Joan Baez is an icon of the folk music scene and more, so I thought I should share my recollection of the time I spent at Sanders Theater in Memorial Hall of Harvard, last Friday. Club 47 where Joan debuted as an 18 year old in 1959 is nowadays known as Passim Center at 47 Palmer Street, Cambridge, MA.
At 67 she is still slander like an 18 year old, yet hair not of "gold" but white dusted with silver, lips still like "cherry" but with lipsticks of course (:-). Stage costume was of Spanish style, white cotton blouse with broad sleeves, adorned with a large brownish-red sash worn around the neck down to the left side, straight black pants, comfortable round nose black shoes from an unknown fashion house. Her band included three young musicians, each playing bass, percussion and multi strings instruments, respectively. The latter also acted as vocal backup. As usual Joan accompanied herself with guitar, and in fact would dismiss the band quite a few times to solo.
Sanders Theater in Memorial Hall is not a large venue, but very impressive with incredible real wood paneling, the acoustics to my unprofessional ears sounds mighty fine. It was my first concert at Memorial Hall, so I was quite pleased with the facility, and would recommend it to anybody. The theater was packed to capacity, tickets sold out well in advance of the show, and scalpers were circulating quietly among the crowd trying to make a kill. The audience was, of course, 90% older men and women of her generation with a few odd young kids and adults.
True to her nature she did not seem to care much about media attention. Just before the show, a stagehand brought up a huge mug of a hot fuming beverage, which I presume is tea but can't be sure. My reaction was like "Oh what is this? Grandma giving a long lecture?" (:-). Joan could play grandma sitting home knitting and taking care of her 90+ mother, but no, she still out there past retirement age and doing more than 20 concerts a year all over the world, and not necessarily for money. The one at Harvard last Friday was free of charge and all proceeds donated to the Passim Center. Hats off to her!
The show was started with a rumbling of guitar followed by "The old town looks the same, as I step down from the train...." and a trademark smile. My heart dropped, her rendition of "Green Green Grass of Home" has become one of my favorites even since noticing it in youtube. Unfortunately, she didn't finish it. The core repertoire comprises many pieces from a new album with Steve Earle, which should be coming out any time. Others include old and new English/Spanish folk songs which I didn't recognize, the classics I did: "With God on our side", "The Lilly of the West", "Love is a four letter word", "Diamond & Rust", "Let it be" (of the Beatles),"The night they drove old Dixie down", and possibly others I missed. She did one set of encore and closed the concert with "Amazing Grace" a capella leading the audience. It was quite a moving and interesting experience trying to sing "Amazing Grace" not remembering all the lines, and with Joan Baez spoon feeding them.
Peppered throughout the concert were personal recollections of her time at Harvard Square with her first true boyfriend, a white Jamaican Harvard student. They were both very "neurotic" (her exact word) yet managed to last together 4 years in the Boston area and California, "living in a $35 a month shack, watching whales by the beach and turning down a $19,000 advertising contract with Coca Cola". In hindsight and by her own admission 4 years was her record in any personal relationship. It's common knowledge that she's still single and available. At one time Steve Jobs offered to marry her and was turned down, any other suitors? (:-)
While introducing and performing some of the Dylan classics, she couldn't help sniping at him. Part of the gig included clowning his accent, and reminiscing about his forgetfulness as a young man. "Love is 4-letter word" was one of his that she took all the way to the top music chart, yet he didn't recognize it when he heard it over the radio. My personal impression was that she still loves Dylan. It's just amazing how a young broken heart would refuse to heal properly, and still cry out in pain some 40+ years later.
Joan Baez is musical and political. She took the occasion to endorse Obama (mentioned in one of my earlier email) stating unequivocally that it was a first ever endorsement of a political candidate, an endorsement of hope, over other poor alternatives, and fully realizing that Obama could still make a big mess. A sound round of applause came from the audience. After all we were in Kennedy territory. She started mentioning Senator Clinton. A few clapping and yelping came from Clintonites. Joan responded with a disapproving face and an unflattering sound from her mouth then got on with a song.
