recent releases by Linda Ronstadt, Maria Muldaui, Emmylou Harris, or Bonnie Ratt: a variety of songs in a variety of styles by a number of different singersong writers, including herself.

Baez's albums stand or fall on how she uses her very powerful voice and how much a listener likes this instrument. She has always had a tendency to homogenize and then bury a song in that stately, measured style which shows off her voice at the expense of lyrics, accompanists, and audience interest. On Diamonds And Rust she is finally loosening up a bit. She gives her accompanists here more room to improvise. She works harder at creating the appropriate mood, as in "Hello In There", a John Prine number about aging and loneliness, and "Children and All That Jazz.", a number she wrote about raising children. She also does a very nice scat duet with Joni Mitchell called "Dida", and her affectionate parody of Dylan on her version of his "Simple Twist of Fate" demonstrates her developing sense of humor.

Diamonds And Rust is not entiicly successful but it does represent new directlons for Baez, al the least, she sounds less stiff here than she ever has before.