Joan (Bonus Track Version)

The psychedelic era was in full flight in the summer of 1967. Music became more ornate, and singer/songwriters like Donovan, Phil Ochs, Judy Collins, and Joan Baez began exploring what orchestration could do for their simple acoustic catalogs. Baez had teamed with classical musician Peter Schickele (a.k.a. P.D.Q. Bach) for the excellent album of seasonal songs Noel, and here the relationship further blossoms one of her catalog's most distinctive albums. Harps, horns, strings: any instrument necessary to color the world is used here, and songs like Donovan's "Turquoise," Simon & Garfunkel's "Dangling Conversation," and Tim Hardin's "The Lady Came from Baltimore" and "If I Were a Carpenter" balance folk, pop, and art music. All that's missing is a Bob Dylan song. Most encouraging, Baez picks up the songwriting pen herself with two excellent co-writes: the aching love-lost "North" and the politically charged "Saigon Bride." This reissue includes the bonus tracks "Oh, Had I a Golden Thread" and "Autumn Leaves."