DenzMusicDen

Joan Baez is 77 and her voice, as she freely admits, is not what it was. That outrageously pure soprano is long gone, replaced by a lower, less reliable instrument .  Her set is a clever combination of songs from the new disc and classics, among others Bob Dylan’s 'Farewell Angelina', a powerful rendition of Woody Guthrie’s 'Deportee', as relevant now seven decades on as she points out, and a fresh version of 'Joe Hill'.  Joan's slow, more-wistful-than-angry Diamonds & Rust, her great lament for former lover Bob Dylan , who she introduced to the world  inviting him on stage to perform alongside her at the Newport Folk Festival  in 1963, is brilliantly melancholic.  It is a tribute to the new songs, including the heartfelt The President Sang Amazing Grace, a modern civil rights song echoing the struggles of the 1960s, recited rather than sung, that didn’t pale in that exalted company. Her protege,  Grace Stumberg , accompanies her on 'D

'The Beatles', also known as 'The Beatles White Album', is the ninth  studio album  by the English rock band  the Beatles , released on 22 November 1968, was their first double-length release. Its plain white sleeve has no graphics or text other than the band's name  embossed , which was intended as a direct contrast to the vivid cover artwork of the band's previous LP 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'. Although no singles were issued from 'The Beatles' in Britain and the United States, the songs ' Hey Jude ' and ' Revolution ' originating from the same recording sessions and were issued on a single in August 1968. The album's songs range in style from  British blues  and  ska  to tracks influenced by  Chuck Berry  and by  Karlheinz Stockhausen . Most of the songs on the album were written during March and April 1968 at a  Transcendental Meditation  course in  Rishikesh , India, between February and April 1968.