Joan Baez: Recently

Analogue Productions

Mastered by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio from the original analog tapes

"A 30th anniversary reissue, this set from 1987 was recorded after an eight-year hiatus. As typical of her career, it reminds us of Baez´s impeccable taste in material. While she wrote two tracks and one is a traditional folk anthem, the rest includes sincere renditions of Dan Penn´s magnificent ´Do Right Woman, Do Right Man,´ U2´s ´MLK,´ Dire Strait´s Brothers In Arms´ and Jimmy Webb´s ´The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress.´ Backed by ace musicians including Caleb Quaye and Abe Laboriel, Baez was doing what she always did: preaching and protesting and guilt-tripping the audience. If you can swallow the right-on politics, musically this is pure class." — Sound Quality = 90% — Ken Kessler, HiFi News, September 2017

In 1987, the "Madonna of Folk" returned to U.S. record shops with a vengeance, delivering here interpretations of songs by Dire Straits, Johnny Clegg, U2 and Peter Gabriel — performers, writes AllMusic, whose political consciousness had been formed by listening to old Joan Baez albums.

We´ve taken a classic and kicked it up a notch. Several notches, in fact. This Hybrid Stereo SACD was expertly remastered by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio from the original analog tapes.

The title track from Recently is a stunning Joan Baez original, where she boldly answers ex-husband David Harris´ downbeat memoir of the ´60s, Dreams Die Hard, as well as other ´80s revisionists.

The track "Asimbognagna" was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Recording.