Joan Baez - The Complete Gold Castle Masters (2017)

There was a moment in 1987, when a feisty and driven Joan Baez thought, "enough is enough." She rolled up her sleeves and accepted an offer from artist manager and label executive Danny Goldberg to join his latest start-up, Gold Castle, and start making records again. That decision led to three albums whose reappearance in 2017 should be cause for no small amount of rejoicing in Joan Baez circles, especially by those who might've been looking the other way (musically, most likely), or just missed them entirely the first time around. So quickly did they seem to come and go.

The 33 collective tracks contained on Recently (originally released July 1987), Diamonds & Rust In The Bullring (recorded live in Bilbao, Spain, 1988, released April 1989), and Speaking Of Dreams (November 1989) hold their own as some of the greatest song selection sequences of Joan's entire discography. And that's saying a lot, considering the scholarship and timeliness of material to be found on her (other) 30 or so principal career albums, studio and live. All three Gold Castle titles were produced by Alan Abrahams at Capitol Records Studios in Hollywood.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame states that: Joan Baez breathed new life into folk music in the 1960s, powering rock music's turn toward social and political consciousness. Baez's unwavering dedication to activism shows that volume isn't the only way to be loud - and totally rock and roll.

In a career spanning over 55 years and over 30 albums, Joan Baez is still touring and still mesmerising audiences all over the world. Her social activism has provoked and inspired, encouraging many other performers who followed to stand up for their beliefs.