After Joan Baez/5, I expected this record to continue the downward trend of her discography. After all, half of the songs are Bob Dylan covers, so clearly she’s just using her friendship with him to further her own career, right? Well…no.

And The Byrds got famous on Dylan covers too, so you can’t criticize her too much. After all, Dylan’s original performances only hint at the harmonic brilliance the songs contained. Joan Baez, however, gently coaxes out every sweet melody with the help of her acoustic guitar and the gentle accompaniment  of an upright bass and subtle electric guitar. On this disc, Baez seems to have learned from her missteps on 5 and gives folk music a laser focus. It’s sleeker than her debut, but her deceptively delicate delivery is just as enchanting. And, her cover of A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall is worth the price of the whole disc.