In 2010 or so, I made a list of living legends to see. That list consisted of Patti Smith, Bob Dylan, Roger McGuinn, Joni Mitchell, Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, and Joan Baez. In recent years, I have been lucky enough to cross out Patti, Bob, and Roger, and sadly we lost Lou before I had the chance to see him live. However, my most recent streak of luck was when “Baez on the Bayou”— Joan Baez’s four-show tour of South Louisiana— was scheduled.
Joan Baez is a woman of legend, and a personal idol. She walked alongside Martin Luther King Jr in civil rights marches of the 1960s, she opened LiveAid, and she has been an outspoken woman for human rights and peace for decades. She shared stages with Bob Dylan, The Byrds, The Band, Pete Seeger, and a plethora of other folk legends.
All the while, she kept up true folk tradition— always singing songs people love and have connections to, whether hers or someone else’s. She has been criticized as merely a “cover act”, but I would say those people fail to understand the nature of folk music, and the way that each cover of a song adds to the tradition.
That said, the show I attended—One Eyed Jack’s in New Orleans Sunday, November 24, was excellent. It was packed, and the average age of the crowd surely hovered somewhere around sixty, but it made for a polite and attentive bunch. Young folks, heed my word—old folks get to concerts early. If you are seeing a legend, you may want to arrive well before doors open.
I arrived just before Joan took the stage, so I was toward the back of the venue, but with a little finagling I was able to see just fine. The acoustics of One Eyed Jack’s are admirable, but they were having some technical issues with sound dropping in and out that night. Regardless, it was still easy to hear and enjoyable throughout.
She opened the night with “God is God,” a song from her 2008 release The Day After Tomorrow. Not everyone knew it, but the crowd certainly was familiar with the next one, “There but for Fortune” originally by Phil Ochs.
Other classics included a few Dylan tunes, “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue”, “I Shall Be Released”, “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere” (complete with accordion), and “Forever Young”.
A couple of folk standards (and even some Cajun-Zydeco) “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot”, “Flora, Lily of the West”, “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down”, and “House of the Rising Sun.”
“Diamonds and Rust,” one of my favorites–played toward the end, may have been the only Baez original besides “God is God” all night, but again, it was truly a folk concert.
In-between songs, Joan was candid and entertaining, quipping about her distress with her own tuning skills and how little they have improved even with modern electronics. She talked about how she wanted to stay in Louisiana (doesn’t everyone?), and told a sweet and funny story about being tasked with waking up Dr. King from a nap.
She even told a mildly inappropriate joke which I will attempt to re-create below.
Two southern ladies were sitting on a porch, drinking mint juleps.
One lady said, “When my first child was born, my husband built this beautiful mansion for me.”
The second lady commented, “That’s nice.”
The first woman continued, “When my second child was born, my husband bought me that beautiful Jaguar out there at the end of the drive.”
Again, the second lady commented sweetly, “That’s nice.”
The first woman continued boasting, “You should see my wardrobe!”
Yet again, the second lady commented, sweet as ever, “That’s nice.”
The first woman then asked her companion, “What did your husband buy for you when you had your first child?”
“My husband sent me to charm school,” declared the second lady.
“Charm school?” the first woman cried, “Oh, my God! What on earth for?”
The second lady responded, “Well, I used to say “Fuck you!” all the time, but now I just say “That’s nice.”
Joan’s joke got a laugh from the crowd, as her changed lyric at the end of “Diamonds and Rust” – “Well if you’re offering me diamonds and rust / I’ve already paid” became “Well if you’re offering me diamonds and rust/ I’ll take the diamonds” also elicited a laugh from those of us who noticed the change.
With that, I think it is safe to conclude that Joan Baez is still full of life, and can still put on a hell of a show. Many aging musicians have trouble captivating audiences the way they used to, but Joan Baez is adept at making her fans feel comfortable while still incorporating fresh material, such as spontaneous and regionally based music into her shows.
