Blowin' Away

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Blowin' Away
Blowin' Away cover
Studio album by Joan Baez
Released June 1977
Recorded 1977
Genre Folk
Length 40:24
Label Columbia
Producer David Kershenbaum, Bernard Gelb
Professional reviews
Joan Baez chronology
Gulf Winds
(1976)		 Blowin' Away
(1977)		 Best of Joan C. Baez
(1977)

Blowin' Away was a 1977 album by Joan Baez, her first after switching from A&M Records to CBS Records. The album veered more toward mainstream pop than any album Baez had recorded up to that point, though many critics at the time pointed out that she seemed not entirely comfortable with her "new sound". Among the songs covered were the Rod Stewart hit "Sailing, and the standard "Cry Me a River", in addition to a number of Baez' own compositions. The sardonic "Time Rag" recounts an aborted attempt at an interview by a Time magazine reporter. Throughout the course of the song, she admits to studio executives wanting to spruce up her image to ensure that she'd once again sell well. "I really should tell you that deep in my heart/I don't give a damn where I stand on the charts", she wryly comments toward the song's closing.

From Time Rag:

"Curious about his interest I babbled my way through the worldwide list Ireland, Chile and the African states Poetry, politics and how they relate Motherhood, music and Moog synthesizers Political prisoners and Commie sympathizers Hetero, homo and bisexuality Where they all stand in the nineteen-seventies"

Baez wrote The Altar Boy and the Thief as a tribute to her gay fanbase.

In her autobiography, "And a Voice to Sing With", Baez described Blowin' Away as "a good album with a terrible cover".

[edit] Track listing

  1. "Sailing" (Gavin Sutherland)
  2. "Many a Mile to Freedom" (Steve Winwood)
  3. "Miracles" (Joan Baez)
  4. "Yellow Coat" (Steve Goodman)
  5. "Time Rag" (Joan Baez)
  6. "A Heartfelt Line or Two" (Joan Baez)
  7. "I'm Blowin' Away" (E. Kaz)
  8. "Luba the Baroness" (Joan Baez)
  9. "The Altar Boy and the Thief" (Joan Baez)
  10. "Cry Me a River" (Arthur Hamilton)

[edit] References

  • Baez, Joan. 1987. And a Voice to Sing With: A Memoir. Century Hutchinson, London. ISBN 0-7126-1827-9