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"The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" is a live recording, but misses none of the mood or flair of the single. "Please Come To Boston" is nearly better than the original and Joan captures the tenuous love longings with her voice. "Oh Happy Day" is given the justice and respect it deserves and "Never Dreamed You'd Leave In Summer" is still heartbreaking.

"Diamonds And Rust" is the first cut and with reason. It has to be her best written song/recording to date. Faded memories, lasting longings, the broken heart; ah, Joan Baez is truly gifted.

The remaining songs are her classics from over the years. If you have any misgivings about this album, listen to some of the clips to decide if these versions are the ones you want.


Diamonds And Rust is "the" perfect song   March 24, 2001
 43 out of 46 found this review helpful

This collection contains some of the most hauntingly beautiful and poignant music from Joan's later career. "Diamonds And Rust" let's her, for a moment, soar with the great poets of yesteryear (how poetic, she found her muse when writing a song for Dylan, the greatest American twentieth century poet). "Diamonds And Rust" is on the same par as Carly Simon's "You're So Vain", another perfect song. Baez still had the powerful vocals she had in the 60's. "Diamonds And Rust" is part of a trilogy on this cd, with "Love Song To A Stranger" and "Sweeter For Me" (the lyrics are some of the most visual I have ever heard in pop music). I will often play all three songs together, which reveal her desires and loves with an honesty I had never heard from Joan before. "Forever Young" is a lovely and tender song about maintaining one's inner glow as they grow older. A wish we would all make to our children. "Simple Twist Of Fate," aside from being another great Dylan tune, is brilliantly interpreted by Baez. She does a take off of Dylan which verges on being hysterically funny and at the same time a serious piece of work. In many ways, Baez was Dylan's "twin" as the song implies. Her interpretation of Lennon's "Imagine" is quite nice. She gives it her touch of "Baezness" and gives it a fresh sound. I've heard several versions of "Imagine" and have found it interesting how "Imagine" holds up to the different styles of the many vocalists who have re-recorded this great song. Her interpretation of "Never Dreamed You'd Leave In Summer" is second only to "Diamonds And Rust" on this cd. I first heard this song sung by Stevie Wonder, and I couldn't imagine anyone doing it as well. This song was made for Baez's voice. You can almost feel the first winter chills of Autumn in the tremors of her voice. The two live versions included on this collection are not very good, which brought this cd down from fives stars to four stars. I don't especially care for "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" to begin with, and to hear the live version is really unpleasant. "Amazing Grace" should have been the studio version. The rest of the songs on the cd fall somewhere in between the best of and worst of range I've mentioned. However, the seven or eight songs that I think are exceptional make this a must have greatest hits collection. If you're on the fence about this cd, purchase her autobiography, and that will peak your interest in both Joan and her music. She's quite a lady.


Unfortunate   April 9, 2006
 33 out of 40 found this review helpful

If you want just one CD that gives you an overview of Joan Baez's career and contains her greatest hits, well...you won't find one. Her career has been too long and varied for that. She was at Woodstock and at Live Aid. She covered traditional English, Spanish and French folk songs, protest and mainstream pop.

She currently has 46 albums to her credit, including 15 compilation albums. Newcomers to her music will assume that an album entitled Greatest Hits, which is her current best seller, is the best place to start. Unfortunately, it's the worst.

The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down was one of her finest songs; I remember the excitement her version generated in the 70s. This album has a live performance which is a pale imitation of the studio version. Her voice is tired and slightly off-key, the backing is scrappy, the acoustics are poor and the tempo is a little too fast. A mess.

She does a Dylan impersonation on one verse of his A Simple Twist of Fate. This might have been amusing at the time, and may still be to those in the know, but to newcomers it will be irritating and confusing. A mistake.

One of her signature tunes is Amazing Grace, which she has performed better than anyone. At the 1985 Live Aid concert, she made the terrible mistake of saying the words before each verse, to encourage audience participation. Mercifully, the DVD of the concert cuts this short. So why, in the name of all that's musical, does this album include a 1976 performance of her doing the same thing? An embarrassment.

All the tracks were recorded in the 70s (1972 - 1976), by no means her 'Greatest' era, nor her most representative. Simply, they are her years with A&M Records. They had the nerve to cobble these tracks together and call it a 'Greatest Hits'. A smart marketing move but a shameful musical one.

To add a positive note, the final track, Less Than the Song, is very fine. I guess you can't keep a good singer down.

Joan's is the finest female voice of the 60s folk revival and protest movement -- pure and melodious and true. As a child of the 60s, the album of hers that I remember best and which now seems most representative is her eponymous 'Joan Baez'. If you are new to her music, start either with that album or with The First 10 Years. Both are great.





Look elsewhere for these songs   June 21, 2004
 30 out of 41 found this review helpful

I was very disappointed with this CD. Firstly the remaster is not digital. The sound is flat. Then some of the cuts are from concerts. Amazing Grace, one of her most beautiful songs, is done with audience participation. To make matters worse, she rapidly speaks the words to each verse before singing it to that the audience can participate. This breaks the mood of the song.

I really feel that I wasted my money.


I THINK YOU CAN FIND A BETTER BAEZ 'BEST OF' CD   November 3, 2002
 27 out of 28 found this review helpful

The CD title is a bit misleading because it makes you think that it contains the traditional studio versions of "..OLD DIXIE.." , "PLEASE COME TO BOSTON" and the others but some of these songs are live concert recordings of her greatest hits. I love the song "NIGHT THEY DROVE OLD DIXIE DOWN" but in this version the backup singers aren't present. The song is still all right but the song doesn't have that infectious lofty sound of the studio version when she sings the chorus. The backup singers makes the song fly and soar but without them the song doesn't quite have the same power and overwhelming feel. Its still good but not quite as effective as the studio version.

I like her version of John Lennon's "IMAGINE". Lennon's gentle and delicate version starts quietly with a lone piano and gently builds as it goes along with the addition of a soft drum beat and violins; beautifully endearing in its simplicity. Baez's version somewhat maintains the same characteristics of the song but with the addition of a guitar and horns and she sings it in her folk style.

I wouldn't suggest this CD to someone who wants to introduce themselves to Joan Baez music. There are other 'best of' CD's of Baez that may do a much better job of introducing her music like "HITS:GREATEST & OTHERS" and "MILLENIUM EDITION". The advanced Baez listener might appreciate this CD , particularly the live concert audio thats here , otherwise I suggest sticking to the essential albums/CD's and getting other Baez 'best of' CD's.