​​​

Meanwhile, Baez had at last signed a record contract with Gold Castle Records. The new label owned by journalist turned music business manager Danny Goldberg and Julian Schlossberg (co-producer of No Nukes) and co-founded with Paula Jeffries provided a welcoming home for established artists who found themselves out in the cold. She would make 3 albums over 3 years. All of them produced by Alan Abrahams, whom she described at the time as having “the combination of a tremendous musical savvy, wild enthusiasm, and the kind of irreverent sense of humor I needed to keep me from my own self importance, and to in fact cause hysterics, which are a no no in vocal discipline, they are essential to the soul. His production work was brilliant and as a result of all the above, together we produced three of my favorite albums.” 

 

Abrahams told me “I was approached by Paula, my former assistant at RCA records. My first response to her was ‘I don't think that would be a good fit for me. She might be a bit stuffy.’ Paula immediately said, ‘ You’re absolutely wrong, I insist you meet her, you will fall in love with each other, she is wonderful.’ and it was the best thing that ever happened to me professionally, creatively, and personally. Joan was an absolute producer's dream.”

 

Recently, was the first fruit of the Baez-Abrahams creative partnership, was “All about what we created together” said Abrahams. 

“The repertoire was easy from her wonderful originals to an impromptu  a cappella  intro to ‘Do Right Woman, Do Right Man’ – I heard her singing it in the shower and was gobsmacked! ‘Asimbonanga’ Johnny Clegg’s homage to Mr. Mandela was brought to us by a South African friend of Joanie’s…  and of course the Gospel rendition of ‘Let Us Break Bread Together/Oh Freedom” with the LA Mass Choir was a no brainer to me and we let the spirit move and reveled in its beauty…‘Biko’ she was already doing live and Joan had a unique tapping-the-strings-and-body-of-the-guitar approach, because we were open to everything creatively together, the notion of adding the bagpipes as a mournful intro was: Let's give it a try.  We did, it worked beautifully. Our spirits were high and joyful and the material just flowed in terms of decisions. The results speak for themselves. 

 

Released along with the book in 1987,  Recently is mature, sophisticated, and cohesive, the production elegant. Her voice is at her mid. Best. And the arrangements complement it perfectly. ‘Brothers in Arms,” “Asimbonanga,” (which received a Grammy nomination) “MLK,” and “Biko” are each stylistically different yet all of a piece, no doubt inspired by the Amnesty Tours, and they work unexpectedly well with the live medley of “Let Us Break Bread Together/Oh Freedom” “Do Right Woman Do Right Man” which appeared in Carry it On,  is bluesy and mellow, Baez finally able to swing. 

 

As to “The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress” Jimmy Webb, the song's celebrated writer, told Abrahams that Baez’s version was his “absolute favorite” among a myriad of recordings. The producer speaks of it as “that Jimmy Webb gem beautifully enhanced by the late great Gene Page’s string arrangements. She got the whole thing in one take and when she asked me “what do you think?” I said ‘we're not touching it, it's beautiful… brilliant.’ I have a picture of us sitting together listening in the studio as Gene conducted the strings. But the centerpiece is that magnificent vocal.” 

 

Two years later, Diamonds And Rust in the Bullring recorded live in Bilbao, Spain and found her digging deep into her song bag. The career-spanning collection includes the best version of her classic song “Diamonds and Rust” and  some new numbers: "Famous Blue Raincoat” was always a feature of Judy Collin’s repertoire but a rarity for Joan. Caesar Cancino’s piano infills and cello counterpoint he arranged for John Acosta add a new dimension to the Leonard Cohen classic. “Txoria Txoria” a Basque staple by Joxean Artze and Mikel Laboa and Sting’s “Ellas Danzan Solas” are both previously un recorded while Mercedes Sosa, with whom Baez had sung in Argentina, gives new life to “Gracias a la Vida” 

 

Speaking of Dreams, which marked Baez’s first 30 years, closed both the decade and the Gold Castle chapter. A mix of the personal and the political, it's an album full of surprises. Among them George Michael’s "Hand to Mouth” and Paul Anka’s “My Way” sung in spanish as “A Mi Manera” and rumba flamenco style with the Gipsy Kings. Abrahams recalls “a brilliant night” Baez “like part of the band, duetting with Nic Reyes, joyfully toe to toe.” It is boisterous and joyous, the consummation of a long distance love affair with their music, which had finally resulted in dinner in Paris and a statement of intent. “This is my moment to do it my way, their way– anyway but the way it was written,” she would tell me later. “China” which opens the album, is bold and ambitious, the arrangement mixing Western Rock with hints of Eastern pentatonicism, but the standout track is a lush and dreamy production ballad that gives the album its title “Speaking of Dreams” began life at the piano, the words– addressed to a young French lover– following a year later. The string arrangement is again by Gene Page, its colors as rich as “the paintings of Paul Gauguin” at which the lovers gaze. 

 

“She first played it to me at home on the piano,” explains Abrahams. “She composed it on the piano and  on the day of the recording she gave it to our brilliant pianist for the session John Hobbs and he put all the feeling and nuance into it… it was also most importantly a true story. Or as Arthur Levy said in his impeccable notes about the Gold Castle collections, ‘No woman can match the arc of a love affair with a (much) younger man with quite the dreamy textures as Joan Baez,’ it was all true! I still take a breath when she sings ‘I am the Queen of Hearts’ and ‘the Daughter of the Moon’ . I just wanted to create a sonic movie of it. We are most proud of that unexpected gem– and it is truly a fine musical and lyrical composition. Inspired. It defies any category.”