Joan Baez says she “got lost in the shuffle” when Bob Dylan became famous
Due to how successful Bob Dylan became, he is the person many people turn to when they initially think of folk artists. While he popularised the genre on a mainstream scale, there was a whole scene before anyone had even heard of Dylan, which included Joan Baez.
Notably, the pair grew close once Dylan made his way to New York City and established himself as a star, surpassing the status of his contemporaries. Additionally, the duo became romantically involved with one another after meeting in 1961 and stayed together for four years before their relationship concluded due to the mammoth change that had occurred at that time.
In a recent interview with The Independent, Baez opened up about how her creativity was spurred by the number of great writers circling at the time, as well as how Dylan’s rise to fame subsequently impacted her career and mindset.
“In that time period there was Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez, Peter, Paul and Mary, Jimi Hendrix, all of them! People ever since then have wanted that level of creation back,” she said. “You can’t recreate that volume of talent, and some of that must have been triggered by the times around us, which were charged.”
Baez’s willingness to write about modern times in her music inspired many young people to pick up guitars and write more conscious music. The success of the likes of Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan also facilitated this movement, as budding musicians saw it as their duty to stand up against injustices within their sound.
Despite her civil rights work, one of Baez’s most popular tracks is a love story. ‘Diamonds & Rust’ was written by Baez about her relationship with Dylan. When they split, Dylan didn’t only leave Baez behind but the folk scene in general as he picked up an electric guitar and embraced rock ‘n’ roll.
“I think that his fame happened so fast, and it was so huge, that I kind of got lost in the shuffle,” said Baez. Reflecting on the period further, she added, “I remember a kid came up to me – this was the worst of it, when I really didn’t exist to any of them – some kid came up to me in Germany in a lobby and said, ‘Oh, Miss Baez, can I have an interview with you? Bob wouldn’t give me one’. I said, ‘Fuck you!’ It was horrible. It was really awful.”
Meanwhile, Baez is set to release her new autobiographical poetry collection, When You See My Mother, Ask Her to Dance, on June 13th, which sees her candidly reflect on her life and career.