Diamonds & Rust

Diamonds & Rust is a 1975 album by Joan Baez. Baez is often regarded as an interpreter of other people's work, and on this album she covered songs by Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder, The Allman Brothers, and Jackson Browne. But Diamonds & Rust also contained a number of her own compositions, including the acclaimed title track, a haunting song written about Bob Dylan.^[2]

The title track was covered by British heavy metal band Judas Priest on their 1977 album Sin After Sin, and has since been one of their concert staple songs. Anglo-American Renaissance-Rock band Blackmore's Night covered the song on their 2003 album Ghost of a Rose. Finnish power metal band Thunderstone covered the song on their 2004 album The Burning.

On her cover of Dylan's "Simple Twist of Fate", one verse features Baez attempting a good-humoured impersonation of the song's composer.

An alternate recording of "Dida" had appeared on the previous year's Gracias A la Vida. The Diamonds & Rust recording of the song was more uptempo and featured duet vocals by Joni Mitchell.

Track listing

1. "Diamonds & Rust" (Joan Baez)
2. "Fountain of Sorrow" (Jackson Browne)
3. "Never Dreamed You'd Leave in Summer" (Stevie Wonder, Syreeta Wright)
4. "Children and All That Jazz" (Joan Baez)
5. "Simple Twist of Fate" (Bob Dylan)
6. "Blue Sky" (Dickey Betts)
7. "Hello in There" (John Prine)
8. "Jesse" (Janis Ian)
9. "Winds of the Old Days" (Joan Baez)
10. "Dida" (duet with Joni Mitchell) (Joan Baez)
11. Medley: "I Dream of Jeannie" (Stephen Foster) / "Danny Boy"^[3] (Frederick Weatherly)

Personnel

• Joan Baez – Guitar, Vocals, Producer
• Max Bennett – Bass
• Rik Davis – Producer
• Jim Gordon - Drums
• John Guerin – Drums on Track 10
• Hampton Hawes – Keyboards
• Jim Horn – Saxophone
• David Kershenbaum – Producer
• Rick Lotempio – Guitar
• Rob Martens – Engineer, Post Production
• Ollie Mitchell – Trumpet
• Buck Monari – Trumpet
• David Paich – Keyboards
• Jamie Putnam – Design
• Red Rhodes – Steel Guitar
• Ellis Sorkin – Assistant Engineer
• Will Spencer – Assistant Engineer

Chart positions

References

1. ^ Allmusic review
2. ^ Baez, Joan. 1987. And a Voice to Sing With: A Memoir. Century Hutchinson, London. ISBN 0-671-40062-2
3. ^ An Irish song, on the album cover: Dedicated to my Grandmother, Barbara Bridge