Joan Baez, Queen of Folk Trivia Quiz

Answer: Spanish

Born in 1941 in New York, Joan Baez has recorded over thirty albums. She is fluent in both English and Spanish and recorded an album mainly in Spanish titled "Gracias a la Vida: Joan Baez Canta en Espaņol" (or "Here's to Life: Joan Baez Sings in Spanish.") One of the songs on the album is in Catalan. She has also recorded songs in Portuguese and French, among other languages.

Answer: Bob Dylan

Released in 1968, the cover album peaked at number 30 on the U.S. Billboard Pop Albums Chart. It contains only covers of Bob Dylan's songs. The title is taken from the lyrics of Bob Dylan's "I Shall Be Released":

"I see my light come shining
From the west down to the east
Any day now, any day now
I shall be released."

Baez met Dylan in 1961 in Greenwich Village, and they became romantically involved off and on for about two years.

Answer: Diamonds & Rust

"Love Minus Zero" was written by Bob Dylan, and Baez covers it on her album "Any Day Now." The song "House of the Rising Sun" is a traditional folk ballad that has been covered by Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, and The Animals, among others. Barbara Allen is a traditional Scottish folk ballad originally published in the 17th century. "Diamonds & Rust" was Joan Baez's own original composition and recorded on the album of the same name, which was released in 1975.

Answer: There But For Fortune

The song continues:

"And I'll show you a young man with so many reasons why
And there but for fortune, may go you or I."

Phil Ochs wrote the song in 1963, and Baez covered it in 1964 on her album "Joan Baez/5." Baez's version was released as a single and peaked at 50 on the Billboard Top 100 chart. The song was also nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of "Best Folk Recording."

Answer: Sweet Sir Gallahad

"Sweet Sir Galahad
Came in through the window
In the night when
The moon was in the yard.
He took her hand in his
And shook the long hair
From his neck and he told her
She'd been working much too hard."

Joan Baez wrote this song and performed it at the 1969 Woodstock Festival. The song was recorded on her 1970 album "One Day At a Time" and also performed live on "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour." The song was inspired by the music producer Milan Melvin's courtship of Joan Baez's younger sister Mimi.

Answer: silver

"Don't sing love songs, you'll wake my mother
She's sleeping here right by my side
And in her right hand a silver dagger
She says that I can't be your bride."

The narrator's father has betrayed her mother multiple times:

"My daddy is a handsome devil
He's got a chain five miles long
And on every link a heart does dangle
Of another maid he's loved and wronged."

Because of this experience, the narrator's mother believes "all men are false" and won't let her daughter marry.

This American folk ballad exists in many variations and may have origins in Britain. Joan Baez's version was recorded on her debut album, "Joan Baez," which was released in 1960.

Answer: Barbara Allen

The song continues:

"He sent his servant to the town
To the place where she was dwelling,
Saying you must come, to my master dear
If your name be Barbara Allen."

Though Scottish in origin, the ballad was equally popular in England and Ireland and over one hundred versions of "Barbara Allen" have been collected in North America. Baez recorded it on her 1961 album "Joan Baez Volume 2."

Answer: Mary Hamilton

In the song, Mary Hamilton is impregnated by the queen's husband and kills the infant after it is born. The song was included on Joan Baez's debut album in 1960. Baez told "Rolling Stone" magazine in a 1983 interview that she did only one take of "Mary Hamilton," insisting, "That's the way we made 'em in the old days."

Answer: Jordan

These lyrics come from the song "Poor Wayfaring Stranger," which appears on the 1961 "David's Album." This traditional American folk / gospel song originated in the early 19th century and may have been derived from a Scottish folk song. In the Bible, the Israelites crossed the Jordan River to enter the Promised Land. Crossing the Jordan has since become a metaphor for entering heaven after death.

Answer: Barack Obama

She sang the song on February 9, 2010 during a celebration of music from the Civil Rights Movement. The song may be derived from "I'll Overcome Some Day," an old hymn by Charles Albert Tindley published in 1900. Joan Baez also led the crowd in singing "We Shall Overcome" during the August 1963 March on Washington.