Joan Baez
Any Day Now

THE REVIEW

Try to imagine a perfectly useless album. Well, this is the case with "Any Day Now". The victims this time are the songs of Dylan, of course. Joan Baez, throughout her career, has rarely composed songs. We are in 1968. Baez continues to put herself out there as an activist while our Bob has already composed an endless number of high-level songs. So, the material is there, and there is an embarrassment of riches. Add to that an obsessive and relentless infatuation on her part. And voila. The pathetic tribute is ready. The songs are under the clutches of the syrupy grace of Baez.

Masterpieces like "Love Minus Zero/No Limit" are sung as if they were lullabies. "You Ain't Going Nowhere" musically sounds quite good but loses all the ironic verve of the original version. "I Pity The Poor Immigrant" from "John Wesley Harding" loses all its sincere flavor, and the pleasant narrative of the original version is just a distant memory. The same goes for "I Dreamed I Saw Saint Augustine" and "Dear Landlord". "Drifters Escape", as if that weren't enough, is tortured by excessive drumming trying desperately to make Baez's interpretation less boring. But the worst is yet to come. "Tears Of Rage" indeed becomes a pathetic showcase for Baez's voice. A real travesty. But Joan is proud of her voice and her grace. In fact, it takes a lot of courage to "touch" a song like "Sad Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands". "Love is Just a Four Letter Word" is the best track on the album. Indeed, it cannot be compared with the master's version. Never recorded. And finally, here comes "One Too Many Mornings" which loses all the delicate melancholy of the original version.

In short, this is really a great background album. Nothing more.