Joan Baez, Vol. 2

Last updated
Joan Baez, Vol. 2
Joanbaezvol2.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedSeptember 1961
Recorded1961
StudioVanguard Studios, New York City
Genre Folk
Length44:15
Label Vanguard VSD-2097
Producer Maynard Solomon
Joan Baez chronology
Joan Baez
(1960)
Joan Baez, Vol. 2
(1961)
Joan Baez in Concert
(1962)

Joan Baez, Vol. 2 is the second studio album by Joan Baez. Released in 1961, the album, like her self-titled 1960 debut album, featured mostly traditional songs. The bluegrass band The Greenbriar Boys provided backup on two songs. [1] Joan Baez, Vol. 2 peaked at #13 on the Billboard album chart and was nominated for a Grammy for "Best Contemporary Folk Performance".

Contents

The Vanguard reissue contains three unreleased tracks, "I Once Loved A Boy", "Poor Boy" and "Longest Train I Ever Saw".

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [2]

In his Allmusic review, music critic Matt Fink wrote of the album:

"The material chosen is truly exceptional... Without a doubt, Baez's version of "Pal of Mine" is every bit as vibrant as when the Carters recorded it, though here given a more bluegrass sound by the banjo and backup vocal accompaniment of the Greenbriar Boys. Baez is a true master of her craft, and though she hasn't always made the best choices for material, the 14 interpretations here are as timeless as the songs themselves... this is an album that all fans of traditional folk music should seek out." [2]

Track listing

All songs traditional, except where noted.

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Wagoner's Lad"Traditional; arranged by anonymous2:14
2."The Trees They Do Grow High"Traditional; arranged by anonymous2:59
3."Lily of the West" 3:21
4."Silkie" (Child no. 113) 4:01
5."Engine 143" 3:32
6."Once I Knew a Pretty Girl" 2:56
7."Lonesome Road" 2:23
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
8."Banks of the Ohio" 3:09
9."Pal of Mine" 2:50
10."Barbara Allen" (Child no. 84) 4:17
11."The Cherry Tree Carol" (Child no. 54) 3:30
12."Old Blue" 2:36
13."Railroad Boy" 2:31
14."Plaisir d'Amour" ("The Joys of Love") Jean-Paul-Égide Martini alias Martini il Tedesco3:11
Total length:44:15
2001 reissue bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
15."I Once Loved a Boy"2:39
16."Poor Boy"2:55
17."Longest Train I Ever Saw"3:15

Personnel

Certifications

Certifications for Joan Baez, Vol. 2
RegionCertification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA) [3] Gold500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Related Research Articles

"John Riley" is a traditional English folk song. It is also known as "Johnny Riley", "The Broken Token" and "A Fair Young Maid All in Her Garden", among other titles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer</span>

Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer were an American folk duo who released three albums from 1998 to 2001, as well as additional material released after Dave Carter's death. The duo consisted of Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer,.

<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>Joan Baez</i> (album) 1960 studio album by Joan Baez

Joan Baez, also known as Joan Baez, Vol. 1, is the debut solo album by folk singer Joan Baez. The album was recorded in the summer of 1960 and released the same year. The original release featured 13 traditional folk songs. Later reissues included three additional songs.

<i>Joan Baez/5</i> 1964 studio album by Joan Baez

Joan Baez/5 is the fifth studio album by American folk singer Joan Baez, released in October 1964. It peaked at number 12 on the Billboard 200 chart. The single "There But for Fortune" reached number 50 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S. and became a top-ten single in the UK.

<i>Gulf Winds</i> 1976 studio album by Joan Baez

Gulf Winds is the seventeenth studio album by Joan Baez, released in 1976. It was her final album of new material for A&M. Baez stated in her autobiography, And a Voice to Sing With, that most of the songs were written while on tour with the Rolling Thunder Revue with Bob Dylan. "O Brother!" was a clever reply to Dylan's song "Oh Sister". On the title song, a ten-minute long autobiographical recollection of her childhood, Baez accompanies herself only with her own acoustic guitar, creating a sound reminiscent of her earliest pure folk recordings.

<i>Where Are You Now, My Son?</i> 1973 studio album by Joan Baez

Where Are You Now, My Son? is the fourteenth studio album by Joan Baez, released in 1973. One side of the album featured recordings Baez made during a US bombing raid on Hanoi over Christmas 1972. Included on the recording are the voices of Barry Romo, Michael Allen and human rights attorney Telford Taylor, with whom Baez made her famous 1972 visit to North Vietnam.

<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>Joan Baez in Concert</i> 1962 live album by Joan Baez

Joan Baez in Concert is a live album taken from Joan Baez's 1962 concert tours. It peaked at #10 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart.

