- in Advice for New Artists , Joan Baez by Mike
Joan Baez – HuffPost 10.14.09
[Note: The following is from my 2009 interview with Joan Baez and contains some good information for new artists.]Mike Ragogna: After growing up on the R&B that played on your bedside radio, what got you into folk music?
JB: It was genuine and I couldn’t stand anything that wasn’t. Early on, it was the fusing of politics and music.
MR: But your music wasn’t always socially conscious.
JB: During the “ballad” years for me, the politics was latent, I was just falling in love with the ballads and my boyfriend. And there was the beauty of the songs. But that was just a couple of years, then I was into putting both hats on which, I think, was just such a perfect fit.
MR: During your documentary, you say this is where you saw the junction between music, politics, and the world.
JB: Yeah, all of it. I hadn’t known that that was what was missing, but I knew it when I heard it.
JB: I don’t remember, I just remember that it was fun. It really was fun. You know, I’m not a “hit-maker,” and I don’t think I had any idea that it would do what it did. I was delighted that it did, I mean, I still sing it. People are so thrilled (by it), though, in some countries, it never took. But here in England, people come out of their shells and have a wonderful time singing it. So, I don’t know what that magic is that makes those things happen. (Note: Joan graciously gave this interview while on tour in the U.K.)
MR: “Diamonds And Rust” was another magic moment. You’ve said when you began writing the song, it started as something else until Dylan phoned you. Then it became about him. That must have been one helluva call.
JB: He read me the entire lyrics to “Lily, Rosemary, And The Jack Of Hearts” that he’d just finished from a phone booth in the Midwest.
MR: What was the song about originally?
JB: I don’t remember what I’d been writing about, but it had nothing to do with what it ended up as.
MR: After a decade of hard work and intensity, it seems like your touring with Dylan and his “Rolling Thunder” revue was a much-needed break. When you listen to a couple of the tracks from the tour, it sounds like you guys had way too much fun.
JB: Oh, I don’t know, it was just crazy and wonderful. The first (tour) was just beautiful to look at. I kind of watched the whole thing and took part.
MR: The caravan included folks like Joni Mitchell and David Mansfield…
JB: …yeah, he was quite a wizard.