Blessed Are...

Last updated
Blessed Are...
Blessedare.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedJuly 31, 1971
Recorded1971
Studio Quadrafonic Sound Studios Nashville, Tennessee
Genre
Length78:09
Label Vanguard VSD-6570/1
Producer Norbert Putnam
Joan Baez chronology
Carry It On
(1971)
Blessed Are...
(1971)
Come from the Shadows
(1972)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg link
Rolling Stone (mixed) link

Blessed Are... is the twelfth studio album (and fourteenth overall) by Joan Baez and her last with Vanguard Records, released in July 1971. It included her hit cover of The Band's "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" and songs by Kris Kristofferson, the Beatles, Jesse Winchester, and The Rolling Stones as well as a significant number of Baez' own compositions. Like its immediate predecessors, the album was recorded in Nashville and had a decidedly country feel.

Contents

The original vinyl version was released as a double album, which also included a bonus 7" 33 13 rpm record which included the songs "Maria Dolores" and Woody Guthrie's "Deportee", which she dedicated to the farmers of the world, adding "May they soon cease to be victims." On CD pressings, these two tracks are on a separate disc, as the Red Book standards prohibit fitting them on a single, 80-minute disc.

It was Baez' final studio album for Vanguard, her label of the previous eleven years, as she signed with A&M in early 1972.

Track listing

All tracks composed by Joan Baez; except where indicated

Side 1

  1. "Blessed Are..." – 3:03
  2. "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" (Robbie Robertson) – 3:26
  3. "Salt of the Earth" (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards) – 3:22
  4. "Three Horses" – 7:03
  5. "The Brand New Tennessee Waltz" (Jesse Winchester) – 3:07

Side 2

  1. "Last, Lonely and Wretched" – 3:42
  2. "Lincoln Freed Me Today (The Slave)" (David Patton) – 3:21
  3. "Outside the Nashville City Limits" – 3:20
  4. "San Francisco Mabel Joy" (Mickey Newbury) – 4:23
  5. "When Time Is Stolen" – 2:58

Side 3

  1. "Heaven Help Us All" (Ronald Miller) – 3:32
  2. "Angeline" (Mickey Newbury) – 3:37
  3. "Help Me Make It Through the Night" (Kris Kristofferson) – 2:58
  4. "Let It Be" (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) – 3:48
  5. "Put Your Hand in the Hand" (Gene MacLellan) – 3:20

Side 4

  1. "Gabriel and Me" – 3:27
  2. "Milanese Waltz/Marie Flore" – 5:55
  3. "The Hitchhikers' Song" – 4:19
  4. "The 33rd of August" (Mickey Newbury) – 3:42
  5. "Fifteen Months" – 4:30

Bonus 7"

  1. "Maria Dolores" (Fernando García Morcillo, Jacobo Morcillo) (track on bonus 7") – 3:25
  2. "Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)" (Woody Guthrie, Martin Hoffman) (track on bonus 7") – 5:15
  3. "Warm and Tender Love" (2005 bonus track) – 4:06

Personnel

Technical

Chart positions

Chart (1971)Peak
position
Canada Top Albums/CDs ( RPM ) [1] 12
US Billboard 200 [2] 11

Certifications

Certifications for Blessed Are
RegionCertification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA) [3] Gold500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down</span> 1969 single by The Band

"The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" is a song written by Robbie Robertson and originally recorded by the Canadian-American roots rock group The Band in 1969 and released on their eponymous second album. Levon Helm provided the lead vocals. The song is a first-person narrative relating the economic and social distress experienced by the protagonist, a poor white Southerner, during the last year of the American Civil War, when George Stoneman was raiding southwest Virginia.

Milton Sims "Mickey" Newbury Jr. was an American singer-songwriter and a member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.

<i>Farewell, Angelina</i> 1965 studio album by Joan Baez

Farewell, Angelina is the sixth studio album by American folk singer Joan Baez, released in late 1965. It peaked at #10 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart.

