Members Freeman Keller Posted June 6, 2016 Members Share Posted June 6, 2016 I hope I wasn't the only one who saw the wonderful two hour concert on PBS last night. If you missed it you missed seeing some of the best performers from the 60's and 70's along side an American icon who hasn't lost a thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarcapo Posted June 6, 2016 Members Share Posted June 6, 2016 I went to the Martin factory in Nazareth PA to take the tour and in the waiting room they had all these Martin models to try. This was about 15 years ago. Anyway the nicest sounding and playing model was the Joan Baez signature model. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members garthman Posted June 6, 2016 Members Share Posted June 6, 2016 Happy Birthday, Joan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted June 6, 2016 Share Posted June 6, 2016 I went to the Martin factory in Nazareth PA to take the tour and in the waiting room they had all these Martin models to try. This was about 15 years ago. Anyway the nicest sounding and playing model was the Joan Baez signature model. Did they really put that inscription inside her sig model? Anyway, happy birthday to Ms Baez. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MePeel Posted June 6, 2016 Members Share Posted June 6, 2016 As a matter of fact, they did, at her direction. Her guitar had been to Martin for repairs in the 60's, and this was written in it by a couple of workers. It wasn't discovered until the next time that it was in. When her signature model came out, she wanted the inscription to be included. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mikeo Posted June 7, 2016 Members Share Posted June 7, 2016 This is one killer song. [video=youtube;2MSwBM_CbyY] Now not far from here is a place called the Dreamaway Lodge. I have been there, I have played there. It hasn't changed in 60 years, maybe 90's IDK It was kind of a famous hang out for Joan and Bob, Arlo and a few others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kwakatak Posted June 7, 2016 Members Share Posted June 7, 2016 Did they really put that inscription inside her sig model? Anyway, happy birthday to Ms Baez. Apparently, so. There's a great story behind that though. The story is that the inspiration for that custom model was Joan's actual gigging guitar from the 1960s. At some point she had to take it into a shop to have it repaired. I don't know what was wrong with it - maybe a broken brace or whatever but it required that the luthier had to remove the top from the guitar and rebrace it. Though he wasn't outspoken about it, the luthier apparently did not agree with Baez's political leanings and had to express it somehow and scribed it in pencil in the underside of the top where he thought nobody would see it or even know it was there - except for him. Years later, Martin approached Joan about doing a custom run based on her guitar but that guitar in itself was pretty rare so they asked if they could borrow it and inspect it and take dimensions, etc. During the inspection, a luthier stuck a dental mirror inside the soundhole to inspect the braces and discovered the cryptic message. To Joan's credit, she laughed when they told her what they'd found. I'm sure that the inscription on each custom run is perfectly OK with her. Besides, aren't we all technically communists now anyway? At some point they'll probably be making a vintage run of this model in Shanghai anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarcapo Posted June 7, 2016 Members Share Posted June 7, 2016 The story I heard was that it wasn't Martin workers but a private luthier who did some repair work and left the nasty note inside her guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted June 7, 2016 Author Members Share Posted June 7, 2016 Joan's little 0-45 was the inspiration for the three parlor guitars that I've built. Mine don't have all the bling of hers (nor do they have the inscription) but I happen to think that they are wonderful little guitars. She was playing one that had some sort of 50th anniversary inlay on the fretboard, obviously the sig model. There was some other serious acoustic guitar porn on the show - several lovely old Martin OM's. I need to tell my Joan Baez anecdote here. When I was in college in the late '60's after class one day a friend said "there's some folk singer at the Commons, we should go check it out"., There she was, sitting on a stool wearing a peasant dress, playing protest songs, guitar case on the floor in front of her. Her husband, Tom Hayden, had just been arrested for anti war protests, Joan had cut off all her long hair while he was in prison. I listened to her for hours, then left my spare change in the case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted June 8, 2016 Share Posted June 8, 2016 Thanks for the backstory guys! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted June 8, 2016 Share Posted June 8, 2016 Apparently, so. There's a great story behind that though... Thanks so much for sharing all the details - I had never heard about that before, and it's really interesting! The fact she laughed it off speaks well of Ms Baez. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Gary Blanchard Posted June 9, 2016 Members Share Posted June 9, 2016 I recorded this on the DVR and hope to watch it soon. Glad to hear you liked it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted June 9, 2016 Author Members Share Posted June 9, 2016 I recorded this on the DVR and hope to watch it soon. Glad to hear you liked it. Gary, I would like to hear what you think when you see it. I happened to think that it was so good that I called my local PBS station and made a contribution - they said they would send me the dvd of the show and two cd album. My wife and I were chatting over dinner after the show - she said "you know, every one of those performers are incredible musicians who have made lasting contributions to the music we grew up with" She went on to say "can you think of any musician today that equals any one of them?" (we're talking David Crosby and Judy Collins and Richard Thompson and Paul Simon and Mavis Staples and Dave Bromberg and just a whole lot more). And stop and think about Ms Baez's talents - at 75 her voice is still beautiful and very capable of singing with each of those people - hell, I couldn't sing with any of them. Joan Baez and Paul Simon singing the Boxer, Richard Thompson tastefully soloing along with them. When they finished the song RT fades back into the shadow and lets Baez and Simon take the bows. Thats class. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 I had never heard that story - thank you for sharing it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Gary Blanchard Posted June 10, 2016 Members Share Posted June 10, 2016 I was very pleased with it. There was a great selection of guests who made sense in terms of the theme. I think Joan has done nothing but improve with age, which is amazing for someone who was so good to begin with. It was a great show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members humbuckerstrat Posted June 10, 2016 Members Share Posted June 10, 2016 Joan's little 0-45 was the inspiration for the three parlor guitars that I've built. Mine don't have all the bling of hers (nor do they have the inscription) but I happen to think that they are wonderful little guitars. She was playing one that had some sort of 50th anniversary inlay on the fretboard, obviously the sig model. There was some other serious acoustic guitar porn on the show - several lovely old Martin OM's. I need to tell my Joan Baez anecdote here. When I was in college in the late '60's after class one day a friend said "there's some folk singer at the Commons, we should go check it out"., There she was, sitting on a stool wearing a peasant dress, playing protest songs, guitar case on the floor in front of her. Her husband, Tom Hayden, had just been arrested for anti war protests, Joan had cut off all her long hair while he was in prison. I listened to her for hours, then left my spare change in the case. Nice story, but Joan Baez's husband from '68 to '73 was David Harris. Tom Hayden was married to another "communist", tho, Jane Fonda. BTW, Happy Birthday, Joan! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted June 11, 2016 Author Members Share Posted June 11, 2016 I stand corrected, it was a long time ago. And you know what they say about that era. Harris was arrested for draft protesting, right? I really think I remember her talking about that, but it could have just been the times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members humbuckerstrat Posted June 11, 2016 Members Share Posted June 11, 2016 Either draft-protesting or draft-dodging, I'm not sure which, Freeman. I just remembered that Jane Fonda was married to Tom Hayden, not Joanie Baez. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members thatsbunk Posted June 12, 2016 Members Share Posted June 12, 2016 Now not far from here is a place called the Dreamaway Lodge. I have been there, I have played there. It hasn't changed in 60 years, maybe 90's IDK It was kind of a famous hang out for Joan and Bob, Arlo and a few others. I've been there. It's really off the beaten path... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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