"You don't get to choose how you're going to die or when. You can only decide how you're going to live." -Joan Baez

Success

The 1960’s were a time of political changes and awakenings in the United States. Joan Baez, a determined anti- violence advocate, appeared on the music scene armed with a guitar, her beliefs, and some meaningful folk ballads. The distinctive youth culture that was appearing all over the U.S. was shaped by music, and Joan’s strong opinions and morals gained her the appreciation of this young rebellious generation. Teenagers, in any generation, struggle with the issues of autonomy, self-image, sexual attraction, education, and peer groups. Joan’s music appeals to youth who were struggling with each of these issues, and helped them through the difficult time of adolescents. She appeals to this age group, especially in the 1950’s and 1960’s because she embodies all of these struggles in her music and her political activism.

Biography

Joan Chandos Baez was born on January 9, 1941 in Staten Island, New York. Baez grew up half Mexican and learned about racial discrimination at a young age.  She struggled to promote pacifism and peace during the turbulent 1960s, and she followed the Buddhist teachings of her mentor Ira Sandperl into demonstrating against the Vietnam War.  According to the Joan Baez Web Pages, Baez withheld 60% of her taxes that were supposed to be reserved for the Vietnam War, and she arranged non-violent marches to support her anti-war cause.  Befriending Martin Luther King Jr. and walking beside him during the march in Grenada, Mississippi, Baez actively protested against the beatings of black school children when schools were being desegregated.  In her autobiography And a Voice to Sing With, Baez addresses Martin Luther King Jr. saying, "You, more than anyone else who has been a part of my life, are my hope and inspiration" (113). In the late summer of 1958, the Baez family moves to Belmont, Massachusetts, where Joan's interest in the Cambridge, Massachusetts, folk scene grows as she begins visiting the local coffeehouses. Her first album for Vanguard Recording Society was released in 1960 and made her a huge success. She also recorded in 1961 and released her second Vanguard album, Joan Baez, Volume Two, and embarked on her first national concert tour. Also in 1961 , Baez met folk singer and songwriter Bob Dylan at Gerde's Folk City while he was the opening act for John Lee Hooker.  Baez's first impression of Dylan held that "he was not overly impressive.  He looked like an urban hillbilly, with hair short around the ears and curly on top" (And a Voice 83-84). A romance between the two was rumored but never confirmed. The album Joan Baez in Concert was released in September, and she was the subject of the November 23, 1962, TIME Magazine cover story because of her role in the human rights movement. The magazine featured a biography of Joan’s life and her statement “my devotion to non-violence and social change formed long before I picked up a ukulele and will go on until I fall into the grave” (TIME, 1993). After touring together for a few years as the King and Queen of Folk, Dylan and Baez eventually parted ways, and she fell in love with draft resistor and activist David Harris.  Baez married Harris in 1968, and the couple toured the country on a joint concert and lecture series advocating draft resistance.  The next year, Baez gave birth to Gabriel Earl, and her husband began serving a three-year prison sentence for draft resistance.  Baez's views against the Vietnam War eventually led promoters to purposely censor and mistranslate her words during a 1967 concert in Japan.  Due to her radical stances against war, police also threw Baez in jail during the sixties for demonstrating against the draft and encouraging the nonviolent movement.  After the Vietnam War, however, Baez not only continued to write music for the anti-war and civil rights movements, but she fought as hard as ever to bring humanity into political life.

Awards and Titles

Baez officially wrote and co-wrote 76 original songs (Lutzow 2000). She had 8 gold albums, 6 Grammy nominations, and one gold single. More importantly, Joan holds many titles that made the youth culture of the 60’s adore her and follow in her footsteps. Joan holds two doctorate degrees of humane letters and is the founder of the Institute of Non-Violence. Baez is the founder and President of Humanities International Human Rights Committee, and won the Lennon Peace Tribute Award in 1982. Her political protests even lead to a Joan Baez Day in Atlanta, Georgia and, Santa Cruz, California. Joan also won many peace awards for her strong protests against the Vietnam War.

Impact

Jade is a poem recently written by Joan Baez. Its lyrics truly explain her success in the popular culture of the 1960’s. The youth of this generation valued Joan’s ability to relate to their struggles of independence, and her ability to speak her mind regarding her morals and ideals about America.

JADE

There is a dog death heat

on a rippling desert

Somewhere
in the tambourine
song shout procession

is a child sweat face
of darkness

The boy
like a bridled animal
not questioning
the longing in his throat
or the extra beat of his heart
floats over the dunes
towards friendly night

The bridle is his mother
the whip is his father
the boy is the genius
they will never know

His jeweled eyes are green
not because his mother
let herself be had
by a raving Jew
in a sand dune

But because this boy's eyes
are filled with Jade
from an unknown sea
which
occasionally
catches a ray of thought
and for a moment
the boy's fugitive eyes
reflect the dawning
of the rage
it will take
to send him
unbridled
like a dervish
into the dance
of life
love
and learning

By Joan Baez

Sources and Links

Baez, Joan. And a Voice to Sing With. New York: Summit Books, 1987.

Lutzow, Nancy. "Joan Baez Chronology." Joan Baez Web Pages.

http://baez.woz.org/

http://www.vanguardrecords.com/Baez/Home.html