Gone From Danger
Joan Baez has always been a top-notch interpreter and a perceptive spotter of young talent. OnGone from Danger, she hooks up with a number of talented young songwriters, simultaneously offering them a higher-profile platform for their work and giving her own career a needed boost. Folk-rockerSinead Lohancontributes the gorgeous "No Mermaid" and "Who Do You Think I Am," while Baez takes on a trio of tunes byRichard Shindell, including "Reunion Hill," which ranks with theBand's "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" (which Baez memorably covered) andDave Alvin's "Andersonville" as among the best contemporary songs about the Civil War. There are also songs byDar Williams("February," "If I Wrote You") andBetty Elders("Crack in the Mirror") and one by Baez herself ("Lily"). All of them are terrific, and the performances are among Baez's best since her commercial heyday.--Daniel Durchholz