Happy Birthday, Darlings, To A Still Ongoing Trailblazer!!!!!!

"As I walked out over London bridge,
One misty morning early,
I overheard a fair pretty maid,
Was lamenting for her Geordie!"--
"Geordie" (Child 209)

Ah, the hushed silence, the soulful twanging of the guitar, and then the clear, lyric sound of that voice filling the concert hall, or room being listened in via CD....who else could it be, but Joan Baez?????

Today, girls, happens to be Joan's birthday, and over 50 years later, that voice is still pouring forth, spreading both beauty and social consciousness. How well I recall those innocent days of twanging my guitar back in ninth grade, reading "Daybreak" (her first autobiography) and wanting to hit the coffee house circuit, but with my dulcet tones, just like Joan!!!!!!!!!!

The idea of Joan being in her seventies is rather hard for this Baby Boomer raised in the Sixties to wrap his head around. Not only is Joan going strong, but so is her mother (who must be about 98,now!) her sister Pauline, and her son, Gabriel Harris, now married with children (I think) himself. Her poor, gorgeous sister, Mimi, who was married to Richard Farina, died years before of brain cancer, but Joan is still with us, and shows no signs of letting up. If her voice is not as crystalline as it was when younger, well, first of all, hon, whose is? but, second, she is in remarkable shape, and I am thrilled to still hear Joan out there, doing her thing.

Hell, if it wasn't for Joan, the Baby Boomer generation might not have developed social consciousness, because, when the issues came up, Joan was always there, not pleading a personal agenda, like, say, the Reverend Al Sharpton, but pleading for acceptance, tolerance, and end to whatever social indifference was out there affecting individuals detrimentally at the time.

Stand back, darlings, because I will be singing Joan Songs all day long. That's right--"Geordie," "House Carpenter," "Fennario," "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right," "With God On Our Side," "The Lily Of The West," "Banks Of The Ohio," "Engine 143," not to mention "Long Black Veil"--all the favorites which I know by heart!! By this point, my Monsieur, if he has read this, must be heading for the hills!!!!!!!!!

What kind of cake to have in Joan's honor??? Poppy seed????? Three Milk cake??? I wonder!!!!!! You can bet something will be ingested tonight, in honor of Joan.

Or maybe not!!!!! Perhaps we should starve for Peace!!!!! I mean, let's face it, does Joan Baez eat????? I have never been sure!!!!!!!!!!

Not that you would get that impression from ME,darlings!!!!!!!!! So here is to Joan Baez on her 71st birthday. She came out of nowhere, a barefoot Madonna with a glorious voice. There may be designer shoes on those soles now, but the voice is still glorious!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday, Joan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!