If you’ve ever seen a Bob Dylan or ’60s folk doc or Martin Scorsese’s “No Direction Home,” you’ll know that Joan Baez has a complicated relationship with fame and Dylan. In many ways, she seemed disappointed that Dylan left the socio-political movement they started in the 1960s with their folk protest songs, and on another level, she may still seem peeved that Dylan soaked up the spotlight, leaving her and many others from that scene off in the dust (the way their romantic relationship ended, poorly, probably didn’t help).

Continue reading ‘Joan Baez I Am A Noise’ Trailer: A Folk Icon Finally Gets Her Proper Due at The Playlist.

There’s a pretty traditional formula that most music documentaries follow. They’ll often center around a standard birth to mainstream success overview, populated with talking heads and contemporaries to contextualize the music, politics, and social scenes. Add in some extended concert footage and, maybe, discussions with whomever the title subject is, and you have about 95% of the structure and content of a music doc. What makes the new Joan Baez documentary “Joan Baez I Am a Noise” stand out — both among documentaries, more generally, but also work about Baez — is its willingness to burrow into Baez’s psyche. 

Continue reading ‘Joan Baez I Am a Noise’ Review: The Famous Folk Singer Bids Farewell [Berlin] at The Playlist.

Continue reading ‘Taking Woodstock’ Soundtrack: Dead, Joplin, CSN, Jefferson Airplane, Guthrie, Baez; Pretty Much Par for the Woodstock Course at The Playlist.