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Folk, folk rock, New York.

Het (opnieuw) beluisteren na 60 jaar meer dan waard. 

This Craft reissue is cut all-analog from the original master tapes by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio and pressed on 180-gram vinyl at Fidelity Record Pressing, now firmly in the top tier alongside RTI and QRP. The glossy Stoughton tip-on jacket reproduces Richard Avedon’s iconic cover photograph, though a touch darker and lower in contrast than my 1965 Stereolab label pressing.

As much as I admire Diamonds & Rust, the Vanguard years remain the purest expression of Baez’s art, and Farewell, Angelina feels like the culmination of that era. The program is a carefully chosen blend of Dylan, Donovan, Guthrie, and traditional material, all filtered through Baez’s crystalline soprano. The arrangements are spare but never austere. Baez’s own acoustic guitar is the anchor, joined at times by Russ Savakus or Richard Romoff on string bass, Bruce Langhorne’s tastefully understated electric guitar, and Rolf Rinzler’s mandolin. Each player is present but never obtrusive, their subtle textures forming an elegant frame around Baez’s voice.

Langhorne, best known for his work with Bob Dylan, contributes just a few electric guitar shadings, most hauntingly on “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue,” where his lines hover like a shadow around Baez’s vocal. Rinzler’s mandolin makes a single, memorable appearance on “A Satisfied Mind,” where it threads through the song like a second voice, lending brightness and a touch of old-world character. The string bass provides warmth and depth throughout, grounding the music without weighing it down, and giving the voice and upper registers space to soar. The result is an ensemble sound that is intimate, transparent, and deeply sympathetic to the material.

The original recording has long been recognized as audiophile caliber, though it surprises me that Diamonds & Rust tends to be cited more often. To my ears, Farewell, Angelina is the truer showcase of Baez’s voice in its most natural setting. Her soprano is captured with astonishing realism — soaring yet free of glare, commanding yet never harsh. Acoustic guitar is softly defined, offering support without competing for attention, while string bass, electric guitar, and mandolin add gentle color. The dynamics are entirely in Baez’s control, and her voice is a stern test of any mastering engineer: too forward and it risks stridency; too recessed and the immediacy is lost.

Musically, the album is a marvel from beginning to end. Dylan’s “Farewell, Angelina” is a breathtaking opener, Baez’s phrasing turning its surreal imagery into something luminous and immediate. Her version of “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” remains one of the definitive interpretations — tender, resigned, yet piercingly direct. The traditional “The River in the Pines” is among the most haunting performances of her career, her voice suspended over the barest accompaniment like a fragile apparition. Elsewhere, Donovan’s “Colours” glows with youthful simplicity, while Guthrie’s “Ranger’s Command” is given a solemn, unhurried reading that underscores its timelessness.

Tracks:
01. Farewell, Angelina 
02. Daddy, You Been On My Mind 
03. It's All Over Now, Baby Blue 
04. The Wild Mountain Thyme 
05. Ranger's Command 
06. Colours 
07. Satisfied Mind 
08. The River In The Pines 
09. Pauvre Ruteboeuf 
10. Sagt Mir Wo Die Blumen Sind 
11. A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall 

Staat er compleet op, 10% pars mee gepost. Met zeer veel dank aan de originele poster. Laat af en toe eens weten wat je van het album vindt. Altijd leuk, de mening van anderen. Oh ja, MP3 doe ik niet aan.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fcEd38XQU8