Almost Hits: Joan Baez - Diamonds & Rust (1975)

Joan Baez was never known for having hit singles yet she was a truly popular artist with a golden voice and she proved it with Diamonds & Rust, the title track from her most popular album.

Baez was always a composer of note although she recorded far more cover versions of other people's work than many of her songwriting contemporaries. If the singer-activist believed in a song she wouldn't hesitate to record it regardless of its roots. She even covered rock songs. Her treatment of Dire Straits' "Brothers In Arms" is a totally satisfying surprise.

Folk musicians (i.e. Baez, Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie) mostly sang about traditional cultures, politics, or social ills and primarily employed acoustic instruments whereas the singer-songwriters who rose to prominence in the 1970s (i.e. Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Carole King) often sang about more personal issues, looking inward for their material that was sometimes influenced by rock music. The two genres frequently crossed over with each other and that is the situation we have with "Diamonds and Rust," a song that only reached #35 on the Hot 100.

"Diamonds and Rust" is among Baez's most loved works and it's famous for being about her relationship with Bob Dylan who rose to stardom at very much the same time she did. The song's title refers to the memories she still holds from that relationship a full decade later.

When listening to the song it appears that Baez never really got over Dylan. At first she told the famous folkie the track was not about him even though many of the lyrics made it obvious that it was. The song never mentions him by name. Instead, Baez told him the subject was David Harris, her ex-husband. As the lyrics say, Dylan was the one who "burst on the scene already a legend" when he came into her life. Later, she freely admitted the song was about the native Minnesotan.

"Diamonds and Rust" has beautiful lyrics and a gorgeous vocal but it was not the kind of song that made the charts often, even back in the eclectic mid-70s. It's a miracle it got as high as it did on the Hot 100 even though it deserved better.
_______________________________

Almost Hits is an occasional exploration into songs that failed to reach the top #20 on the American Billboard Hot 100. Many have become classics despite what their chart position would indicate.

Comments

  1. william11:04 PM, September 16, 2022

    I created a video for this song. Now I may be biased, but its a heck of a great video, maybe the best one on youtube - https://youtu.be/IGbceOVIra4?list=RDIGbceOVIra4

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

WHAT'S HOT TODAY!

Slower Than Slow: 16 RPM Records

Image
Have you ever heard of a long forgotten vinyl format, the 16 2/3 RPM record? They were half the speed of the 33 1/3 RPM albums that were the traditional standard for recorded music. Most record players in the 1950s and 1960s came with a speed setting to play these long forgotten discs that were considered novelties even during the years they were available. Because most, but not all, 16s had big holes and were 7" in diameter many of them were mistaken for 45 RPMs and at that size the speed allowed for up to 20 minutes of playing time per side. However, there was no true standard size and they were also manufactured to be 9, 10, or 12 inches in diameter, and these larger records played even longer. Just like the other speeds and formats 16s could be played one record at a time or stacked on a changer for continuous play. Radio stations often used the discs for pre-recorded radio shows containing interviews, dramas, and documentaries. More frequen...
Read more

The Band - Christmas Must Be Tonight (1977)

Image
In 2006 Hall and Oates released Home For Christmas , their one and only holiday album, an extremely good set of music that immediately became one of my favorite seasonal listens. I wrote then that I was stunned at how many overtly religious songs the famous duo put on the the disc considering the very politically correct climate of the new millennium. One of them was a cover version of a song that alluded me for almost thirty years, "Christmas Must Be Tonight." I liked the new, upbeat track sung by Daryl Hall and it made me go out and search for Robbie Robertson's never-to-be classic. Sung by Rick Danko, it appears on the great American band's last album, Islands (1977). It's a surprise that a group whose members were not known to have any specific or powerfully strong religious beliefs would release a song that tackled the subject of Jesus's birth as blatantly as our most loved Christmas carols. It's not about a reckless reinde...
Read more

The Beatles - Christmas Messages (1963 - 1969)

Image
For seven straight years beginning in 1963 - even before they were famous in America - The Beatles recorded annual Christmas messages exclusively for their fan club members as a holiday thank you. They were issued on seven-inch, vinyl records that were very thin, very bendable, and easily damaged. These flexi-discs, as they were called, could not be stacked on record changers. Over the years the tracks have been bootlegged in countless ways, and until a few years ago the only legal release was sent to fan club members in 1970 on 33 RPM vinyl records after the boys from Liverpool went their separate ways. The LP cover shown here is from that album. Finally, in 2017, a limited edition box set  on colored vinyl was released and is now an expensive collector's item. Many Beatles fans managed to hear these records over the years, and with the Internet being what it is, there are several websites where anyone can easily listen to all of them.  Archive.org ...
Read more

Chicago: An Album By Album Analysis Of The Terry Kath Era (1969 - 1977)

Image
The original lineup of Chicago has always been one of my all time favorite bands. My affection for this great horn band is such that I want to discuss all of the albums they recorded before Terry Kath's unfortunate and accidental passing. Their debut album is now forty years old, and it's followup is not far behind, yet their music endures to this day. * * * * * Everyone Must Own * * * * Excellent * * * Good * * Fair * Poor * * * * * Chicago Transit Authority (1969) - Whether they were playing screaming psychedelic hard rock, jazz, blues, or love songs, everyone in the band proved they were worthy of the huge mass success that followed CTA 's release. The band's ability to play anything and play it well is the hallmark of their debut album. The stars are Robert Lamm, Terry Kath, and the horns, and even Peter Cetera demonstrates he can be a rock and roll animal when he wants to be. The standout tracks are Lamm's "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It...
Read more

The Chieftains With Jackson Browne - The Rebel Jesus (1991)

Image
"The Rebel Jesus" is a Christmas song composed by Jackson Browne and performed with The Chieftains, the eclectic, veteran Irish folk band on  The Bells of Dublin,  their 1991 holiday album. Browne wrote the song specifically for his guest appearance on this record. The singer-songwriter, who is deservedly in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, can be a bit preachy when he wants to be, and he is again here, but no one can dispute what the man is saying.  The last two verses are the key to the song. Browne points out that people often feel more generous at Christmas so they'll give to those who were less fortunate than themselves during the holidays. But, if anyone tries to dig deeper and root out the poverty that envelops the downtrodden they are often scorned like Jesus was. This message is coming from a man who is admittedly a "heathen and a pagan," but on this occasion he is "on the side of the rebel Jesus." At the same time Browne doesn't want to sp...
Read more