The best Joan Baez albums
20 records, ordered by how much we can tell you about each one — not by chart position.
Start here
Diamonds & Rust
1975
Showcases Baez's storytelling and emotional depth, blending folk and traditional sounds in a cohesive listen that reflects her signature style.
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1
Day After Tomorrow
2008
Baez’s weathered voice carries folk songs through spare acoustic arrangements that leave room for both prayer and protest.
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2
Whistle Down the Wind
2018
Joan Baez’s weathered contralto moves through spare acoustic arrangements with the intimacy of a late-night conversation.
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3
Farewell, Angelina
1965
Baez’s soaring voice carries Dylan’s surreal imagery and older ballads across spare acoustic arrangements.
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4
Baptism: A Journey Through Our Time
1968
Baez’s spoken and sung poetry moves through orchestral settings like a succession of starkly lit scenes.
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5
Gone from Danger
1997
Baez’s burnished voice moves through intimate folk arrangements that give contemporary songwriters’ stories room to unfold.
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6
Joan
1967
Joan Baez’s voice moves through Peter Schickele’s orchestral arrangements, giving folk ballads and contemporary songs a spacious chamber-music setting.
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7
Joan Baez in San Francisco
1964
A teenage Joan Baez moves from spirituals to rock and roll with an informal directness that predates her polished Vanguard recordings.
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8
Speaking of Dreams
1989
Baez’s voice moves between traditional balladry and contemporary protest songs in spacious late-1980s folk arrangements.
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9
Folksingers 'Round Harvard Square
1959
Young voices and acoustic guitars carry murder ballads and spirituals with the intimacy of a Cambridge coffeehouse.
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10
Joan Baez, Vol. 2
1961
Baez’s unadorned voice and acoustic guitar carry old ballads through intimate rooms haunted by murder and loss.
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11
Honest Lullaby
1979
Baez’s clear soprano brings folk intimacy to softly arranged songs of political reckoning and consolation.
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12
One Day at a Time
1970
Baez’s clear soprano meets the warmth of Nashville country arrangements, bringing folk ballads and songs of resistance into intimate focus.
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13
Dark Chords on a Big Guitar
2003
Baez’s clear voice moves through spare acoustic arrangements, giving contemporary songwriters’ troubled stories the gravity of old folk ballads.
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14
Where Are You Now, My Son?
1973
Folk songs give way to a harrowing collage of spoken testimony and recordings from a city under bombardment.
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15
Come from the Shadows
1972
Nashville studio polish gives protest songs a warm setting, while the clear lead voice keeps their urgency close.
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16
5
1964
Baez’s clear soprano carries folk ballads into a spare world where political grief sits alongside classical form and traditional song.
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17
Blowin' Away
1977
Baez’s clear voice moves through polished folk-rock arrangements with the poise of a singer finding new settings for familiar emotional terrain.
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18
Recently
1987
A clear folk voice carries songs of resistance and intimacy through polished contemporary arrangements.
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19
Noël
1966
A clear soprano moves through solemn carols and brief instrumental interludes, framed by Peter Schickele’s chamber-like arrangements.
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20
Diamonds & Rust Start here
1975
A crystalline folk voice moves through intimate memories against polished arrangements that bring piano and electric guitar into its orbit.