Live at Newport
The voice that launched a thousand earnest young fare-thee-well folkies cut her teeth in the first half of the '60s at the Newport Folk Festivals. This 17-song collection allows fans of Baez to sample her star-making 1963, '64, and '65 sets. (She'd first appeared at the event as a teenager in 1959 as the teenage guest of Bob Gibson, though that milestone has apparently been lost to the ages.) Balancing comely traditionals such as "Come All Ye Fair" and "Tender Maidens" with grittier Bob Dylan tunes, Baez demonstrates how she came to define folk music for a generation of female folksingers. Duets with Dylan, Mary Travers, Peter Yarrow, and the Lilly Brothers provide some extra texture to compliment Baez's smooth-as-silk delivery.--Steven Stolder