A Gesture

David’s Album by Joan Baez

The 60s were a decade of pushing back. Challenges to a war, racism, sexism, and at the center of it all was the music. Although every year from that decade was a marker for rebellion and artistic contributions, 1969 was the year that was particularly active. As for the music, 1969 was the year of Woodstock, and the release of too many pivotal albums to mention here, only to say the range spanned from The Beatles to Miles Davis.

Joan Baez was in good company that year. Already known as a fiercely political voice set to Folk music with her singing beautifully over it all, she fit right in when 1969 came around. Baez released David’s Album as a gift to her husband David Harris, an anti-war activist who was sentenced to jail in 1968 after demonstrating resistance to the draft. Harris was a Country Music lover, so Baez temporarily stepped away from the music she was known for to do an album that she knew he would appreciate.  Clearly an act of protest for the war and solidarity with her husband, along with being a wonderful and unique gesture for someone she loved.