<i>From Every Stage</i> 1976 live album by Joan Baez

From Every Stage is a double live album recorded by Joan Baez on tour in the summer of 1975. The first half of the album was acoustic, with Baez accompanying herself on her guitar, while the second half features electric backup. Baez' recording of "Blowin' in the Wind" from this album was later included in the Forrest Gump soundtrack album. The song "Natalya" was dedicated to Russian poet and human rights activist Natalya Gorbanevskaya,

<i>Ring Them Bells</i> 1995 live album by Joan Baez

Ring Them Bells is a live album taken from Joan Baez' April 1995 shows at New York's The Bottom Line. In addition to her own solo set, the album featured collaborations with other female artists including Mary Chapin Carpenter, Mimi Fariña, Dar Williams, the Indigo Girls and Mary Black. Though Baez and many of the collaborating artists were admirers of one another, this album marked the first time many of them had worked together. Baez' manager, Mark Spector, served as producer.

<i>Davids Album</i> 1969 studio album by Joan Baez

David's Album is the tenth studio album by Joan Baez, recorded in Nashville and released in 1969. It peaked at number 36 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart.

<i>Hits: Greatest and Others</i> 1973 greatest hits album by Joan Baez

Hits: Greatest and Others was a 1973 compilation Vanguard put together at the end of Joan Baez' association with their label. In addition to her hit cover of The Band's "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down", songs by the Beatles and Kris Kristofferson were also included. Unlike previous compilations, this one skipped over most of Baez' earlier traditional material almost entirely, in favor of her more recent singer-songwriter material and covers.

<i>Rare, Live & Classic</i> 1993 box set by Joan Baez

Rare, Live & Classic is a 1993 box set compilation by Joan Baez. Released on Vanguard, where Baez had recorded her most influential work during the first twelve years of her career, the set also included material from her subsequent record labels, A&M, Columbia and Gold Castle Records, as well as a number of previously unreleased studio and live recordings. Bob Dylan, Bob Gibson, Mimi Fariña, Judy Collins, Odetta and Kris Kristofferson are among those who make guest appearances on the various tracks; also included were two tracks from a never-released album recorded in 1981 with the Grateful Dead.

<i>The Contemporary Ballad Book</i> 1974 compilation album by Joan Baez

The Contemporary Ballad Book was a 1974 Joan Baez compilation, released by Vanguard after the success of the Joan Baez Ballad Book. Unlike the first Ballad Book, this one focused on singer-songwriter material, rather than traditional folk. This new compilation contained one previously unreleased track, the Italian song, C'era un ragazzo che come me amava i Beatles e i Rolling Stones, taken from Baez' performance at the Isle of Wight Festival.

<i>The Taker/Tulsa</i> 1971 studio album by Waylon Jennings

The Taker/Tulsa is a studio album by American country music artist Waylon Jennings, released in 1971 on RCA Nashville. The LP rose to #12 on the Billboard country albums chart while the single "The Taker" was a Top 5 hit single.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Highwaymen (country supergroup)</span> American country music supergroup

The Highwaymen were an American country music supergroup, composed of four of country music's biggest artists who pioneered the outlaw country subgenre: Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, and Kris Kristofferson. Between 1985 and 1995, the group recorded three major label albums as The Highwaymen: two on Columbia Records and one for Liberty Records. Their Columbia works produced three chart singles, including the number one "Highwayman" in 1985.

Aaron Kenneth Buttrey was an American drummer and arranger. According to CMT, he was "one of the most influential session musicians in Nashville history."

<i>Jesus Was a Capricorn</i> 1972 studio album by Kris Kristofferson

Jesus Was a Capricorn is the fourth album by Kris Kristofferson, released in 1972 on Monument Records. The album cover pictures Kristofferson and his soon-to-be wife Rita Coolidge. "Why Me" reached #1 on the Country singles charts.

