Joan Baez - Gracias A La Vida (1974)

Despite her Latin heritage, Joan Baez probably wouldn't have been encouraged by her 1960s record label, the New York-based independent Vanguard, to sing an entire album in Spanish. At A&M Records, the Los Angeles firm co-founded by Herb Alpert that she joined in the early '70s, however, it would have been a different story, and it was A&M that released "Gracias a la Vida" ("Here's to Life") in 1974.

Baez demonstrates an affinity for Mexican folk music on such obvious choices as "Cucurrucucu Paloma," but it's no surprise that, a year after the assassination of leading nueva canción folksinger Victor Jara in a military coup in Chile, an atrocity that shocked the American folk community, she has not backed away from her political commitments. There is "Guantanamera," a song that may have been a Top Ten U.S. hit for the Sandpipers in 1966, but that has political implications, as Pete Seeger has been reminding listeners for more than a decade. There is a Spanish version of "We Shall Not Be Moved" ("No Nos Moveran") with a lengthy spoken introduction. There are songs like "El Preso Numero Nueve" ("Prisoner Number Nine"; repeated from 1960's "Joan Baez") and "Esquinazo del Guerrillero" ("The Guerillas Serenade"). And, inevitably, there is a song of Jara's, "Te Recuerdo Amanda" ("I Remember You Amanda"), which the slain singer wrote for his mother. But then there is also "Dida," a wordless duet with Joni Mitchell. Throughout, 

Baez demonstrates her mastery of Spanish singing over authentic arrangements while attempting to stir up her Spanish-speaking listeners just as she does their English-speaking compatriots.


Tracklist:

"Gracias a la Vida" (Here's to Life) (Violeta Parra)
"Llegó Con Tres Heridas" (He Came with Three Wounds) (From a poem by Miguel Hernández, musicalized by Joan Manuel Serrat)
"La Llorona" (The Weeping Woman) (Traditional)
"El Preso Número Nueve" (Prisoner Number Nine) (Los Hermanos Cantoral)
"Guantanamera" (Joseíto Fernández, José Martí, adapted by Julián Orbón)
"Te Recuerdo Amanda" (I Remember You Amanda) (Víctor Jara)
"Dida" (Joan Baez)
"Cucurrucucú Paloma" (T. Méndez)
"Paso Río" (I Pass a River) (Traditional)
"El Rossinyol" (The Nightingale) (Traditional Catalan song)
"De Colores" (In Colors) (Traditional)
"Las Madres Cansadas" (All the Weary Mothers of the Earth) (J. Baez)
"No Nos Moverán" (We Shall Not Be Moved) (Traditional)
"Esquinazo Del Guerrillero" (Guerilla Warrior's Serenade) (Rolando Alarcón/Fernando Alegría)

Joan Baez - Gracias A La Vida (1974)
(320 kbps, cover art included)