Before Joan Baez, the closest thing to a white female folksinger was Jo Stafford. Baez made her professional debut in 1959 at the Newport Folk Festival and started recording for Vanguard the next year. Her early association with Bob Dylan and performances of his songs did him no harm. The material in this CD comes from later in her career, when she had left Vanguard for A&M. Listeners who enjoy this CD will probably want to hear her earlier work. She is among the classic American voices. --Stanley Booth