I had an amazing evening. To top it off, I headed toward the local Vietnamese restaurant for bu'n thi.t/to^m nu+'o+ng and che` ba ma^`u, then drove home to crash in bed.
Ok, that's it for now.
At 67 she is still slander like an 18 year old, yet hair not of "gold" but white dusted with silver, lips still like "cherry" but with lipsticks of course (:-). Stage costume was of Spanish style, white cotton blouse with broad sleeves, adorned with a large brownish-red sash worn around the neck down to the left side, straight black pants, comfortable round nose black shoes from an unknown fashion house. Her band included three young musicians, each playing bass, percussion and multi strings instruments, respectively. The latter also acted as vocal backup. As usual Joan accompanied herself with guitar, and in fact would dismiss the band quite a few times to solo.
Sanders Theater in Memorial Hall is not a large venue, but very impressive with incredible real wood paneling, the acoustics to my unprofessional ears sounds mighty fine. It was my first concert at Memorial Hall, so I was quite pleased with the facility, and would recommend it to anybody. The theater was packed to capacity, tickets sold out well in advance of the show, and scalpers were circulating quietly among the crowd trying to make a kill. The audience was, of course, 90% older men and women of her generation with a few odd young kids and adults.
True to her nature she did not seem to care much about media attention. Just before the show, a stagehand brought up a huge mug of a hot fuming beverage, which I presume is tea but can't be sure. My reaction was like "Oh what is this? Grandma giving a long lecture?" (:-). Joan could play grandma sitting home knitting and taking care of her 90+ mother, but no, she still out there past retirement age and doing more than 20 concerts a year all over the world, and not necessarily for money. The one at Harvard last Friday was free of charge and all proceeds donated to the Passim Center. Hats off to her!
The show was started with a rumbling of guitar followed by "The old town looks the same, as I step down from the train...." and a trademark smile. My heart dropped, her rendition of "Green Green Grass of Home" has become one of my favorites even since noticing it in youtube. Unfortunately, she didn't finish it. The core repertoire comprises many pieces from a new album with Steve Earle, which should be coming out any time. Others include old and new English/Spanish folk songs which I didn't recognize, the classics I did: "With God on our side", "The Lilly of the West", "Love is a four letter word", "Diamond & Rust", "Let it be" (of the Beatles),"The night they drove old Dixie down", and possibly others I missed. She did one set of encore and closed the concert with "Amazing Grace" a capella leading the audience. It was quite a moving and interesting experience trying to sing "Amazing Grace" not remembering all the lines, and with Joan Baez spoon feeding them.
Peppered throughout the concert were personal recollections of her time at Harvard Square with her first true boyfriend, a white Jamaican Harvard student. They were both very "neurotic" (her exact word) yet managed to last together 4 years in the Boston area and California, "living in a $35 a month shack, watching whales by the beach and turning down a $19,000 advertising contract with Coca Cola". In hindsight and by her own admission 4 years was her record in any personal relationship. It's common knowledge that she's still single and available. At one time Steve Jobs offered to marry her and was turned down, any other suitors? (:-)
While introducing and performing some of the Dylan classics, she couldn't help sniping at him. Part of the gig included clowning his accent, and reminiscing about his forgetfulness as a young man. "Love is 4-letter word" was one of his that she took all the way to the top music chart, yet he didn't recognize it when he heard it over the radio. My personal impression was that she still loves Dylan. It's just amazing how a young broken heart would refuse to heal properly, and still cry out in pain some 40+ years later.
Joan Baez is musical and political. She took the occasion to endorse Obama (mentioned in one of my earlier email) stating unequivocally that it was a first ever endorsement of a political candidate, an endorsement of hope, over other poor alternatives, and fully realizing that Obama could still make a big mess. A sound round of applause came from the audience. After all we were in Kennedy territory. She started mentioning Senator Clinton. A few clapping and yelping came from Clintonites. Joan responded with a disapproving face and an unflattering sound from her mouth then got on with a song.
I had an amazing evening. To top it off, I headed toward the local Vietnamese restaurant for bu'n thi.t/to^m nu+'o+ng and che` ba ma^`u, then drove home to crash in bed.
Ok, that's it for now.
