Joan Baez - Gone From Danger: Collectors’ Edition)

Proving her tastemaker credentials on covers album

In Gone From Danger, originally released in 1997, Joan Baez reprises her role as an interpreter, rather than songwriter, covering songs by lesser-known artists Sinéad Lohan, Richard Shindell, Dar Williams, Betty Elders and Mark Addison. Around the time of its release she announced that she no longer found herself able to write songs and her subsequent studio albums, Dark Chords On A Big Guitar and Day After Tomorrow, also saw her interpreting other artists’ work.

This reissue comprises the original record and a live album featuring performances with the covered artists. The latter includes a glorious take on Bob Dylan’s To Ramona – on which Baez provides the harmonies to Lohan’s lead. Lohan’s bright, folksy voice brilliantly complements Baez, who, singing in a lower register than in her early career, adds gravitas to her formerly more plaintive sincerity.

For Lily, the only song on which Baez gets a writing credit, Joan reprises her partnership with composers Kenny Greenburg and Wally Wilson. The album’s stand-out tracks, however, are No Mermaid, written by Lohan, and Richard Shindell’s spine-tingling civil war song Reunion Hill. When every track is handpicked, there’s no excuse for a weak one and, on Gone From Danger, Baez once again proved she has impeccable taste.

Proper | PRPCD 046 (2-CD)

Reviewed by Lynn Roberts
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