“To sing is to praise God and the daffodils, and to praise God is to thank Him, in every note within my small range, and every color in the tones of my voice, with every look into the eyes of my audience, to thank Him. Thank you, God, for letting me be born, for giving me eyes to see the daffodils lean in the wind, all my brothers, all my sisters, for giving me ears to hear crying, legs to come running, hands to smooth damp hair, a voice to laugh with and to sing with...to sing to you and the daffodils.” GivingLooksHandsEyeRunningVoiceBornAudienceLaughingCryColorBrotherWindHairEarsPraiseNotesLegsRangeToneMy BrotherMy SisterSmoothDampPraise GodThank You GodDaffodil Book:DAYBREAK Source: DAYBREAK
“That was sheer luck that it [being immersed into folk scene] happened when my voice began to develop. I don't know exactly what would have happened if I hadn't been alive and well and really lively in the Cambridge scene. But (the folk scene) was, and I fell into it absolutely naturally in the little coffee shops, and pretty soon it was Newport and then it was an overwhelming response internationally, actually.” IfsKnowsWellsLittlesVoiceAliveHappenedSceneLuckResponseFolksCoffeeShopsOverwhelmingSheerLivelyCambridgeCoffee Shop Author:Joan Baez
“And my voice now is a struggle, it's a daily struggle to keep it up. Gravity has begun to fight the vocal cords the way it does with everybody. So I have a vocal therapist, and we record the sessions and I use them on tour every day.” WayDoeUseFightingVoiceStruggleRecordsGravitySessionVocalTherapistsCordsVocal CordsDaily Struggle Author:Joan Baez
“It [my vocal] didn't sound like what I wanted to hear; the vibrato isn't what I liked anymore. So I got myself to an ear, nose and throat guy who does a lot of work with singers, and I was hoping there was a big wart on my vocal cords or something and they could scrape it off and I could have the voice I wanted. But he said, "No, for 71, that's your voice."” DoeSaidBigsWantedGuySoundVoiceEarsSingersNosesThroatVocalCordsWartsVocal Cords Author:Joan Baez
“I love the lower ranges of my new voice. I really enjoy that. It's a challenge, and I accept the challenge. I sort of enjoy it now to reach notes that maybe four years ago I couldn't reach. I don't mean to grumble about it. I'm past that critical period and have gone on to a whole new field. And we go everywhere. We travel around the world, and I learn songs from every place we go, and it's a joyful process.” WorldYearsMeanWholePastSongProcessEnjoyVoiceChallengesAcceptingGoneFourFieldsPeriodsYears AgoNotesCriticalAround The WorldRangeFour YearsJoyful Author:Joan Baez
“The white music was melodic and pretty, and you had beautiful women's voices like Gogi Grant and even the Andrews Sisters. Then I went directly to rhythm and blues, which had beautiful voices but not much melody in particular and pretty much the same chord pattern. I loved it, I was entrenched in it, but then folk music came in the middle of that for me, and made its own path. And it was part of the rebellion against bubblegum music, or music that is pretty but doesn't say anything.” MadeBeautifulVoiceWhitePathMiddleParticularFolksPatternsRhythmRebellionMelodyGrantsSay AnythingChordsBeautiful WomenAndrewFolk MusicRhythm And BluesBeautiful Voice Author:Joan Baez