<i>Frisco Mabel Joy</i> 1971 studio album by Mickey Newbury

'Frisco Mabel Joy is a 1971 studio album by singer-songwriter Mickey Newbury. This was the second of three albums Newbury recorded at Cinderella Sound. The album includes the original version of "An American Trilogy", which Elvis Presley later performed in his Las Vegas shows with much success. "How Many Times " is a dramatically re-imagined version of a song first released on Harlequin Melodies, Newbury's RCA debut. Other standout tracks include "The Future's Not What It Used to Be", "Remember the Good", "Frisco Depot", and "How I Love Them Old Songs". The track "San Francisco Mabel Joy" was not initially part of the album, though it is included on some versions. ’Frisco Mabel Joy was collected for CD issue on the eight-disc Mickey Newbury Collection from Mountain Retreat, Newbury's own label in the mid-1990s, along with nine other Newbury albums from 1969 to 1981. In 2011, it was reissued again, both separately and as part of the four-disc Mickey Newbury box set An American Trilogy, alongside two other albums recorded at Cinderella Sound, Looks Like Rain and Heaven Help the Child. This release marks the first time that 'Frisco Mabel Joy has been released on CD in remastered form, after the original master tapes were rediscovered in 2010.

<i>Stories We Could Tell: The RCA Years</i> 2003 compilation album by The Everly Brothers

Stories We Could Tell: The RCA Years is a country rock compilation album by The Everly Brothers, released in 2003. The original LP Stories We Could Tell was produced by Paul Rothchild and released by RCA Victor in 1972. This CD contains the original album plus eight of the twelve tracks from the Everlys' other RCA album, Pass the Chicken & Listen.

<i>Moonshot</i> (album) 1972 studio album by Buffy Sainte-Marie

Moonshot is a studio album by American singer-songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie, released in 1972 by Vanguard Records.

<i>Bowery Songs</i> 2005 live album by Joan Baez

Bowery Songs is a live album by American singer and musician Joan Baez, released in 2005. It was recorded during Baez' set at Manhattan's Bowery Ballroom.

<i>Looks Like Rain</i> 1969 studio album by Mickey Newbury

Looks Like Rain is a 1969 concept album by singer-songwriter Mickey Newbury. After recording his debut album with RCA, Newbury was dissatisfied with the resulting album and left RCA to pursue a style closer to his tastes. Recorded at Cinderella Sound, as his next two albums would be, the result is widely considered his first real recording and represents a peak in the singer songwriter movement, especially for Nashville. The sound and style of the record would be highly influential during the Outlaw Movement during country music in the 1970s especially on albums by David Allan Coe and Waylon Jennings. Linking the tracks with delicate arrangements and liberal amount of atmosphere, the record contains some of Newbury's most celebrated compositions including "She Even Woke Me Up to Say Goodbye", "33rd of August", "I Don't Think Much About Her No More", and "San Francisco Mabel Joy". AllMusic's review of the album concludes, "Looks Like Rain is so fine, so mysterious in its pace, dimension, quark strangeness and charm, it defies any attempt at strict categorization or criticism; a rare work of genius."

<i>The Joan Baez Country Music Album</i> 1979 compilation album by Joan Baez

The Joan Baez Country Music Album is a 1979 compilation album by Joan Baez.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Big Sur Folk Festival</span>

The Big Sur Folk Festival, held from 1964 to 1971 in California, was an informal gathering of prominent and emerging folk artists from across the United States. Nancy Jane Carlen (1941-2013) was working at the Esalen Institute when Joan Baez was asked to lead workshops on music. Carlen was a good friend of Baez, and they decided to invite other artists, which turned into the first festival.

References

  1. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 7518". RPM . Library and Archives Canada.
  2. "Joan Baez Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.
  3. "American album certifications – Joan Baez – Blessed Are". Recording Industry Association of America . Retrieved September 14, 2022.