<i>Joan Baez in Concert, Part 2</i> 1963 live album by Joan Baez

Joan Baez in Concert, Part 2 was a second installment of live material, recorded during Joan Baez' concert tours of early 1963. It peaked at number 7 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Silver Dagger (song)</span> Traditional song performed by Joan Baez

"Silver Dagger", with variants such as "Katy Dear", "Molly Dear", "The Green Fields and Meadows", "Awake, Awake, Ye Drowsy Sleepers" and others, is an American folk ballad, whose origins lie possibly in Britain. These songs of different titles are closely related, and two strands in particular became popular in commercial Country music and Folk music recordings of the twentieth century: the "Silver Dagger" version popularised by Joan Baez, and the "Katy Dear" versions popularised by close harmony brother duets such as The Callahan Brothers, The Blue Sky Boys and The Louvin Brothers.

"Banks of the Ohio", also known as "Down on the Banks of the Ohio" and "I'll Never Be Yours", is a 19th-century murder ballad, written by unknown authors. The lyrics tell of "Willie" who invites his young lover for a walk during which she rejects his marriage proposal, and once they are alone on the river bank, he murders the young woman.

John Herald was an American folk and bluegrass songwriter, solo and studio musician and one-time member of The Greenbriar Boys trio.

The Greenbriar Boys were an American northern bluegrass music group. who first got together in jam sessions in New York's Washington Square Park.

"Man of Constant Sorrow" is a traditional American folk song first published by Dick Burnett, a partially blind fiddler from Kentucky. The song was originally titled "Farewell Song" in a songbook by Burnett dated to around 1913. A version recorded by Emry Arthur in 1928 gave the song its current titles.

<i>Doc Watson at Gerdes Folk City</i> 2001 compilation album by Doc Watson

Doc Watson at Gerde's Folk City is the title of live recordings by American folk music and country blues artist Doc Watson, released in 2001. The recordings are of Watson's first solo public performances, recorded in 1962 and 1963 at Gerde's Folk City. The tracks were never released prior to 2001.

<i>Here We Go Again!</i> 1959 studio album by The Kingston Trio

Here We Go Again! is an album by American folk music group the Kingston Trio, released in 1959. It was one of the four the Trio would have simultaneously in Billboard's Top 10 albums during the year. It spent eight weeks at #1 and received an RIAA gold certification the same day as At Large. "A Worried Man" b/w "San Miguel" was its lead-off single, though it just made the Top 20. In November, two non-album songs were released as a single—"Coo Coo-U" b/w "Green Grasses"—but did not chart.

<i>Sold Out</i> (The Kingston Trio album) 1960 studio album by The Kingston Trio

Sold Out is an album by American folk music group the Kingston Trio, released in 1960. It was their third LP to reach #1, stayed there for twelve weeks, and received an RIAA gold certification the same year. "El Matador" b/w "Home From the Hill" was its lead-off single, though it just made the Top 40. Sold Out remained in the Top 40 for 54 weeks, longer than any other Trio album.

James Dickson was born in Los Angeles, California, son of a diesel engineer in the United States Navy. He was an avid sailor as a teenager, and enlisted in the United States Army in 1946 before he embarked on a career in the recording industry as a self-taught record producer and band manager. Before producing the first Elektra Records Bluegrass records he produced his first record, an LP on his own label, Vaya. He eventually sold the rights of Lord Buckley's 1955 album Hipsters, Flipsters and Finger Poppin' Daddies, Knock Me Your Lobes to Elektra and it was in print for another 25 years. Jim Dickson was the lone individual behind Elektra Records Los Angeles Bluegrass albums. In 1962 he produced his first bluegrass record for Elektra called Dian and the Greenbriar Boys by the Greenbriar Boys and a Hollywood country singer, Dian James. While working on the collaboration between Greenbriar Boys and Dian James, Dickson discovered the Dillards and with the help of Ralph Rinzler convinced Elektra Records that they were a good Bluegrass group. He went on to produce three of their records, 1963's Back Porch Bluegrass, 1964's Live!!!! Almost!!! and 1965's Pickin' and Fiddlin' which featured fiddler, Byron Berline. Rosenberg notes that Pickin' and Fiddlin' "was unlike any previous bluegrass album; it was an LP of old-time fiddle music played to bluegrass backing." Dickson was behind was the first ever recording of a Bob Dylan song by a bluegrass band, The Dillards recording of Bob Dylan's "Walkin' Down the Line" on their 1964 album Live!!!! Almost!!!

Anton Robert "Bob" Yellin is an American banjo player and founding member of The Greenbriar Boys bluegrass music group.

References

  1. "Joan Baez - Joan Baez Vol. 2 (Vinyl, LP, Album)". Discogs. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  2. 1 2 Fink, Matt. "Joan Baez, Vol. 2 > Review". Allmusic . Retrieved August 4, 2011.
  3. "American album certifications – Joan Baez – Joan Baez, Volume 2". Recording Industry Association of America . Retrieved September 14, 2022.