This is from one of her very first albums, back in about 1962. I had a leg up on some of my friends back then, having very a smart brother and sister who were in college at the time and privy to the newest fashions, so I got first dibs on the developing Folk Craze, right off the get go. I’ll never forget one of my buddies coming over and us putting Bob Dylan’s first music on the box. “Man, he can’t sing for nuthin’!” Imagine young boys thinking that! But there was much to like with this fine-tuned young woman, as we can see.

Joan Baez set a standard for me at that time. Her voice seemed as pure as the driven snow. Since then, a few ladies have met the standard, but not many. See what you think about this very early tune, her adaptation of a gospel song from the 1800’s.