I am passing on to you , as clearly and powerfully as I can, this gift which was extended to me by the sheer chance of being somewhere at the right time in history and living through it.
--Joan Baez
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| Mike Allen, Joan, Barry Romo walking through the rubble of Gialam Intl Airport after it had been bombed by American B52s during their visit to Hanoi. |
On May 19, 1973 Joan Baez 's amazing anti war statement, Where Are You Now, My Son? entered the Billboard charts. The album contained both new songs and actual field recordings Baez and her party made in the days around massive Christmas bombing raids in Hanoi, North Vietnam in 1972. Read more about Baez's experience in Hanoi here The LP peaked at 138.
Absurdas guerras provocadas y continuadas por el gigante estadounidense y que con el beneplácito de otros muchos países se dedicaban a probar máquinas de matar en poblaciones a las que creían diferentes.
ReplyDelete[Sin religiones, ni poderosos, ni ministros, ni reyes...tal vez el mundo iría mejor] Unos sinvergüenzas completamente, como todos los imperios a los largo de la historia, fueran del tipo que fueran; independientemente de su lengua.
Joan, tuvo su momento que aprovechó (algunas veces al lado de Dylan, aunque él tomó su camino provechoso) y decidió arrimar sus intereses a las diferentes religiosidades que le parecieron. Sus opciones tuvo y las aprovechó según le convino, como todos o casi.
Buena voz, la de Baez, ya es parte de un folk que tal vez regrese. En griego clásico: "Ciclos est ciclos"
Breves saludos
Salud y libertad. :]
ReplyDeleteNo, you can't imagine standing next to Joan and her sister Mimi Fariña during the bombing raids as they sang "Kumbaya", as Ms. Fariña wasn't anywhere near Hanoi pre-Christmas 1972.
This was a highly organized delegation of four people sent there for very specific purposes.
The delegation consisted of General Telford Taylor, who as a lawyer, was there to determine if war crimes were being committed by US soldiers against the North Vietnamese, Reverend Michael Allen, a liberal Episcopal Priest, Barry Romo, a veteran Marine who'd served in Vietnam, but since become a Maoist and a leading member of the VVAW (Vietnam Veterans Against the War), and Joan, largely there to deliver Christmas mail to the POWs from their families. The four were greeted, escorted, and cared for there by a committee of very nice North Vietnamese, who'd been assigned to protect them.
Joan wasn't sent there to "sing in the shelters", even though she did at times, she was there for the prisoners... and yes, she sang for them, too.
Read the book. :)
Not sure where I got my misinformation but I have updated the post. I hope people will read your comment in its entirety. The book Talitha is referring to is called "And a Voice to Sing with: A Memoir" by Joan Baez.
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