Joan Baez - Recently - Analogue Productions SACD [ Record ]

Mastered by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio from the original analog tapes

Produced by Alan Abrahams

"A 30th anniversary reissue, this set from 1987 was recorded after an eight-year hiatus. As typical of her career, it reminds us of Baez's impeccable taste in material. While she wrote two tracks and one is a traditional folk anthem, the rest includes sincere renditions of Dan Penn's magnificent 'Do Right Woman, Do Right Man,' U2's 'MLK,' Dire Strait's Brothers In Arms' and Jimmy Webb's 'The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress.' Backed by ace musicians including Caleb Quaye and Abe Laboriel, Baez was doing what she always did: preaching and protesting and guilt-tripping the audience. If you can swallow the right-on politics, musically this is pure class." — Sound Quality = 90% — Ken Kessler, HiFi News, September 2017

In 1987, the "Madonna of Folk" returned to U.S. record shops with a vengeance, delivering here interpretations of songs by Dire Straits, Johnny Clegg, U2 and Peter Gabriel — performers, writes AllMusic, whose political consciousness had been formed by listening to old Joan Baez albums.

We've taken a classic and kicked it up a notch. Several notches, in fact. This Hybrid Stereo SACD was expertly remastered by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio from the original analog tapes.

The title track from Recently is a stunning Joan Baez original, where she boldly answers ex-husband David Harris' downbeat memoir of the '60s, Dreams Die Hard, as well as other '80s revisionists.

The track "Asimbognagna" was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Recording.