Joanie & Bobby

A tribute to Baez and Dylan, inseparable (in their own way), and back in the news this week.

Yesterday I posted the photo (below) of Joan Baez outside her home with her latest painting: a certain Ukrainian leader. This seemed to strike a chord over at Twitter, where it went semi-viral and inspired many tributes to Joan’s 60 years of peace activism. On the same day, another fine later-in-life painter named Dylan—her former lover and singing partner—made news when it was announced that his long-awaited follow-up to his memoir Chronicles would be a collection of pieces about dozens of well-known songs written by others. So below, after the usual cartoons, a few trips down memory lane with Joanie & Bobby. Enjoy, then subscribe, and remember, “free” is just a four-letter word.

Baez, of course, was instrumental in aiding Bob’s emergence in folk/protest circles in the early 1960s. They also became romantic partners, but soon, as folk-rock beckoned, he became the more popular one. Here at Newport with “It Ain’t Me Babe,” 1964.

Here’s an outtake from one of the greatest and most influential docs ever, Don’t Look Back, in 1965 as Joan harmonizes with Marianne Faithfull on her recent hit, “As Tears Go By.” You can hear Bobby typing lyrics across the room. I saw my first Dylan concert later that year in Buffalo.

Fine Baez cover of the unrecorded Dylan tune, “Love Is Just a Four-Letter Word.”

Many have long claimed that she inspired his “Visions of Johanna.” Well, if she did, god bless.

Bob talks rather movingly here about her importance in his career.

In Chronicles, Dylan writing about the late-60s/early 1970s, complained, “Joan Baez recorded a protest song about me that was getting big play, challenging me to get with it – come out and take charge, lead the masses – be an advocate, lead the crusade. The song called out to me from the radio like a public service announcement.”

At the first Rolling Thunder concert in Plymouth, Mass., which I attended, Bob unveiled his song “O Sister,” which Joan, a special guest on the tour, felt was aimed at her. So she recorded an answer, “O Brother!”

And, of course, she had already recorded her classic about Bob, “Diamonds and Rust.”

And then, why not, their duet on a little ditty called “Blowin’ in the Wind” in 1976.