Joan Baez – ‘Diamonds and Rust’
Cover versions get something of a bad reputation, and it’s often considered heresy to make alterations to a song that might already be considered a classic. Sure, there are some great covers, some of which are better than the original, but then there are also some that are best left unmentioned and left in the backrooms of music history. But what if you’re just really good at performing the works of others and are able to do them justice on every occasion? Step forward Joan Baez, an artist known for putting her own spin on songs written by others and turning them into her own masterpieces.
Having tried her hand at reimagining the songs of the likes of Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and Paul Simon over the years, Baez was rarely off the boil when it came to her renditions of the masters of folk, but it would be dismissive to not mention just how good her own compositions were. Comprising a combination of her own material and a handful of cuts from others, her 1975 album Diamonds and Rust is possibly the most gleaming example of her brilliance on both counts.
On the album, Baez lends her warm vocal tones to the songs of Stevie Wonder, John Prine and Janis Ian, among others, while making room for four of her own accomplished compositions. Bringing a jazz-tinged soft rock sound into the mix, this album marked her continued departure from the traditional folk stylings of her 1960s output and can be seen as a turning point in her career in terms of her artistic ambitions.
As previously mentioned, the world was aware of how proficient her covering abilities were, but at the top of the tracklist is the title track, a song that Baez penned about Bob Dylan and saw the favour returned to her in terms of the number of cover versions it would have in its wake. This was the song that Baez would become best known for, and it’s for good reason, too, as its story of heartbreak and reflecting on her separation from the aforementioned subject is gut-wrenchingly honest.
Alongside this, pieces such as ‘Children and All That Jazz’ and ‘Dida’ are peculiar forays into prog pop that see Baez’s playful side come out, with the latter being a song that was performed as a scat-sung soft jazz duet alongside Joni Mitchell. They shouldn’t work so well alongside the ballads on the record, but these small diversions are what make the album just that little bit more special.
Baez is having a blast on other songs as well, especially when she’s choosing to substitute her distinctive vibrato for a Dylan impression on ‘Simple Twist of Fate’, but it’s when other instruments drop out in order to place her vocals front and centre, such as on ‘Never Dreamed You’d Leave in Summer’ and ‘I Dream of Jeannie/Danny Boy’ where her gift as a singer is truly allowed to get the attention it deserves.
While it isn’t gripping throughout and doesn’t match the efforts of her contemporaries at the time such as Joni Mitchell and Carole King, Diamonds and Rust is still a fantastic showcase of everything Baez was capable of as a performer, songwriter and musician, and an intriguing dive into an era of the folk singer that saw her flirt with something totally different from what she was best known for.
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